Dear ROGER,

Welcome to the July 2023 issue of Key Notes - Marketing Keys' monthly newsletter! We hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July! Key Notes is an informative, quick-read newsletter to get you caught up on all things media and marketing. Our goal is for you to be informed and entertained with the latest media and marketing happenings quickly and efficiently. 

When we meet with new clients, many of our meetings deal with their current media mix. Many clients we meet tend to repeat the same programs year after year. If that strategy is working, then it doesn't make sense to make too many tweaks. However, each year brings new opportunities and trends with marketing.

When new technologies and trends start to become popular, many marketers jump onto them. But is that the wise thing to do? This marketer's playbook advises utilizing what you already know works best while adding in new technologies and trends that align with your brand.

It is much more difficult today to connect with consumers due to changing consumer habits and lower attention spans. This makes it more vital to know where your consumers are spending their time so you can focus targeting those platforms and channels.

Consumers today are paying more attention to short-form videos and e-commerce sites. Consumers are also starting to purchase products more on social media platforms. However, these trends don't mean your brand needs to partake in them. It should be important to still make data-driven decisions to best reach your consumers.

Marketing across a variety of channels can also be a great strategy to reach your consumers. Connected TV has been proven successful for brands to target their audiences with customizable ads. Podcasts are another way for brands to reach unique audiences who are more likely to listen to your ad. Virtual Reality is also becoming very popular with brands to help optimize customer experience.

When these new and shiny tools come into play, always remember what has already worked for your brand. Then, start to explore new tactics that align with your goals and customers' preferences.

Would you like us to evaluate your current media plan? If so, please reach out HERE.

By now, your brand has recently dipped its toe into Influencer Marketing. Or, maybe this is a strategy that you have been doing for a while.

The Federal Trade Commission has updated its guidelines regarding influencer marketing and online reviews. These guidelines are aimed at making sure brands are being honest to their consumers.

The FTC already noted in the past that they want brands and influencers to share their relationship with their consumers. A new addition to the guidelines is that any social media tag can count as an endorsement. The FTC also notes that any disclosures must be unavoidable on all platforms.

A relationship between a brand and an influencer can also go beyond payment, such as early product access, appearing in an ad, etc. Endorsements aimed at children needs to be handled very delicately with brands, and the FTC suggested that disclosures don't work for younger children.

The new guidelines also discussed online reviews. The FTC recommends brands do not edit any online reviews, as this is deceiving their consumers. Last year, the FTC actually prosecuted a brand for filtering out negative reviews on their website.

Please make sure to look over thoroughly these FTC guidelines the next time you partner with an influencer through your trusted firm or have online reviews.

Weather can impact our moods and impact how productive we are on a given day.

Many marketers know weather can affect their sales if they have products that are dependent on the season. But can the weather have effects on sales for the rest of us?

Evidence suggests weather does have an effect on consumer behavior. Studies have shown that exposure to increased sunlight boosts your serotine levels. Increased serotine levels also increases consumption, meaning consumers spend more on sunnier days.

However, does excessive heat like we have been getting have the same effect? Any discomfort impairs consumers' ability to think, so they could either pullback or spend impulsively. Research also suggests higher temperatures makes consumers spend less. Rain can also have an effect on consumers, especially when they are writing reviews. Consumers also tend to go with more social proof on products when in warmer temperatures.

So the next time you see a spike or decrease in sales, you may want to refer to your weather app.

The Association of National Advertisers recently came out with a report about the digital ad ecosystem. And, it's a bit shocking.

Shockingly, the report stated that $20 billion towards programmatic ad spend is going to waste.

Brands are lacking knowledge in the online advertising supply chain area, which is where money goes through online ad exchanges to the publishers. Many advertisers and publishers have been worried about the programmatic ad industry because they do not know how much money is being taken from ad tech intermediaries.

Brands are also spending about 15% of their ad spend towards clickbait websites that feature low-quality content and intrusive ads to maximize revenue for the site.

Despite the reputation made-for-advertiser sites have, they do deliver real impressions, but the quality of those impressions is questionable.

The morale of the story? Please make sure you have a trusted media firm working on your behalf.

It's no surprise that fake news is always around us. But how many can actually tell the difference between fake and real? Only 48.2% of Americans are confident they could spot fake news on social media.

Many consumers have admitted they have fallen victim to fake news, a phony story, or have shared information that ended up being false. Interestingly consumers around the country have varying levels of confidence with 12.5% of people from Oregon being confident compared to 76% of consumers from New York.

Age is another factor with 69% of millennials saying they are confident, followed by 51.3% of Gen Z and 42.7% of Gen X. In another study, 47.46% of consumers believe they could tell the difference between a real and a fake video on social media.

Next time you are scrolling through social media, try to see how easy or hard it is for you to tell what is real and what is fake.

Here is a recent highlight from Marketing Keys' blog page. Please start following our blogs and let us know what you think.

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