The Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) market is heating up. And, to keep up, DOOH ad platform Vistar Media has launched a private marketplace.
Called Marketplace Deals, it covers outdoor US and Canadian digital signage like billboards, bus shelter displays and screens in elevators and taxis.
In a private marketplace, ad buyers and inventory sellers know from whom they are buying or selling, as opposed to open digital ad exchanges where the identities of advertisers and inventory owners are less visible.
CEO Michael Provenano told me that Marketplace Deals is distinguished from other DOOH private marketplaces by two differentiators.
Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.
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Content Analytics provides content management and analytical tools for brand product pages on big retailer sites.
For instance, Samsung might use Content Analytics for managing the content of the page about its Galaxy Tab smartphone on the Walmart site.
The four-year-old Content Analytics is one of several content/analytics tools provided by such major retailers as Target, Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy, for brands like P&G, Levi’s, Mattel, Pfizer and others.
This week, the San Francisco-based company is adding another resource to its toolbox. Called VendorSCOR, it automatically generates Vendor Scorecards about a product page that an online retailer could send to its brands. Content Analytics says this is the first solution for generating these kinds of report cards.
Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.
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As witches descend from their mountainous caves in search of lost hikers to sacrifice to their eldritch gods and the restless dead rise from their dusty crypts hungering for the warmth of human flesh, it’s time to look back at the spookiest and most popular posts from the WordStream blog from October.
And my, were there some spooky stories this month! From major changes to how Google spends your money and how to find your most valuable keywords, to innovative chatbots and duplicate content, there were more than a few scares in October. Grab some of the candy you’ve been “saving” for tonight, secure a flashlight firmly beneath your chin, and catch up with the most popular posts of the month.
Our top story this month was this emerging news story from Allen concerning forthcoming changes to how Google will spend your ad budget. This change will affect all advertisers regardless of size or spend, so if you haven’t heard about these important changes or how they’ll affect your campaigns, find out everything you need to know.
Creating a Facebook business page is deceptively tricky. Sure, it’s easy to get one up and running, but is it any good?
In our second-most popular post of October, Allen walks you through how to create the ultimate Facebook business page to drive leads and sales via this immensely powerful social platform.
Newcomers to paid search often mistakenly believe that keywords with high CTRs are their most valuable keywords, but if high CTR keywords aren’t converting, they’re not nearly as valuable as they might appear. In this post, Allen explains how to identify your most valuable keywords – the keywords with high CTR AND high conversion rates – as well as how to consistently find more of these keywords. Essential reading.
Once you’ve found your most valuable keywords, it’s vital that you make the most of them – which is precisely what guest author Max DesMarais of Vital Designs shows you how to do in our fourth-most popular post of October.
Max covers a wealth of important topics in this highly actionable guide, including optimizing landing pages, conducting A/B tests, and more.
Speaking of A/B tests, our next post in this month’s spooktacular round-up focuses on testing for SEO. In this comprehensive guide, Brad outlines six SEO tests that you should be running to ensure your site is as tightly optimized as possible. How many of these tests have you already run?
Achieving AdWords certification is often among the first steps taken by fledgling new account managers – including every single member of WordStream’s rapidly growing Customer Success team – but passing the exam is a whole different animal entirely.
In this post, Margot offers seven fantastic pointers on passing the AdWords certification exam from newly minted AdWords-certified professionals. If you’re planning on taking the AdWords exam, you need to read this post.
Love them or hate them, chatbots are here to stay – and some of them are becoming increasingly sophisticated. In this post, yours truly looks at 10 of the most innovative chatbots on the Web, as well as the ways in which conversational agents could further transform the landscape of the Web in the future.
There are dozens of stubbornly persistent SEO myths that, like zombies rising from the grave to exact a terrible vengeance on the living, simply refuse to die – and misconceptions about duplicate content are among the most prevalent. In this post, Jean Frew of Hallam Internet dispels some of the myths about duplicate content and what you should do about it.
Everybody wants higher conversion rates. Not everybody wants to spend years learning the arcane, mystical rites hidden in the depths of the AdWords interface in order to achieve them.
Fortunately for you, Larry Kim is here to help. In our penultimate post of this month’s round-up, Larry shows you how to triple your conversion rates without touching a single setting in AdWords.
For many small businesses with limited marketing budgets, paid search and paid social is often an either/or proposition. Unfortunately, many newcomers to digital marketing are unsure about which type of campaign is right for their business, which is why this case study by Hallam Internet’s Lauren Ahluwalia is essential reading for small, local businesses just getting into digital marketing.
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Since the mid ’90s, the internet has been filled with examples of something tiny becoming something big — and changing everything. Ad blocking is another of those stories that will be told, in years to come, around smoldering tweet-fires by grumpy old digital marketers like me.
Ad blockers have already had a huge impact on the digital landscape. This impact could only grow larger if the popularity of blocking ads reaches a critical mass on mobile as well as desktop. For this article, I talked with numerous publishers, users, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, media agencies and Adblock Plus itself to get a complete view of the varying perspectives on ad blocking, and most importantly, to try to tackle where it will all wind up.
Ad-blocking background
Skip ahead to the next heading if you already know the ad-blocking basics. If not, ad blockers are desktop/mobile browser add-ons or standalone browsers that cause most paid advertising to completely vanish from your surfing experience.
Tired of ads intermingling with your search results? Install an ad blocker and enjoy ZERO sponsored ads. Weary of watching a 30-second Facebook video with a 15-second mid-stack ad shoved dead in the center? Simple fix: Download an ad blocker, and voila, video only — c’est la vie, Zuckerberg.
The same applies to most every site, from YouTube video ads to click-bait style (“see what happens next”) modules at the bottom or right rail of most popular content.
There are other reasons to download ad blockers as well — security reasons, like: stop the bad people from accessing my webcam. Did you know that even innocuous sites can open your mic or access your cam? Did you ever get a bizarre feeling that somehow all sorts of different places know you were looking at that “Nicolas Cage rainbow pillowcase?” HOW?
Well, a little plug-and-play add-on or mobile browser can help stop all of that dead in its tracks.
There are many instances (some intentional and some not so intentional) of ads creating malware issues. “Malvertising” has been found not just on seedy sites you would expect to have privacy or security issues with. Even The New York Times and the BBC last year had an issue when they inadvertently ran ads that attempted to hijack the computers of visitors.
Many well-recognized sites have had similar issues to varying degrees. Using ad blockers eliminates most of these issues from ever being a concern.
The user perspective
While there are many different reasons given for using an ad blocker, the bottom-line motivation is pretty simple. Either users are sick of being bombarded by ads and experiencing their effects on the user experience, or they have security or privacy concerns.
If I were writing a confession, I would tell a tale about how I nearly lost my sanity as my mobile phone choked on a 20-slide, “click-bait”-style gallery. It was ever resizing, lagging, and ads kept “enlarging” where the “next” button was located, causing me to click an ad instead of the next button. Yes, this was even on WiFi.
That was when I began using ad blockers on my desktop and phone. Maybe it was one of the first cases of PTAD (Post Traumatic Ad Disorder) ever recorded. I’m getting long in the tooth and don’t appreciate having my precious remaining moments sucked up by ads.
The publishers’ perspective
I’ve worked with some of the biggest names in media over the last 18 years and might be a little more empathetic to their plight than a typical consumer. Publishers seem to be getting it from all sides. The way people consume news has vastly changed and impacted many publications.
Then, you have instances of Google depriving the publications of more and more clicks over time from direct results (“answers”) to the “view original image” additions into Chrome. Now, many sites who actually do get a visit from a human fail to monetize the pageview because that person has ad blocking enabled.
I’ve reached out to numerous publications about the issue, and many of them either declined to comment or stopped responding when they heard about the topic of the article. Like saying “Candyman” three times in a mirror, it’s almost as if they don’t want to even utter the name, for fear it will have bad consequences.
Some publishers, such as Forbes and Business Insider, have taken fairly aggressive action by blocking those with ad blockers. Others, such as The Guardian, take a more subtle approach and attempt to appeal to a reader’s logic.
To be fair, many may have gone a bit too far with jamming ads into content or trying to inflate page views artificiallyusing tactics like multi-page slideshows. Unfortunately, whether or not they were part of the inception or rise in popularity of ad blockers, all publishers are now dealing with the effects.
Something I’ve seen lately are publications that attempt to trick ad blockers using various techniques. One maddening method I ran into involved about 20 to 30 separate scripts running that would auto-load and insert ads if one happened to get blocked. This was set up on a news site. When I attempted to block the actual ad object, another script and ad would be loaded in its place. I’ve dubbed this the “whack-a-mole” strategy. To me, it appeared to be an indicator of desperation.
Another interesting method publishers have been using is to use their own server as an ad server. This tricks the blockers into thinking the ad is not really an ad. While this method may trick casual users, advanced users can easily block those ad sections with a right click setting in their ad blocker.
Publications such as Wired and City A.M. at one time reportedly blocked ad-blocking readers, but have since stopped doing so. Other publications like Forbes and Business Insider have stayed the course, apparently still blocking all users with blockers, asking them to whitelist them or disable the blocker. While I understand the thinking, this approach seems to anger quite a few users, and there are many message boards and social chatter with derogatory posts raging about this practice.
As an aside, I think companies that employ this technique should be advised that using Google’s “cached” version of the page gets around the ad-block wall. Tighten that loophole up, and cast a scowl at your consultants.
I do occasionally see other approaches, like an “article limit,” which allows you to read a couple of articles free a month or other set period of time.
I contacted Alon Zieve, COO of Seeking Alpha, who appears to be navigating the ad-blocking issue in a logical way. Zieve reports that blockers have definitely had an impact on SA revenue. They’ve taken efforts to block certain ad-block users and offer them an option to whitelist or subscribe to the ad-free version. “Fortunately, because our users love our content, we have a relatively good take-up rate on these options.”
Interestingly, he finds that users actually have a hard time trying to figure out how to whitelist the site when they decide to do so. Seeking Alpha also has their own version of Google’s Contributor Service, a great email strategy, and other marketing strategies in place.
When asked about what publishers need to do to survive, Zieve responded, “At Seeking Alpha, our approach to survival is simple. Produce great, valuable content that our users love, and there will always be a way to monetize it.” Their multi-pronged approach appears to have been successful for them in mitigating the ad-block issue.
Adblock Plus’s perspective
I conducted a Skype interview with Ben Williams, director of communications at Adblock Plus. He had some interesting things to say about the history of Adblock Plus, the challenges, and where he thinks it will be going.
I happen to agree with Williams’s view that Adblock Plus was just answering the call for what was desperately wanted out there. The big bad wolves tried first to sue small companies into submission (some are still at it) and then, when that failed, some decided they would work with them.
Adblock Plus doesn’t appear to have any axes to grind. Williams was surprisingly zen about the lawsuits and negative press. In fact, the media outcry was met with Adblock Plus lightening up a bit and not blocking all ads, but setting the sensitivity setting (if you will) a little lower.
It’s also important to note that Adblock Plus can be paid to default whitelist your ads as long as they adhere to their quality guidelines, and many large players have done so.
Adblock Plus supports the new models of how publishers will get funded, and they don’t think the ad-blocking genie will ever get put back into the bottle. When asked for his thoughts on the “tug-of-war” that has happened in the past with publishers trying to get around ad blockers, Williams replied, “It doesn’t really serve the consumer very well.”
He added that instead of “jumping into a tech arms race, (publishers) should consider the fact that so many people are blocking ads and should make better ads.” He believes, for the most part, that’s what has been happening. There are some publishers out there that believe fighting the tide of ad blockers is their best option, but Williams thinks that might be a pretty bad way to treat their users.
When asked about the problem with apps and how they prevent ad blocking, he stated that there really isn’t anything that can be done about that yet. Adblock Plus used to have an app that allowed users to block those ads, but it was kicked out of the Play Store in 2011.
Williams does believe that many people are still using browsers to access sites and that the future of ad blocking on mobile is with the blocking browsers. When Twitter announced it will be using Safari for anyone following a link from iOS versions of its app, it was a huge lift to any one of Twitter’s 328 million users that may have ad blockers installed.
I asked Williams what he thought about Google announcing its own “ad-blocking” features on Chrome and what that would look like. He replied, “What Google has announced so far sounds more to me to be a pop-up blocker.” He believes the ad-blocking community is going to still want to block things like YouTube video ads.
Williams guesses but doesn’t know if those features will be included in the Chrome update. “It all depends on the implementation,” he said. My personal guess is that YouTube video ads won’t be defaulting to the off position — does anyone think they would?
Williams’s view on the future of ad blocking is that it isn’t going anywhere anytime time soon. He believes that recent moves from Apple and Twitter using Safari will only make blocking ads easier. Interestingly, when wondering where things will go on mobile devices, Williams tells us to “look to the East,” saying that people in China, Indonesia and India are blocking ads on their mobile devices at higher rates than we’ve ever seen on desktop.
A survey Adblock Plus recently conducted discovered why US users aren’t using mobile ad blockers the way they are in the East. Williams said the overwhelming response was that they “just didn’t know it exists.” If that survey is correct, I think a safe bet is that we’ll see a surge of mobile ad blocking in the US sometime in the near future.
Looking down the road, Williams feels the best way for publishers to approach their ad-blocking audience is to “reach them with a specialized experience that can also be profitable.” He feels that a “frictionless payment system” for publishers might work out well for those who understand they need to support content that they consume.
Media and agency perspectives
It’s no secret just how much companies like Google, Facebook and other big media players depend on ad revenues. In 2015, advertising generated close to to 90 percent of Google’s total revenue. Facebook makes 84 percent of its ad revenue from mobile. When you’re talking billions, even a small dent can make giants sit up and take notice.
One doesn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to see a definitive pattern in all the recent moves from the big players. We’ve seen the IAB putting out its acronym-rich strategy in an attempt to slow an outbreak of mobile ad blocking by decreasing the demand for it. Google has been pushing the “contributor” service along with other moves that seem to telegraph a reaction to ad blocking such as:
I corresponded with Dennis Buchheim, SVP and general manager of the IAB Tech Lab, about the Coalition for Better Ads (CBA). Buchheim reports that their global effort is focused on providing education and guidance on the user experience, along with guidelines for “better ads” — the goal of which is to slow the motivation to block ads.
Buchheim believes the “installation of ad-blocking technology is often motivated by consumers dealing with ad experiences from other parties who aren’t interested in adopting these guidelines.”
But what is a publisher to do? “IAB created the IAB Ad Blocking Primer to help guide their efforts. The primer describes the risks and benefits of a wide range of tactics, including subscription models and micropayment models, that can be employed,” he said.
The impact on other marketing channels is unclear. Does the more difficult ad landscape increase the spend for SEO, email, social and so on? While he is unclear if there has been a real impact to date, “presumably other channels that can demonstrate their effectiveness would secure increased spend, if digital ad inventory decreased dramatically because of blocking.”
“Before that happened, it’s likely that the price of digital ads would increase as volume decreased,” he added.
What about agencies?
If blocking ads reaches the same fever pitch here in North America and Europe as it has in the East, I can see many paid media reps stating, “Brother, can you spare a dime?” It’s quite difficult to know how successful all of the moves by Google and the IAB will be in slowing the adoption of mobile ad blocking. I, for one, believe it will eventually be on the majority of mobile devices.
I reached out to Andrew Goodman, founder of Page Zero Media, for an agency take on what comes next. His thoughts: “As device-specific computing gives way to futuristic home and mobile concepts, the Internet of Things, voice search, facial recognition, AI and machine learning, etc., the whole concept of interrupting people with advertising may be undermined.”
In the future, Goodman sees companies like Apple and Microsoft potentially in an advantageous position since they “can lean heavily on business models that provide function to consumers, rather than relying heavily on advertising to supplement whatever consumers might pay for function.”
Goodman sees “many current ad models and agencies as doomed within five years, unless they find new stuff to do.”
Closing thoughts
I don’t think ad blocking is going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, I’m predicting that in spite of all the measures the IAB and its members have taken to slow down the demand for ad blockers, mobile blocking will eventually be as common in the United States as it is in the East.
Efforts to slow the outbreak will delay the rate at which it’s adopted. However, as more and more US sites attempt to monetize their mobile content, mobile blocking will inevitably lose the war. For many users, this is a win-win scenario. They’ll see better and less annoying ads overall thanks to the CBA efforts — with or without a blocker in play.
Not to sound too unsympathetic, but I’m not breaking out a violin to play “My heart bleeds for Google and Facebook.” Even though it might put a dent in their pocketbooks, I’m predicting they’ll still come out of it just fine. I’ll play that violin for the many publishers who are deserving and in need of those ad dollars.
As for the Google “ad blocker,” I don’t think even Vegas would carry odds on whether or not that will block video ads from YouTube. Once upon a time, pop-ups were a big problem, and you could download a pop-up blocker plugin to prevent them — until most of the browsers included it by default. In this example, you solved the problem and eliminated a step for the end user.
I get the feeling that the announcement to incorporate the blocker into Chrome is a play to keep the unenlightened in the dark a bit longer. This way they can say, “Hey, yeah, I block ads” when in actuality, they don’t even know what a real blocker does. I don’t think this will have the prescribed effect they believe it will for very long.
I would love it if people began to embrace ad blockers as an effective protest tool. Hate fake news? Completely block the ads on that publication! You don’t have to cause a stink and hope advertisers pull their ads; you have the power with the click of a button to create the same effect.
Just remember to make sure you whitelist those publications you believe are deserving; many desperately need it.
As for the pubs that put up walls for ad blockers, I only see that as a Band-Aid that is easily peeled off. I can see an interesting future if, in fact, many large news sources go subscription only. I can almost see a Napster or BitTorrent for news emerging so that people can consume news without paying for it. Walls generally keep people out, though, not encourage them to walk a few miles to find another entrance.
I believe that the decrease of paid ads puts an increased importance on areas such as social, search, email and so on. Getting your content in front of a user will take more skills than bid, tools or resources to keep auctioning. I don’t know of many that consider an organic Google result for a term to be an ad — and that, in my opinion, is how the future of paid media, on the whole, should look: as innocuous as an answer that Alexa would give to the asker. Having a true, number one position for an important phrase really can’t be more valuable in a future without easily acquired sponsored ads, can it?
I would love to hear your thoughts on where you think this will all end up. Be sure to check out my video breakdown of the article as well:
Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.
About The Author
Anthony Muller is one of the best-kept secrets in the SEO industry at the enterprise level. He is the founder of
and, for over 17 years, the Zen Search Engine Marketer has gained clients through C-level referrals for the most part. He has worked with and coordinated the search strategies for many of the largest names in media, retail, and politics.
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For those who missed it, Whitespark’s overhaul of the US Local Search Ecosystem interactive tool was recently released, and it does a fantastic job of showing how vast and complex the search industry has become. The ecosystem visualizes the web of search engines, data providers, publishers, directories and other businesses that use local data about businesses to power one simple action that people do every day: search online.
For example, the infographic identifies Infogroup, Acxiom, Neustar/Localeze and Factual as the primary data aggregators, which collect and validate location data from businesses and share that data with publishers such as Apple, Bing, Foursquare and Google. (I refer to data aggregators and large publishers collectively as data amplifiers because they share a business’s location data not just directly with searchers, but also with other apps, tools, websites and businesses that, in turn, reshare that data to people across the digital world.)
In Whitespark’s words, the ecosystem “shows how business information is distributed online, who the primary data providers are, how search engines use the data, and how it flows.” The interactive tool helps you understand the importance of sharing accurate location data and the consequences of maintaining inaccurate data.
For example, because data aggregators influence a web of businesses across the ecosystem, it’s imperative that businesses meet the data formatting requirements of each aggregator. And as you can see, the ecosystem is complex:
The Local Search Ecosystem [click to enlarge]
Local search expert David Mihm originally developed this infographic in 2009, and over the years, the ecosystem has changed dramatically to reflect the rich palette of destinations that people weave together throughout the process of discovery, as well as the number of companies that influence whether a business’s location data appears as it should when, say, a searcher finds them on Facebook, Yelp or Uber.
A post on the Whitespark blog by Nyagoslav Zhekov dramatizes this evolution, tracing some of the businesses that have joined and departed. For instance, back in 2009, Apple did not even appear on the ecosystem, and Myspace did. In 2017, Apple is one of the principal data amplifiers, and Myspace is not a factor. You can tell by a quick glance of the 2009 version of the infographic how far the industry as grown:
Now, here’s the interesting part: As far-reaching as the new infographic is, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The infographic does not come close to identifying all the companies that license business information from data amplifiers or use it as a starting point to build out their own curated business directory. For instance, a quick glance at the following three lists of local citation sources shows dozens of additional places where business information exists:
Many of the businesses that appear on these lists overlap with those on Whitespark’s local search ecosystem, and they have the same role: receiving and sharing location data that influences which locations appear in search results. But many names on the top citations lists didn’t make the cut and are not part of the infographic. Why? Because of two factors that influence each other:
Consumers are using search in more far-reaching and sophisticated ways. They’re using apps, social media sites, websites, search engines and a host of other touch points to do increasingly refined searches for things to do, places to go, services to use and things to buy. They expect the digital world to provide instant access to restaurants, plumbers, museums, tattoo parlors, places for Magic the Gathering meet-ups, places to find spoken poetry and so on. Because of this behavior, the thousands of mobile app platforms, ad networks, navigation systems, data services, social media companies, search engines, directories and so on currently using business information provided by the data amplifiers would make the infographic difficult to comprehend — similar to the Marketing Technology Landscape.
At the same time, the ephemeral nature of many of these tools means that the infographic would rapidly be out of date as the various startups or branches of larger organizations either sunset or consolidate into a larger entity. I find it interesting that the fundamental reason the infographic can never be a truly representative look at the scale of the local search ecosystem is the exact reason that focusing your location data management on the data amplifiers is so critical today — something the infographic illustrates well.
The 2017 local search ecosystem is a brilliant foundation to get businesses grounded in the most influential sources of location data. But as the above examples demonstrate, the scope of location data companies far exceeds the Whitespark infographic. Put another way: Consider each wedge on the infographic to be a gateway to even more specialty sites by category.
The scope of location data directories, publishers and aggregators can seem overwhelming. But if you manage multiple brick-and-mortar storefronts, don’t despair. You need not have a presence on every directory on the lists I’ve cited. It’s far more important to focus your efforts on building relationships with data amplifiers. When you share your data with the core aggregators and publishers, you create two advantages for yourself:
Amplifiers do the heavy lifting for you by disseminating your data among all the places that require it, however obscure, where your data appears.
You stay up-to-date on the emerging technologies and products that the data amplifiers create. Google alone constantly updates its algorithms and products to improve search. By having a relationship with Google — such as publishing your data on Google My Business — you are on the ground floor when product updates happen and when Google launches new products.
Understand the scope and richness of the location data ecosystem. Make sure you are constantly optimizing your data and content to be found everywhere. And let the data amplifiers help you succeed across the ecosystem.
Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
About The Author
Adam Dorfman is the Senior Vice President of Product & Technology at
Five years ago, Ceridian, a human resources management platform, acquired Dayforce, a cloud application focused on managing the entire employee process from hire to retire.
“Ceridian had always had its roots in payroll,” says Ceridian CMO Kristina Cleary. “It was actually founded in 1932, and has always managed payrolls for some of the world’s largest organizations.”
According to Cleary, Ceridian originally partnered with Dayforce to find a time and attendance-vendor to complement its payroll solutions. Before the acquisition, Cleary was the vice president of marketing for Dayforce.
“Ceridian, at the time, had been partnering with a bunch of other solutions that weren’t necessarily meeting the needs of its customers, so it was looking for a new solution.”
Cleary says Dayforce initially met with Ceridian during a trade show event. At first, the conversation centered on developing a partnership where Dayforce could fill in the gaps around the time and attendance management needs for Ceridian’s customers.
“What that turned into, about a year later, was a broader partnership where Dayforce had committed to actually building out a cloud payroll solutions for Ceridian — which became the end-to-end application that it is today,” says Cleary.
When Ceridian acquired Dayforce in 2012, Cleary was named the senior vice president of global marketing for Ceridian. In 2016, she was named CMO.
“Since the acquisition, I’ve assumed growing responsibilities, expanding my reach across our operations” says Cleary, “I have been able to take a look at all of our marketing operations, and identified the the areas of success, and obviously, areas where we can improve as well.”
With the acquisition now just over five years ago, Cleary has a large-scale view of what the branding process was like — bringing Dayforce into the Ceridian umbrella — and is sharing what she learned from the experience.
Amy Gesenhues is Third Door Media's General Assignment Reporter, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land and Search Engine Land. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including
Every fall, over 100,000 people descend on a three-block radius of San Francisco to shut down traffic, annoy the locals and turn the normal 30-minute wait for Philz into a two-hour shuffle through hell. Just kidding. I love Dreamforce. Seriously. The crowds are massive, the content is overwhelming, and the wait for a beer is endless, but there are amazing experiences to be had.
This year’s Dreamforce, taking place November 6-9, has the chance to be the best one yet. Why? Well, for starters, Salesforce has really been leaning into B2B and Account-Based Marketing (ABM).
With the launch of Einstein ABM in June 2017, Salesforce has validated the value of the ABM category and established it as a strategy worth investing in. With interest in ABM increasing, it makes sense that Salesforce will be amping up the amount of ABM content available at Dreamforce. Here are a few themes you’ll likely see throughout the week:
Full-funnel ABM
In the past few years, the ABM technology landscape has grown to include a staggering number of vendors. The strategy even has its own category in Scott Brinker’s Marketing Technology Landscape.
(Click to enlarge.)
But while the growth of the space speaks volumes for the permanence of the strategy, it’s created some challenges for marketers looking to invest in ABM technology. Though a majority of the vendors in the space claim to offer ABM solutions, their technology typically addresses only one or two pieces of the sales and marketing funnel.
To truly see success across the funnel, B2B marketers need the ability to connect all of their technologies and tie them together with one consistent data model across the whole funnel, from targeting to engagement to conversion.
Moving from ‘why’ to ‘how’
The ABM category has developed incredibly quickly. In a few short years, much of the market has moved from asking, “Why should I do ABM?” to “How do I get started?” and even, “How do I do it really well?”
That may seem like an obvious development, but as the market moves past the early adopter phase, it means that people are looking for concrete examples of how other companies have done this.
What are the potential hurdles? How can I increase the likelihood of success? And how do I measure success? With dozens of presentations by actual ABM practitioners, attendees will have the chance to learn first-hand from the companies that stuck their toes in the water first.
ABM partnerships proliferating
The final thing you’ll notice at Dreamforce, if you are paying attention to ABM, is that more vendors will be developing partnerships.
Whether formal, or informal, more vendors are realizing that collectively, we’ve created a lot of confusion in the market. The category has grown so quickly, and there are so many voices out there trumpeting ABM (many of whom don’t actually have ABM solutions — they’re just along for the ride) that marketers are confused.
By partnering with other ABM providers, even just on messaging, we can start to provide a more clear and consistent message to the market. Trying to add a bit of method to the madness will be a continuing theme in 2018.
Conclusion
Salesforce’s increased investment in ABM means a lot for the category, and it’s even more promising to see ABM front and center at this year’s Dreamforce. If you’re around for the conference next week and want to talk all things ABM, drop me a line on Twitter.
Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily MarTech Today. Staff authors are listed here.
About The Author
Peter Isaacson has over 25 years of marketing experience in both B2B and B2C marketing, ranging from branding, advertising, corporate communications and product marketing on a global scale. As CMO for
, Peter is responsible for overall marketing strategy and execution, including product, corporate and field marketing. Prior to joining Demandbase, Peter was CMO at Castlight Health, helping to scale the company and build the marketing team prior to its successful IPO. Peter got his start in advertising, working at agencies in New York on accounts ranging from Procter & Gamble to Compaq computers.
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Since the mid ’90s, the internet has been filled with examples of something tiny becoming something big — and changing everything. Ad blocking is another of those stories that will be told, in years to come, around smoldering tweet-fires by grumpy old digital marketers like me.
Every fall, over 100,000 people descend on a three-block radius of San Francisco to shut down traffic, annoy the locals and turn the normal 30-minute wait for Philz into a two-hour shuffle through hell. Just kidding. I love Dreamforce. Seriously. The crowds are massive, the content is overwhelming, and the wait for a beer is endless, but there are amazing experiences to be had.