Latest / The Same Side: A Digital Marketing Podcast Rooted in Human Connection / Episode 2: Using Context to Find Meaning

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Episode 2: Using Context to Find Meaning · The Same Side: A Digital Marketing Podcast Rooted in Human Connection

• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hey there.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to episode two of The Same Side, a digital marketing podcast rooted in human connection.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Jonathan Dance, Director of AdOps and Analytics at Digital Relativity, a full service marketing agency.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Last week I introduced the podcast and gave you a little background about me.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: And now let me turn the tables and ask you a question.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: During a campaign analytics meeting with your own team or with your partner or agency, have you ever been afraid to ask questions?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe someone uses a term you aren't familiar with, or maybe they use it in a context that makes you question your understanding.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe whatever it is you're talking about becomes so complex you can't hold it all in your head.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe everyone seems like they know what's going on, but you're lost.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: I've been there, and I still find myself there from time to time.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: We take on new partners with new needs, things change in our tech stack, or I'm just plain working with people who are smarter than me.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: We all bring our egos to the table for status calls and pitches, and as much as I hate to say it when things go sideways.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not talking about big egos that are duking it out, although that can happen.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about the ego that wants to protect you, the one that wants to keep you from harm, the one that tells you to be quiet, go unnoticed, and wait for everything to blow over.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: You just try and shrink into the room so no one sees you.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so, how do you break out of that behavior?
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: How do you get past your own ego?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: How do you get past the fear of feeling silly or asking a stupid question?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: How many times have you heard someone say, I know this is probably a stupid question, but and we we hedge because we're afraid that someone's going to judge us and we're we're preemptively judging ourselves.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to level up.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing, there's no magic bullet, right?
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's you can't possibly know everything about everything, first of all.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: You have to put in the time.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so there are two major steps you can take.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: The first one is probably the easiest one, and that's paying attention, and the other one is educating yourself.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: You can't expect to get smarter about the ins and outs of digital advertising if you're not doing those things.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Or if you're only doing one of them.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: To use the cliche of our time.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: In this time of fractured attention spans, emails, text, Slack, social media, and whatever diabolical notifications are pinging and flashing on your screen, paying attention is more critical than ever.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also fairly easy.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Our partners want to feel heard.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: They want their situation to be appreciated, and that goes both ways.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: They want help navigating their challenges, and you can't do that if you're not listening.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: So this is something you can practice in each and every meeting.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Some really basic tips to ingrain the habit and to get you focused on what people are saying versus thinking about what you're going to say or wondering what you're going to have for lunch.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Take notes, preferably on paper.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Avoid the distraction mind fields of laptops and phones.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Actively listen for things that you don't know, information that you've heard but haven't really dug into.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: You can ask clarifying questions.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: You should ask clarifying questions.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: This shows that you're engaged and that's helpful for building that human connection when you're dealing with people.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: And it also shows you're genuinely trying to understand.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a bonus here.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you ask questions, I think you'll find most people are happy to share their knowledge.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: They want you to understand because that makes communicating that much easier.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it allows you to get past just sort of the definition aspect of these conversations.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: When someone asks me a question on one of our analytics calls, it makes me think about what I'm saying.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I want to have the right answer.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: I want to demonstrate proficiency.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to build trust because, again, that makes it easier to get good work done.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever asked a question and got an answer full of baffling market speak?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: How did you feel after that?
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: I know when it happens to me, I feel confused because I'm wondering if I miss something because it doesn't seem like there's all that much there.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I also get vaguely annoyed.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's just me.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Your results may vary.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'd rather have someone tell me they don't know, but that they'll get me an answer than try to dance their way through an answer that is unsatisfying and unhelpful.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Again, just paying attention is probably the easiest thing you can do and something that you can start today.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, on the education side, that's where this podcast can help.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: You'll hear a lot of acronyms and adopts discussions and campaign reviews, and keep in mind that the people who work in AdOps or Dev or in Creative are they're in it every single day, and so what seems like a completely different language to you is just the language they're used to speaking.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it's okay if you don't know, at least at first.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: To be effective in the digital marketing space, understanding how elements connect can make it easier to use context clues and actively participate in strategy and analysis.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: To that end, we'll start with some basic metrics from digital ad campaigns, impressions, clicks, and click-through rate.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: If you know what these metrics are conceptually, just know that there's always more to the story.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: There's context.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: But before we dig into the context piece, let's quickly define commonly used metrics for anyone listening who may not be familiar.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Impressions are the number of times an ad is displayed.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're driving down the highway and you see a billboard, that's an impression.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you're watching a football game and a commercial comes on, that's an impression.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Clicks are the number of times someone clicks that ad.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Again, very simple, very basic.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Click-through rate, or CTR, is the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's an indicator of how often people click on your ad relative to how many times the ad showed.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: Pretty simple, right?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: With that in mind, if I were to say an ad had 3,000 impressions, 30 clicks, and a CTR of 1%, is that good or bad?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Right, you're thinking, well, it depends.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: I need to know more information, which is great.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Are you ready to go down the context rabbit hole?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: So if the campaign is highly targeted to a very exclusive audience, say farmers in the Willamette Valley in Washington State who have visited my website, that's actually not too bad.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I'm selling combines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I expect one or two sales per year.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: There aren't that many people in my geographic area that fit the bill of qualified buyers, so 30 clicks could be more than I need.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: But say I'm running a nationwide campaign with broad targeting, say all men, ages 35 to 55, and spending$10,000 a month.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Those numbers would be incredibly low, but the truth is in both cases, we still need more context.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: For the combine salesman, how much was spent?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: How long did the ads run?
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: And what does the average cost per combine sale look like?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: For the nationwide campaign, I'd be inclined to review the ad creative if the metrics were that low.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the ads aren't resonating and people just aren't clicking.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe the targeting is somehow too restrictive.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: And here's where I want to take a step back.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Clearly, context is important.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: That goes for campaign performance, but it also very much ties into the user journey as well.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: From first click to the time they take an action on your website, that's the user journey.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it can actually even go before that, where maybe someone has to see an ad 20, 30, 40 times before they take action and click that ad.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then are the ads compelling?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Are people clicking?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Are you getting a ton of traffic, but people aren't staying long?
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: They aren't engaging?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: If people hang around, do they have a clear understanding of what you want them to do?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Are you getting conversions?
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: So the real question here isn't: are those metrics good?
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's what do they mean in the context of our partner's goals or your goals?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Is this an awareness campaign, a mid-funnel campaign, or a conversion campaign?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe it's some combination of all of those.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: So impressions, clicks, and click-through rates are a great place to start, and they can tell you something about your campaign, but only if you have context.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway here isn't that metrics are confusing, it's that you can build a clearer picture with more information.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: I know it feels like I'm hammering on that, but you can't have enough context.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so a few other metrics that you might come across in a dashboard or a campaign report that are worth considering are CPM, cost per mil, CPA, cost per acquisition, and ROAS, return on ad spend.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Keep in mind, these are all derived from simple math.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: So breaking it down real quick, CPM is the cost per thousand impressions, mill is French for 1,000, from the Latin mile, which also means 1,000.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: CPA is cost per acquisition.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: If you sell 10 units and spend$100 doing it, your CPA, your cost per acquisition is$10.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: ROAS ROAS is return on ad spend.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Again, simple math, it's a ratio.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you spend$100 and bring in a total of$600 of gross revenue, your ROAS is six.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: $6 of revenue for every$1 spent.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: So if it still sounds complicated, don't sweat it.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's just counting or simple math.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: So going back to context, numbers alone don't tell the story.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Remember the Combine campaign?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the point of understanding these basic concepts is to be able to ask questions or push back when necessary instead of just nodding along.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're gateways to conversation, to connecting with the people around the table.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: We've created so many dashboards that never got opened, so many presentations that ended in silence, even after asking, is this useful to you?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: What else would you like to see on here?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: How can we create a report that helps you do your job and look good to the people you report to?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I suspect that's because the information was overwhelming or the recipients didn't understand what was being presented.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: But I'll never know because they kept quiet.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And again, that goes back to our egos trying to protect us.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is not really that much different than going to a party.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: You get introduced to people, you ask questions, you try to find a point of connection to build a conversation on, build a rapport.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: The good news with digital advertising is that you already have a common goal with the people around the table.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'll leave you with one more thought.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: Leveling up, learning the foundations, understanding the interconnectedness of marketing elements allows you to move past the basic data and begin understanding what it means.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is the point where barriers start to fall away, and you begin contributing real strategy and providing frameworks for meaningful results.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: I look forward to doing this again next week when we talk about presenting data and what we should be thinking about when we do.