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Lost in translation: 10 good, bad and ugly traits of ad tech comms

By Noelle McElhatton | head of content

October 21, 2014 | 6 min read

Ad technology aimed at delivering targeted online advertising is an increasingly significant part of brands’ marketing budget. But the complexity of the ad tech space presents a communications challenge: how do you explain the left-brain services on offer to right-brained marketers without resorting to over simplification or blinding with science?

Noelle McElhatton

Using the Display Lumascape as our universe, Eulogy PR Group looked at the web presence, press releases and e-newsletters of 20 medium-to-large sized ad tech firms (see list below) to assess how firms were tackling this comms challenge.

Based on this survey, here’s our list of the good and bad habits of ad tech comms.

1. Lost in translation

The ad tech firms selling themselves to marketers seem unable or unwilling to speak their language. Several describe themselves in grandiose terms better suited to eager candidates on The Apprentice. Companies are often 'world-beating', 'disruptive' or 'global leaders' while only 5 of the 20 companies assessed cited ROI – a term every marketer lives by – on their sites.

There is a heavy reliance on jargon – for instance, 90 per cent of companies we assessed use the term 'platform' as a catch-all for what they provide.

Top five brand descriptors

Platform

Powerful

Solution

Optimisation

Real time

Five least used descriptors

Intelligence

Value

ROI

Measurement

Marketing

2. Case studies: ad tech embraces old comms workhorse

A gratifyingly large number – 90 per cent – of firms we looked at use case studies as proof of their technology’s abilities.

3. Yet no demo

Functionality is ad tech’s selling point, so it was baffling to witness how few companies offer a free trial on their website (5 per cent) or demonstration (25 per cent) – both powerful ways to sell technologies whose USP can be difficult to convey in words.

4. Missing the content trick

Much of what we assessed comes under the banner of ‘content’ but the absence of one particular form of B2B content – research-based articles – was notable. Only 11 out of the 20 websites offered papers to help newcomers understand ad tech’s complexities.

5. Whatever happened to CRM?

With a dearth of content, it’s no surprise that only five companies (25 per cent) offered email newsletters – an effective B2B sales funnel tool to help build a CRM-driven rapport with potential clients and harvest data.

6. Ad tech likes social media

All companies we reviewed used social media to spark engagement with their audiences across Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook. YouTube should be the natural home for ad tech, with BrightRoll and Criteo in particular embracing the channel. All but three firms maintained an up-to-date blog – a good way to feed those social networks.

7. Not so good to talk

As legendary adman David Ogilvy once wrote, “If you want action, don't write. Go tell the guy what you want”. That’s difficult without a phone number and four of the 20 (20 per cent) either fail to list numbers or were difficult to find. Seventy per cent – 14 of the 20 – provide online forms, a good tool for gathering data but an often unsatisfying way to initiate contact.

8. Web design: let’s complicate things further

Most websites examined used parallax (animated scrolling) designs, which can wow users visually, but can make information harder to find. BlueKai, acquired by Oracle earlier this year, and Flashtalking chose simple, non-parallax designs and stood out as a result.

Despite almost all of the companies listed offering some sort of mobile-specific product, six sites (30 per cent) we examined do not have a responsive site.

9. Search: nothing to see here

It was striking to see that 17 of the 20 companies (85 per cent) do not feature a search function on their sites to allow potential clients to find exactly what they are looking for. Conversant, Sizmek and Vivaki do offer search, while two companies – RadiumOne and Rubicon Project – included search on their blogs.

10. Clear as mud

In several cases it was tricky to establish exactly what the firms actually do. Flashtalking, Rubicon Project and Undertone stood out as being very clear about their services they provide, with several others delivering a woollier account.

Overall, then...

Technology may be having a dramatic effect on marketing, but there appears an uneasy meeting of minds between the two worlds. The technologists know what marketers want, but often fail to appeal to them in a relevant way. That said, there remains a big opportunity for ad tech firms to differentiate themselves in such a crowded space, using some tried and tested B2B marketing tools we have highlighted here.

Most popular comms features

Parallax website – 90 per cent of sites

Catch-all 'platform' as descriptor – 90 per cent

Case studies – 90 per cent

Up-to-date blog – 85 per cent

Least popular comms features

Newsletter – 25 per cent of sites

Product demonstration – 25 per cent

Search function on site – 15 per cent

Free trial – 5 per cent

Eulogy scoured the websites, press releases and other communications of Acxiom, Adform, AppNexus, BlueKai, BrightRoll, Criteo, Ensighten, Flashtalking, MediaMath, Conversant, PubMatic, RadiumOne, Rubicon Project, Sizmek, Turn, Undertone, Videology, Vivaki, Xaxis and xAd.

Noelle McElhatton is head of content at Eulogy PR Group and a former editor of Marketing magazine. You can follow her on Twitter @n_mcelhatton

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