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Everywhere you look, consumers are inundated with a barrage of advertisements competing for their attention. From social media feeds to website banners, digital advertising companies have become an integral part of our online experience.

However, amidst the sea of ads, some stand out by their ability to captivate, surprise, and delight audiences in unexpected ways. The following article explores the phenomenon of ads that catch individuals by surprise and examines the strategies behind their success.

Leveraging Creativity and Innovation

The most memorable ads often defy expectations and challenge conventional advertising norms, standing out in a sea of mundane promotions. Brands that dare to think outside the box and push creative boundaries are significantly more likely to capture consumers’ attention and leave a lasting impression. These innovative ads leverage clever storytelling, imaginative visuals, and interactive elements to surprise and engage audiences in meaningful ways. By breaking away from traditional approaches and offering fresh, unexpected experiences, such ads not only captivate viewers but also foster a deeper connection with the brand.

Creating Emotional Connections

Ads that evoke strong emotions, such as humor, nostalgia, or empathy, have a greater likelihood of resonating with viewers on a personal level. By tapping into universal human experiences and emotions, brands can forge deeper connections with their audience and cultivate loyalty over time. This emotional engagement is especially powerful in digital marketing campaigns, where brands often have limited time and space to capture consumers’ attention and leave a lasting impact. By strategically integrating emotional elements into their advertising, companies can create memorable and compelling narratives that not only stand out in a crowded digital landscape but also foster enduring relationships with their audience. This approach helps to build brand affinity and trust, ultimately leading to increased consumer loyalty and advocacy.

Embracing Authenticity and Transparency

In an era of skepticism and distrust, authenticity has become a key differentiator for brands seeking to build credibility and trust with their audience.

Ads that are genuine, transparent, and relatable are more likely to resonate with consumers and foster positive brand perceptions. Additionally, by showcasing real stories, authentic experiences, and genuine interactions, brands can break through the noise of traditional advertising and establish meaningful connections with their target audience.

Harnessing the Element of Surprise

Surprise is a powerful psychological tool that can capture attention and stimulate curiosity, making it an invaluable asset in the realm of digital marketing. Ads that incorporate unexpected twists, surprising reveals, or unconventional approaches can leave a lasting impression on viewers and generate significant buzz across digital channels.

By keeping audiences on their toes and delivering unexpected moments of delight, brands can effectively cut through the clutter of traditional advertising and stand out in crowded digital spaces. This element of surprise not only grabs immediate attention but also fosters a sense of intrigue and engagement, encouraging viewers to share and discuss the ad, thus amplifying its reach and impact. Brands that master the art of surprising their audience can create memorable experiences that resonate deeply, driving both brand recognition and consumer loyalty.

Engaging with Interactive Content

Incorporating User-generated Content

Conclusion

In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, ads that catch you by surprise have the power to cut through the noise and capture audiences’ attention in meaningful ways. By leveraging creativity, emotional storytelling, authenticity, surprise, interactive content, and user-generated content, brands can create memorable and engaging digital marketing campaigns that leave a lasting impression on consumers. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, embracing innovative approaches and unexpected delights will be key to standing out and connecting with audiences in today’s crowded online marketplace.

In today’s digital landscape, effective media buying is essential for businesses looking to reach their target audience and maximize their return on investment (ROI). With countless marketing agencies and platforms available, navigating the world of media buying requires a strategic approach tailored to your objectives, target market, and budget.

As a leading media planning agency, we specialize in developing tailored media buying strategies designed to ensure optimal reach for your message. We meticulously analyze your objectives, target audience, and budget to identify the most effective channels and publishing partners. Our goal is to maximize the impact of your campaign by delivering your message to the right audience, at the right time, and through the most relevant platforms.

Understanding Your Objectives, Target Market, and Budget

We take the time to collaborate with our clients to define their advertising goals, identify their ideal audience demographics, and establish a realistic budget. Whether you’re aiming to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, or generate leads, our media planning agency develops a tailored approach to meet your specific needs and objectives.

Strategic Ad Placement

Once we have a clear understanding of your objectives and target market, our media planning agency employs strategic ad placement tactics to ensure maximum visibility and impact. By leveraging our extensive network of media channels and publishing partners, we identify the most relevant and high-performing platforms to reach your target audience. Whether it’s digital display ads, social media advertising, or native content placements, our goal is to place your ads where they will resonate most with your audience and drive desired actions.

Market and Consumer Research

Informed decision-making is key to effective media buying. That’s why our media planning agency conducts comprehensive market and consumer research to inform our media buying strategy. We analyze your media footprint, assess the media industry landscape, and delve into the media habits of your target audience to uncover valuable insights. By understanding where your audience spends their time online, what content they engage with, and how they prefer to consume media, we can tailor our media buying approach for maximum impact and ROI.

Advertising Campaigns

Integrated Media Plan

In today’s fragmented media landscape, successful advertising campaigns require an integrated approach across multiple channels and platforms. Our agency develops integrated media plans that leverage a mix of traditional and digital media channels to amplify your message and reach your audience wherever they are. Our integrated media plans are designed to maximize your reach and engagement.

Campaign Optimization

Continuous optimization is essential to ensure your advertising campaigns deliver optimal results. Throughout the duration of your campaign, our media planning agency closely monitors performance metrics, analyzes data, and adjusts our media buying strategy accordingly. By tracking key performance indicators such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and cost per acquisition, we can identify areas for improvement and make real-time adjustments to optimize campaign performance and drive better outcomes.

Competitive Reports

In today’s competitive marketplace, staying ahead of the competition is paramount. That’s why our media planning agency provides competitive reports to keep you informed about industry trends, emerging competitors, and potential opportunities. By monitoring competitor activity and benchmarking performance against industry standards, we can identify areas where you can gain a competitive edge and fine-tune your media buying strategy for greater success.

Conclusion

Effective media buying is a strategic endeavor that requires careful planning, data-driven insights, and continuous optimization. Our media planning agency specializes in crafting customized media buying strategies that deliver results. From strategic ad placement and market research to campaign optimization and competitive analysis, we provide end-to-end media buying solutions to help you achieve your advertising goals and drive business growth. Partner with us for your media buying needs and let us help you amplify your message and maximize your ROI.

One of the many things that make daily life so exciting at our ad agency in Philadelphia is our ability to work with companies who are as enthusiastic about what they do as we are about marketing. When our experts conduct a brand review and speak with people that have an evident commitment to excellence, it inspires us. Delivering results is not just our job, it’s our passion. There’s no greater success than helping our clients share their story. One great example of a brand we have the pleasure of working with that exemplifies an incredible passion for quality and excellence is Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant. 

Long before our ad agency in Philadelphia met with Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, they opened their first location in Newark, Delaware in 1996. While many who reside near our ad agency in Philadelphia have come to know of the Iron Hill brand name, the company reached out to us with their sights set on launching a Perimeter Georgia location. Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant turned to Neff to help generate buzz in local communities, so the restaurant would be packed by the time opening night arrived.

Our experts conducted a thorough brand review of Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant to understand the story behind the brand and just how dedicated the lovers of craft beer and quality food are to their craft. To take full advantage of what makes Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant unique from their competitors, we updated brand messaging, photographed their beer and food for both digital and billboard advertising, and highlighted all of the qualities we learned about during our brand review.

IronHill Brewery Restaurant Buckhead

In anticipation of the grand opening of the Perimeter Georgia location, Neff worked with the Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant team to refresh their advertising and launch a VIP Media & Influencer Preview Event. All of these efforts successfully built excitement to ensure that the location would not only have a strong turnout on opening night, but that they would also enjoy the same success that the brand has now grown accustomed to in the greater Philadelphia region. Through PR outreach and strategic influencer partnerships, our experts brought more than one million social media impressions to Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant. We knew that once we got people in the door, the incredible food and beverages would do the rest.

The example of Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant is only one of many. Some brands need to be launched, some need to be revitalized, and some simply need to be expanded. In learning about Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, our team took advantage of the history the brand had accumulated over the past 25 years. No two brands are the same, and we believe that to fit any brand into a cookie-cutter system of marketing is a disservice to the efforts being put in by every professional who works for that company. Any path taken to achieve an excellent marketing campaign starts with a conversation, then evolves based on what makes that company or service unique.

If you have a story to tell and are passionate about the service or product you provide, we want to hear from you. Visit our Contact Us page today to get in touch with our experts.

The average person spends nearly 3 ½ hours online every day, likely seeing dozens and dozens of advertisements in the process.

Whether they remember them is another story.

With a successful media buying campaign, companies position themselves to get the exact attention they’re looking for. 

Working with a top-rated media buying agency, your brand message reaches the right audiences fast, broadening your consumer reach in an instant.

The digital space is a jungle. With a streamlined media buying process and optimized strategy, your advertising campaign can be king.

Media Buying Objectives 

The first step to a successful and seamless media buying process is being on the same page about objectives, first and foremost getting your messaging to your target audiences in just the right formats, in the proper context, and at the correct times.

Successful media buying is measured by a company’s overall goals. Those may include rising overall brand awareness, maximizing search engine optimization integration, or retargeting certain advertisements.

There are several different ways to approach media buying. Direct media buying means buying advertisements directly for placement with a specific publisher or on a certain channel.

The network approach means bidding on and purchasing specific advertising space through supply-side or demand-side platforms. The programmatic approach is buying and selling digital advertising through technology utilization. 

A successful media buying experience begins with defining and being on the same page about top goals. Then the process can begin.

It Starts with a Basic Strategy and Planning Session 

During the early stages of the process, the discussion turns to vital but basic aspects of a campaign. A target audience will be pinpointed, a budget will be agreed upon, and a company will share the metrics it wants to hit to make a media buying campaign a success.

Determining a target audience should be a thorough and meticulous process. Audiences should be divided into certain demographics, such as gender, age, and marital status, as well as location, and other behaviors, like general interests.

Once the target audience for a media buying campaign is determined, there should be a strong effort to think broadly about the best ways to reach them. Does the audience tend to live in a certain area? Are they more likely to see an advertisement online or in person? When and where do they shop?

This first stage also includes a bit of planning, hammering out details of the campaign schedule (including its launch and overall time frame), where ads will be placed, and which creatives the company wants to work closely with. A common question to think about is which media channels would be most effective to pursue.

Should the campaign mainly include ads on search engines? How about on social media networks? Should it only be online or also on TV or radio? 

Be Prepared to Negotiate

Once the right media outlets are targeted, media buyers frequently negotiate with them to settle on the perfect price before buying the ad spaces. While online advertising is usually sold through an automated process so negotiations won’t be traditional, buyers can still use this time to make final plans for the best prices, times, and places for their advertising campaigns.

Data Comes into Play

The media buying process isn’t just a guessing game, even after a campaign launches. The process includes tracking the overall performance of the media buying campaign through detailed reports. This data is carefully analyzed to adjust the campaign approach if necessary.

Tracking such data on ad performances can begin right away, but it’s important to not make quick judgments too early. To get a full picture of a media buying campaign’s success, there should be enough data to paint that picture.

Throughout the campaign, buyers should remain committed to monitoring its results to make sure the optimal results are being achieved. Any problems encountered, whether it’s early, in the middle, or at the end of the process, should be addressed swiftly.

The Bottom Line

Media buyers should be partners in a campaign but also fully skilled in pushing for the best strategies to maximize each campaign they work on.

They should have experience working on q wide variety of channels and publishers — and know all the best practices and approaches to making a media buying process go smoothly and achieve the best results.

The recent surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant has many businesses worried about how developments may impact their ability to operate successfully. Naturally as some consumers begin to reevaluate their habits or venture out less, it is crucial that businesses large and small continue to find innovative ways to connect with their client bases.

Strategic advertisement investments have been one clear way businesses have been able to set themselves apart throughout the pandemic. And- while the ebb and flow of cases continue to impact various companies- it is vital that they do anything they can to bring in new business and keep their existing base. Here, Neff- a top ad agency in Philadelphia– explores a few ways that companies can improve advertising efforts during this time.

Tailor Your Messaging

One of the simplest ways that companies can work to improve their advertising efforts during the most recent phase of the pandemic is to tailor their messaging for consumers. Luckily, much of what we have learned from the past year and change can be used this time around as well. For example, many companies are already releasing advertisements that point to what they are doing to keep customers and their staff safe or how, how they are doing their part to uphold corporate social responsibility (CSR) or value the support of their client base. Try to remember when tailoring messaging that people have heard many of the same stock phrases many times through other companies’ messaging- try to do your best to make yours thoughtful and original.

Reevaluate Your Advertising Budget

Advertising budgets play an important role in a company’s ability to craft high-quality ads or access assistance from agencies that specialize in the field. With this in mind, businesses may want to reevaluate their budget if they are still feeling the effects of the pandemic. A common misconception is that an effective advertising campaign will always break the bank. Top ad agencies recognize that not every business is working with the same budget and can come up with innovative campaign strategies that will stretch their dollars. Effective campaigns utilize ads that play to a company’s strengths and double down on them rather than force in strategies with low ROI for their industry.

Consider Optimizing for Mobile

For years, digital marketing has been a large part of strategies to attract new business. The pandemic has even further influenced this trend as people of all ages have been using their phones to check out new products and services as well as purchase them through e-commerce. This means that companies should continue to look at investment in optimizing for mobile as a way to expand the visibility of their advertisements. Making sure that the pages that advertising directs to are in working order is also a great step for streamlining. After all, businesses using digital strategy will need websites that function as well as possible. A huge benefit to optimizing a mobile ad strategy is that mobile ads can be quickly created and edited, and a top ad agency in Philadelphia can further streamline them to be more attractive to potential customers.

According to UpCity, Neff is one of the highest rated advertising agencies in Philadelphia. Clients have written that Neff is professional, efficient, and “an absolute pleasure” to work with. This is not the first time Neff has been recognized in the B2B space. Clutch named Neff as a Top Pennsylvania B2B Company and has featured the agency on lists for top branding agencies, top digital marketing agencies, top web design companies, and more.

“Neff has been a tremendous help in helping us launch our new company. They’ve provided multiple streams of media for us which has resulted in a wide reach of new consumers.”

Derek Gibbons, Glu Hospitality

UpCity is a B2B platform with trustworthy reviews of different providers. The website allows businesses to find reliable providers in their area who they can contact for partnership. The services covered are diverse in scope, spanning from Accounting to Software Development. UpCity’s reviews are comprehensive and transparent. Real clients use their full names, so you can trust that what you’re reading is real.

Neff has been a partner in helping 21CCCS increase our enrollment by double digits each year. Always responsive, always prepared, always good advice. One of the best business decisions we have made.

Kim McCully, 21st Century Cyber Charter School

Each review includes a brief description of the overall experience as well as ratings for communication, knowledge, working relationship, value of service, and budget. UpCity’s measuring system is data driven and proven to be accurate. Neff has an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars and we’re consistently given 10 out of 10 in all categories.

Not only does UpCity provide reliable reviews, but you can also find out more information about the service providers. Extensive profiles review details about each company including their size, service area, supported platforms, and unique selling proposition. At Neff, for example, we are known for our integrated approach.

“The Neff team has been our agency of record for the last several years. We’ve been consistently pleased with the services they offer and the quality of their work — from advertising to branch merchandising, social media and public relations. They’ve supported us on a broad range of marketing campaigns and initiatives and have delivered both strategic insight and strong execution. We appreciate the creativity and responsiveness of all their people.”

Jon McGrain, DNB First

Real ratings from real clients are the best kind of endorsement you can get. Head to UpCity’s website to see more details on our UpCity profile and discover other trusted service providers in your area.

Many industries have revised strategic marketing plans over the past few months. Almost everyone is confronting some change. Consequently, consumer habits are shifting across many industries. As people are grasping onto the “new normal,” businesses also need to evolve. Strategic marketing efforts are not immune. For that reason, let marketing plans be flexible to support your brand. Marketing during a crisis is never easy, but we have a few tips to help you along the way.

1. Shift Your Marketing Strategy

Step outside your comfort zone. Try to use different forms of media in your advertising. This could mean adding audio and podcasts. Maybe video is also a medium your brand does not typically use. Likewise, a social campaign could help you branch out. Take a risk to try something different. Your marketing can feel more authentic as a result.

Adopt digital marketing techniques. Many people are spending more time at home. Because of this, it is easier to reach your audience through digital platforms. Consequently, there are a few strategies we recommend for your integrated marketing strategy. Include email blasts, web retargeting, and social media campaigns. Remember, adjust your plans to fit the new ways people are spending time.

Let your message be heard. Be prepared to broaden your audience. Or perhaps you will find a new audience entirely. Optimize your website for online business to reach your targeted demographic.

Build relationships. This is an opportunity to establish trust. Communicate frequently, respond quickly, and deliver on your promises. Remember to have empathy. You never know what your customers may be going through.

Video camera pointed at subject
Add video to your marketing strategy.

2. Evaluate Your Messaging

Messaging in strategic marketing should reflect the current climate. For most brands, the focus isn’t about specific products and services anymore. Instead, talk about how you help the community. Empathy, adaptability, and unity are key traits for brands to embody during this time.

Break away from the noise. Recently, most people have been inundated with brand messaging campaigns. More than ever, it is important to stand out if you want your voice to be heard.

Be relevant and helpful. Your tone should be full of compassion. People will remember your kindness. Reassure your audience with consistent communication.

Create a short-term plan. As we all know, the situation is unpredictable. Avoid long-term plans. They will likely be scrapped in the near future anyway.

A closed sign hangs in the window of a business.
Closed storefronts present an opportunity for new partnerships.

3. Include Partnerships in Your Marketing Strategy

There are some great examples of businesses stepping up to do the right thing. This should be a key part of a successful marketing strategy. If you have stability, leverage it to help others. Whenever possible, distribute excess resources to those in need. Unite stakeholders to work together towards common goals.

Connect your clients. Working together often yields better solutions. Align your brand with nonprofits, healthcare, and government.

Be a role model. Support the rules and recommended practices based on healthcare standards. Obviously, this crisis effects everyone. Above all, set an example for stability and success.

Collaborate with other brands. This is a tried-and-true strategy. For example, several local restaurants recently teamed up with GoPuff. While brick-and-mortar stores are closed, delivery is the next best thing!

Be Part of the Solution

Right now, the only way to be essential is to be part of the solution. Because every situation is unique, strategic marketing during a crisis can be tricky. Make sure you use an integrated marketing campaign to reach your audience. Create a flexible strategy and evaluate your messaging. Don’t forget to build brand partnerships. Use these steps to move your marketing through a period of crisis.

Your business is your lifeline. And the ability to run it normally was just unexpectedly taken from you during the global pandemic. While brick and mortar stores are being shut down to help enforce social distancing, owners are finding ways to take their business online. During this stressful time, it’s more important than ever to utilize the cost-effective advertising approach of digital marketing. We’ll explain why digital marketing is relevant during the global pandemic.

digital marketing during global pandemic, online advertising, remote work, online business

Now more than ever, your customers are online.

Every year, the amount of online users increases. With the recent global pandemic, millions of people are self-isolating at home. This increase in free time is driving the use of the internet to record heights. In this “U.S. streaming sites seeing coronavirus bumps in traffic” chart, we see evidence of online use spiking by millions of users in March 2020. For most, the internet is the only connection to the outside world. Users are communicating with coworkers online. They’re also spending more time on social media and having virtual happy hours, game nights, etc.

Digital advertising gets a lot of attention, but now more than ever. It’s important to craft a thoughtful message that stands out from the crowd. Think about what you are saying and how you are saying it. Your voice and tone play an important role in capturing the attention of the user. Are you being sympathetic? Straightforward? Are you addressing the current issues or are you sticking with normal messaging? Your wording is key and will serve as the first impression of your brand to most.

Benefits of digital marketing

There are many benefits to digital marketing. One of the largest benefits is the wide range of audience you’re able to attract and the ability to have complete control of targeting within that range. With online advertising, you’re not limited by the route people take to work every day or their preference in newspaper. Online advertising reaches an enormous audience in a very cost-effective way. Below is an outline of the benefits that make digital marketing relevant during this global pandemic.

Complete Control of Targeting

There are different ways to target a specific audience – geo-targeting, social targeting, etc. One of the biggest benefits of targeting is that you can craft unique campaigns to different targeted audiences. You may need to advertise your residential services to a select group of people and your corporate services to another. With targeted ads, you can direct the correct message at the correct audience. Therefore, you don’t waste any money.

Cost Effective

A well planned and targeted digital marketing campaign will reach a large, targeted audience without the big spend. Digital marketing campaigns are as inexpensive or expensive as you want them to be.

Global Reach

Using the internet for marketing allows you to find new markets in different regions of the world. Your campaign can have a hyper local reach at the same time as a global reach. This doesn’t cost a fortune and has the potential to expand your business. Social also allows users to share your audience. This extends your reach and stretches your dollars.

Measurable Results

You won’t wonder how many people drove by your billboard last week. Web analytics tell you exactly how many people saw your ad and how many clicked on it. It also tells you how many leads were converted and how the users interacted with your ad.

Improved Conversion

The beauty of digital ads is click-through. Your audience doesn’t need to remember a phone number or a URL. They see a product or service that interests them, they click on it, and they’re already at your site. You don’t have to rely on their memory to get them to your site.

Forms of Digital Marketing

SEO. SEO is a digital marketing method with various benefits. Using relevant keywords and an optimized website, your digital reach can expand to a larger audience. You’ll also reach a more targeted audience, which increases conversions.

Pay-per-click. Pay-per-click is a method of online advertising where you pay a fee each time one of your ads is clicked. In short, you’re “buying” site visits rather than “earning” them organically. One of the most popular forms of PPC is search engine advertising. When you set up a search engine campaign, you’re bidding for an ad placement at the top of Google when a user searches a specified keyword.

Display Ads. Display ads are text, image, or video-based ads that appear on websites. These websites are part of a greater “Display Network” involved with either Google or a third-party network such as Division D. These ads encourage the user to click through to your website. Display ads are often used in retargeting campaigns. Retargeting campaigns are when a user has already visited your site but has not completed a goal (form fill out, call, etc.) Google serves that user your ad to remind them to revisit your site.

Social Media. Your audience is on social media. You can use social media to build brand awareness or you can push social media ads out to a wider audience. Using social media to drive online business is one of your most cost-effective marketing tools right now. One of the largest benefits of social media advertising is that you control the cost. You can set your budget as little or high as you’re able to right now.

Conclusions

While normally we suggest implementing an integrated strategy, the world is just not the same today as it was at the start of 2020. In the current market, digital marketing is the most cost-effective way to reach a high volume of people. If you’re unsure how to launch a digital marketing campaign, the media strategy team at Neff can take care of it for you. Our media strategy consists of media buying recommendations, online advertising, strategic ad placement, market research, consumer research, integrated media plans, campaign optimization, and competitive reports. We’ve successfully launched advertising campaigns for many of our clients such as Oliver Heating and Cooling, 21CCCS, and DNB First.