Choosing Search vs. Social It’s an age-old (er, decade old) battle: Paid Search vs. Social Media. While they both have advantages and work best together, today we will highlight areas where paid search has the upper hand. SEM Is Intent-Based Social media is full of articles, pictures, and videos that cover all of a consumer’s interests. But in paid search, customers don’t typically find you unless they’re searching for you or something you offer. This means that traffic coming from search to your site is usually consumers who are lower in the marketing funnel and are closer to becoming customers. Think if it like casting a smaller, more refined net, with target-customer-shaped holes. SEM Provides Unique Data One of the most powerful assets of paid search campaigns is its keyword lists. If you look closely, search keywords and phrasing offer golden insights into the mind of your customer. Keywords and phrases can influence creative, help you understand your customer, and plug into your website or landing pages for better SEO ranking. SEM Is Better for B2B Let’s face it: social media wasn’t made for B2B advertising. Social feeds are built for distraction – users want something shiny they can see quickly, understand immediately, and keep scrolling past. Speaking of scrolling, that’s what most users do on social media. CPG and other DTC products have an advantage here, as they’re inherently more enticing than B2B services. An ice-cold bottle of beer with on an artful backdrop is just going to get more likes and shares than an ad for small business IT services. There’s no unfair competition in paid search. Your B2B brand isn’t competing with B2C products, and anyone who sees your ad is looking for exactly what you offer. While we believe the real discussion is not search versus social, instead it is search plus social, consider search’s unique advantages and if they are aligned with your brand’s objectives during your next media allocation. -Team Exverus

How to Tell if Ad Repetition is Hurting Your Brand With the rise and rapid growth of OTT platforms, added with the death of cookies, ad repetition has become a major issue noticed both by marketers and consumers. According to a survey by Deloitte, 50% of Americans said they were watching ad-supported video content (AVOD) in 2020—a figure that was 18% higher than in 2019. The bad news? Ad pods have emerged without any regard for frequency, resulting in increased ad redundancy. Ad redundancy has frustrated consumers, who then seek another service that will provide a better user experience. This means that not only are OTT platforms losing subscribers, but brands are losing security with target audiences. So, what can your brand do to help minimize ad repetition? Take a cue from Tubi, a San Francisco-based technology company that has developed tools and methods to help excessive ad repetition: Capping frequency at the campaign level regardless of demand source. Having visibility into the buy and what creative is running. Pinpointing households that are the same target and demographic but that have not been exposed through other channels. Consider utilizing similar target definitions across platforms and managing frequency on each platform to ensure people are not overloaded. The core thread between each solution is tied to improving the customer experience. The better the user experience, the more opportunities for advertisers and a happier target audience. Reduce your ad frequency and see an increase in efficiency.

Exverus Media's Managing Director Talia Arnold lent her expertise on streaming ads to a Marketing Brew article on frequency caps. Learn what they are below: This news appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, & analysis, subscribe for free here .

Exverus Media is named the 2020 Silver Small Agency of the Year: Media by Ad Age ! Read our full-length editorial celebrating the win. This news appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, & analysis, subscribe for free here .