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The Travel Corporation Explores CTV with MNTN, Driving Significant Performance For Three Separate Brands
With one of their busiest seasons—summer—just around the corner, TTC dove head first into CTV, launching campaigns for Contiki and Trafalgar. TTC leaned on MNTN’s CTV expertise to produce the best performance possible. They worked closely with MNTN’s Customer Success Team, who helped them to identify new strategies that would best align with each brand’s campaign goals. To accomplish their objective—engaging with and driving new business—TCC used Performance TV prospecting for both brands. While the focus of each campaign was similar, TTC needed to target different consumer groups to meet each brand’s needs. Using MNTN’s Oracle Data Cloud integration, which gave them access to over 80K+ audience segments, TTC was able to serve ads to multiple audiences built specifically for Contiki and Trafalgar: Contiki (primary demographic is comprised of college students and other young adults): Sorority and fraternity members, adventure travelers, and consumers aged 18-20 Trafalgar: Leisure travelers, people planning summer trips, and well-traveled financial strategists Simultaneously, TTC kicked off retargeting campaigns to reach consumers who had previously visited the Contiki or Trafalgar websites. For both brands they utilized MNTN’s easy-to-use segmentation tool to build audiences with first-party data—these were made up of people who had visited their websites in the last 30 days but hadn’t yet converted. “MNTN is very intuitive to use—it was quick and easy to get goals and optimizations set up for our different brands and campaigns within those brands,” Katrina Roseli, TTC’s Paid Media Account Manager said. “I also really appreciate how collaborative and responsive the MNTN team is. They helped me to identify audiences that aligned with the campaigns for each brand, which ultimately generated business.”
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Hooray Heroes Tells a Tale of Strong Performance and Growth with MNTN
Gearing up for one of their most profitable seasons, Hooray Heroes used Performance TV to launch two CTV campaigns with differing goals. Six weeks before Father’s Day, they launched their first Performance TV retargeting campaign. They utilized MNTN’s easy-to-use segmentation tool to build audiences from first-party data and engage consumers who had previously interacted with their brand. From there, Hooray Heroes set their sights on attracting and driving new business through a robust prospecting campaign. Performance TV’s integration with Oracle Data Cloud and other trusted data providers provided them with multiple useful audience segments to target including: Father’s Day Shoppers, Men’s Apparel Shoppers, Recreation Shoppers and Moms Who Shop. Due to the seasonality of their business, Hooray Heroes needed to switch out their ad creative often. Performance TV’s easy-to-use ad builder let Hooray Heroes change creative whenever necessary—enabling them to efficiently align seasonal messaging with various target audiences.
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Micro Conversions: What Are They and Why Do They Matter?
6 Min Read When you run an ad campaign, you may measure success based on the number of conversions, or the volume of people who made a purchase following the ad. However, success isn’t limited to the number of sales. While it’s good to get conversions from an ad campaign (because conversions often equal revenue), your ad campaign could also bring people to your website for more information. Consumers might subscribe to your newsletter or ask for a sales consultation, which could lead to a sale. Thus, these micro conversions are an important part of growing sales. This guide will help you understand micro conversions so you can use them to strengthen your marketing strategy. What Are Micro Conversions? Micro conversions refer to the small ways users interact with your website and signal purchase intent. Examples include: Visiting multiple pages on your website. Engaging with your social media posts. Sharing your posts or content with other people. Signing up for your newsletter or SMS messaging lists. Viewing videos. Adding items to their cart without purchasing. Why Do Micro Conversions Matter? Successful marketing is based on understanding the customer. Micro conversions offer valuable insights into customer behavior. Each micro conversion helps you understand what content resonates with your customers, which products are popular, and what keeps your customers interested. For example, if a lot of people abandon their carts with specific items, look at how you are marketing those products. Maybe your ads don’t highlight the right product benefits, or perhaps you’re not addressing your audience’s pain points. Micro conversions also help you optimize your website to improve conversion rates. How To Measure and Optimize Micro Conversions To measure micro conversions, choose the action you’re measuring and divide it by the total number of visits to your website. Then multiply the result by 100. For example, if you’re running an e-commerce shop that sells cosmetics, you might use the number of people who added a product to their cart without buying. If 400 people visited your website and 50 of them added a product to their carts and later abandoned them, you would have a micro conversion rate of 12.5% (50/400 x 100). Measuring micro conversions helps you see where you need to focus your marketing attention. Once you know how many people are taking specific actions on your site, you can strengthen your messaging accordingly. Optimize your site by: Adding calls to action to sign up for more information. Improving your product descriptions. Enhancing post-purchase messaging. Tailoring your ads to better address customer pain points. Micro Conversion Examples Use these examples of micro conversions to improve your marketing activities. 1. Clicking on a Link or Button Say you create an ad campaign directing customers to sign up for your newsletter or join a valued customer program. Anyone who clicks the button or link for more information is indicating interest in your product or service. Track the performance of these campaign landing pages separately from other website metrics to better understand your ads’ effectiveness. 2. Adding a Product to a Cart Customers who add products to their cart are interested in making a purchase, even if they later abandon the cart. People commonly abandon their carts because of shipping costs, website performance, and forced account creation. A high abandoned cart rate tells you to simplify your checkout process, change shipping rates, or improve site security. Address this issue by sending triggered ads that remind the customer to go back and finish their transaction. 3. Subscribing to a Newsletter Someone who signs up for your newsletter wants to learn more about your brand. Email marketing still offers a strong ROI of about $40 for every $1 spent. Boost your email engagement by sending out targeted messages with special offers, exclusive content, and other rewards that make subscribers feel valued. 4. Watching a Video Videos are an essential part of your marketing strategy. More than half of consumers say video is the most engaging kind of content on social media. People are also more likely to remember the information presented in a video. A large amount of video views likely means you have high brand awareness, particularly if people watching your videos are also sharing them. Create engaging content to help your videos perform well. 5. Filling Out a Form People may fill out forms on your website to request more information, gated content, or a sales consultation. You can use online forms to collect data and qualify leads for your sales team. 6. Clicking To Call or Chat Over 90% of internet traffic comes from mobile phones, so let customers call you with the click of a button. Then, you can track the number of people who are clicking instead of looking you up through an online directory. Add chat features to your website to capture customers who might be interested in your brand but have more questions. 7. Adding a Bookmark or Favorite This micro conversion isn’t as straightforward as other examples on the list because a potential consumer isn’t directly interacting with your brand by bookmarking or favoriting your site. However, this action indicates that they are interested in coming back. They could be interested in your content, or they might want to return to your website to compare you with a competitor. People who favorite your site may also be frequent customers. Track this metric to understand how many people consider your site worth returning to. 8. Following on Social Media People spend a lot of time on social media, and your followers will likely interact with your brand often. Social media marketing is also a great way to build credibility and create a relationship with potential customers. Post a combination of informative content with more sales-oriented content to create an authentic and credible presence on social media. 9. Using a Product Comparison Tool Product comparison tools are useful for evaluating high-ticket items including vehicles, furniture, and electronics. People also use these tools when they’re considering new software or looking for a new insurance company. Track how many people are using your comparison tool to gauge interest. 10. Checking Store or Product Availability When someone checks your online or in-store inventory, they likely want to purchase that product. Make sure your online inventory is always accurate. If someone thinks a product is available in the store and then finds out it’s not, they may turn away from your brand. How Connected TV Can Get the Ball Rolling Connected TV advertising can be a powerful tool to engage your audience at the information-gathering stage of a purchase. Most customers don’t have an opinion about your brand before they start searching for it. Using Connected TV advertising to increase micro conversions can be more successful than trying to improve sales. When your strategy is focused on improving micro conversions, you create targeted messaging to inspire viewers to take a small step. Connected TV is a great way to connect with people who are watching TV while on their mobile phones or multitasking on their phones or laptops. Target these viewers by adding a strong call to action in your Connected TV ad that sends them to your website. You can also run A/B tests to see which campaigns are most successful. Use these insights to modify your ads until you find messages that stick. By working with a company like MNTN, you can create highly targeted Connected TV campaigns, optimized to drive micro conversions. MNTN gives you valuable insights you can use to refine your strategy and increase micro conversions. Request a demo today to learn more. Micro Conversions: Final Thoughts Focusing on micro conversions helps you generate leads and make sales. By using targeted ads on powerful channels like Connected TV to inspire people to take a small action on your website, you get insights into behaviors that can help you refine your overall marketing strategy. Ultimately, it’s easiest to sell to someone who’s already interested in your brand, so focus on micro conversions to drum up engagement. Sign Up for the Connected TV ReportSubscribe to the report Apple, Amazon, NBC and more use to get their CTV news.
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Houston Hyundai Auto Group Drives Business and Quality Web Traffic With MNTN
MNTN’s powerful reporting dashboards enabled Watts to accurately track campaign performance—he was happy with what he saw. Since launching their Performance TV campaigns, Houston Hyundai Auto Group experienced a whopping 81% month-over-month (MoM) improvement in cost per acquisition (CPA) and a 15% MoM improvement in cost per visit (CPV). Additionally, site visits went up by 11% and average raw conversions increased by 24%. These results show that Watts has achieved his goal of reaching audiences who are: 1. likely to engage and/or 2. ready to buy. The auto group’s direct traffic was positively affected as well. They decided to pause their Performance TV campaigns in January 2023 and experienced a notable decrease in the number of people visiting the dealerships—it bounced back when the campaigns were reactivated. On the flip side, when two of their locations were under construction, MNTN enabled them to continue to generate business. Performance TV not only proved to be a successful channel on its own, but it also strengthened other marketing efforts. After starting CTV advertising with MNTN, the auto group saw significant improvements in their paid social media campaigns. For instance, average session duration increased by 118% and average bounce rates decreased by 22%. Because of the success of their Performance TV campaigns, Watts decided to keep Houston Hyundai Auto Group’s ads running on an evergreen basis throughout the year.
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10 Top of Funnel Marketing Strategies to Increase Awareness
6 Min Read To generate a high volume of new leads, you need to cast a wide net—and the best time to do so is in the information-gathering stage of the buying process. You can attract customers at the top level with ads that appeal to a wide variety of consumers. What Is Top Funnel Marketing? Top funnel marketing is the practice of appealing to a wide range of people with an ad campaign. These marketing campaigns are launched to potential customers in the “awareness” stage of the marketing funnel with the goal of increasing brand visibility and generating new leads. Upper Funnel vs Lower Funnel Marketing People in the upper funnel of the buying process are just starting their journey. At this stage, they are often looking for information, comparing brands, and taking note of different products and services that meet their needs. Upper-level ad campaigns focus on prospective customers and are often centered around building brand awareness and solidifying your credibility. Those in the lower funnel of the buying process are almost ready to make a purchase. This level of the customer journey may consist of existing customers who are looking to buy from your business again, or potential customers who just need a little extra push to convert. Lower-level ad campaigns are more personalized and targeted to nudge people in the last stage of their decision-making process. If you’re focused on awareness funnel marketing, you can employ the following strategies to spread the word about your brand and capture new audiences. 1. Content Marketing You can use content marketing to appeal to buyers at all stages of the funnel. For top-level marketing strategies, content should educate potential customers about your brand. Instead of trying to sell your products or services, use content to address common pain points, detail how to use your product, or showcase your expertise in general. To create a top-level social media campaign, focus your posts on people who are in the information gathering stage of their buyer journey. For example, creative posts with vivid imagery will help draw people in so they can absorb your message. Like content marketing, social media ads geared towards the upper level of the marketing funnel can address how your product or service will benefit users and solve common problems. 3. Search Engine Optimization You can have the most engaging website in your field, but it won’t drive leads if nobody can find it online. Since 75% of people don’t look past the first page of search results, you need your website to rank higher if you want people to see it. Adding keywords and phrases to your site and publishing high-quality content (such as including videos and webinars) can help you rank higher in searches and get more customer eyes on your website. 4. Influencer Marketing Influencers build their brands on creating a trusting relationship with audiences, and people tend to value their recommendations. In fact, over half of customers trust a recommendation from an influencer over other marketing channels. By partnering with an influencer to promote your brand, you can build awareness and enhance your credibility with their audiences. By creating social media campaigns or highlighting the influencer in Connected TV ads, your brand will boost its visibility and build trust with potential customers. 5. Display Advertising Another way to drive brand awareness is to put an ad in front of users on a website they’re already visiting through the use of display ads. These ads are more dynamic than ever before, with the option to add animation and even short videos. By gearing the messaging of those display ads to fit a wide variety of audiences, you can capture enough users to eventually entice some of them down the marketing funnel towards a conversion. Hosting and sponsoring events brings you exposure to people who may not have heard of your brand. To generate leads, host informational webinars with relevant industry information to connect customers and build your brand image. Or you can sponsor events that fit with your brand, and include a link to a landing page on your website to help determine your ROI. 7. Public Relations There are multiple public relations tools you can use to boost your brand in the media. To capitalize on this top-funnel strategy, create sponsored social media posts to target specific users, offer to be an expert for local media stories, or write articles for trade publications to target customers within your industry. 8. Referral Marketing Word of mouth is a proven marketing strategy, as new customers are more likely to trust your existing customers over any paid ads. To entice your current customers to make referrals, offer an incentive like a discount on future services for every new customer that signs up. And you can always include testimonials from past customers on your website to enhance your credibility and show your dedication to customer service. 9. Guerilla Marketing Guerilla marketing involves using unconventional tactics to build brand awareness. These campaigns usually happen in large, crowded spaces to attract as much attention as possible. You could create public art or another memorable spectacle at a large event. For example, in 2009, paper towel company Bounty created a giant melting popsicle in L.A. and a giant coffee spill in New York, blocking sidewalks and drawing attention to kick off an ad campaign. 10. Connected TV Advertising Television was once solely considered an upper-level marketing strategy, and traditional TV ads are still a great way to build brand awareness with multiple potential customers. And CTV ads are also a great top funnel marketing strategy to build brand awareness. But now with Connected TV, you have the ability to personalize ads and target specific audiences, making TV ads more of a performance tool. Connected TV offers the benefits of traditional TV advertising with the customization and power of digital. Create a Connected TV campaign that informs potential users about your product or service and use targeting tools to reach your core demographics. Even though you’re building awareness, you can create TV ads that appeal to people in each target group. How CTV Advertising Can Keep Your Funnel Full Connected TV gives you the ability to target audiences for different upper funnel goals. And with MNTN Performance TV prospecting, you can create upper-level ads that are highly targeted and optimized to convert new leads. We’ve transformed CTV from an awareness only marketing channel to one that drives new users down the full funnel—allowing you to launch self-managed campaigns that focus on conversions and revenue. Find out more by requesting a demo. Upper Funnel Marketing: Final Thoughts Top funnel marketing is a critical part of your marketing strategy. You need it to attract new leads and build a steady stream of new customers. When marketing to those at the top funnel of the buyer journey, create strong, memorable ads and drive them on engaging channels like Connected TV so new customers consider your brand as the best solution to their pain points.
