Is Your Marketing Cutting It? Here’s How To Make The Most Out Of Your Budget.

Let’s cut to the chase: without proper marketing, your business is set to struggle. In today’s digital age, having an online presence is more important than ever. Even if you do have a digital presence, are you truly making the most of it?

Whether you’re new to digital marketing or have been in the game for a while, it might be time to reassess your budget. According to BDC, your marketing budget should be between 2 and 5% of your revenue for business to business, B2B, and between 5 and 10% for business to consumer, B2C. The term marketing is broad, so you may be wondering how you can know what you should be putting your investment in. The AD Leaf is here to break down how you can truly make the most of your budget.

Marketing Is An Investment

Something to keep in mind when planning out your budget is that marketing is an investment you are making and not simply an expense. When you pay for marketing, you are hopefully going to see results that will help your company endlessly. While it can be hard to justify spending the cash, especially for small businesses, there are so many reasons why marketing is worth the investment. When you market your business, you are:

  • Building brand awareness
  • Increasing your sales
  • Alerting potential customers and clients to new deals, offerings, and sales
  • Building a customer base
  • Taking advantage of social media and other online spaces
  • Putting your business where your customers are
  • Receiving analytics to help improve your future business strategy

Get The Most Out Of Your Marketing Budget

Marketing budgets can be hard to set for small and big businesses alike. It takes a lot of trial and error to find the right combination of online platforms to get a good ROI, return on investment. We have a few tips and tricks up our sleeve for you to use to get your business off the ground.

  • Start your business off on the right foot: New businesses can have a harder time breaking into an established field. By spending a little extra money upfront, around 15-20% of your revenue depending on your industry, you can get a boost into your target market. Once your business becomes a little better established, you can drop your spending to about 5-10%.
  • Try competition matching: Take a look at what your competitors are doing that’s working for them. Could it also be applied to your marketing strategy? If so, you might be able to get inspiration from other players in the field.
  • Keep your goals in mind: Having a goal-driven marketing strategy is one of the best ways to reach your objectives. Try using the acronym S.M.A.R.T. to set your goals: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. Keeping this acronym in mind will help you set goals you can realistically hope to achieve with specific ways to achieve them.
  • Imagine yourself in the customer’s shoes: While this is a pretty straightforward piece of advice, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that you should always think of what’s happening on the other end of your marketing. Are you solving a problem for a customer, or are you just trying to sell a product? Always keep in mind your customer’s journey all the way from your advertisement to them clicking “complete purchase”. What keeps them clicking through? You should also ask yourself how many leads you are getting, and how many are turning into paying customers. Focusing on the buyer is crucial to your marketing success.
  • Keep your ROI in mind: When you start spending on marketing, make sure you are tracking your ROI. By measuring your ROI, you can determine if your budget needs to be adjusted, or if you should increase your spending.

Who We Are

The AD Leaf Marketing Firm is made of experts well-versed in social media research and content creation. We would love to conquer the world of ever-changing social media and research for your company and help sky-rocket your business’s online presence and social engagement. Contact us today for more information on how we can help you grow by using our online form or call us at 321.255.0900. You can also email us at info@theadleaf.com. We can’t wait to hear from you!

Google ads campaign

Google Ads Campaign Management For Small Businesses

If you’re a small business looking to launch a Google ads campaign for your company, you may think you can’t afford this type of pay per click advertising. Alternatively, you may want to learn how to run a paid search campaign yourself which is a valuable skill to have. However, it can be time-consuming to manage campaigns while simultaneously managing your business. If you make an attempt to rush in without performing the proper research, you will probably make common beginner’s mistakes and blow your budget with nothing to show for it. This is the main reason why it is best to have a reputable digital marketing agency to handle your Google ads management for you.

Why Use Google Ads Campaigns For Your Small Business?

Reach People When They’re Looking For You

If you target the right keywords with your Google ads, you can get in front of potential customers at the exact moment they’re looking for your products. Having an ad that serves up your products on relevant keywords is a great way to get new customers.

Target Based On Your Location

If you run a local business, you don’t care about appearing in search results outside of your area. Google Ads lets you target your searches based on your location, which can help you get in front of potential customers near you.

Target Multiple Audiences That Use The Same Product

If you sell products that can appeal to multiple different audiences, Google ads can help you reach those audiences by letting you target different keywords. PPC ads would let you target each audience individually by using industry-specific keywords. For example, “Rustic coffee table” and “Western-style wooden tables” may apply to similar products, but they attract very different audiences—Google’s pay per click ads and campaigns let you target both.

Send People To Specific Landing Pages For Products/Services

When someone clicks on an ad, they get sent to a landing page on your website. One of the strengths of launching a Google ad is that you get to choose that page. A lot of people send pay per click traffic to their home page, which is ok, however, it is not ideal. But one of the major strengths of Google ads is that you can send people to your customized landing pages that are optimized to convert. By sending people to landing pages that offer what they’re looking for, you can increase your chances of converting them into customers.

Track Results Easily

With Google ads, you can track click-through rate, cost-per-click, ad spend, as well as conversion rate on your landing pages. You can also split test different ad copy and landing pages easy to maximize your ROI.  Return on investment is a huge consideration for your marketing budget, and Google ads won’t leave you guessing.

Get Results Quickly

Other approaches to getting seen in search engines can take a long time to start working. The conversion process is longer and more difficult to measure. Google ads aren’t a silver bullet, but they will get you results much faster than most other marketing tactics. If you have the know-how, products, ad copy, and landing pages together already, Google ads are a simple way to start getting sales.

Google ads and other pay per click platforms, like search engine optimization, helps companies to get their brands seen by customers searching for relevant search terms. Both of these digital marketing techniques help to increase your boost your website’s ranking so that it appears higher up on search engine result pages. Search engine optimization is a slower, long-term, organic method, whereas paid search is often a quick fix option, providing your business with a short burst of visibility which can be beneficial for temporary promotions or to publicize the launch of a new product or service.

If you require management for your Google ads campaign and looking to find a company that offers services for your small business, here are items that will be incorporated with your package below:

  • One-off set up costs
  • Regular reports and analytics
  • Fixed monthly costs
  • Optimization of existing pay per click campaigns
  • A dedicated accounts manager
  • Keyword performance and campaign monitoring
  • Budget recommendation
  • No minimum spend requirement

At The AD Leaf Marketing Firm®, we understand that not every business has the time to invest their full efforts into PPC Ads. To learn more about how Google ads campaign management can bring more leads to your business, contact us via our phone number, (321) 255.0900. Or, set up a consultation by emailing us at info@theadleaf.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

 

Google Ads

How You Should Test Your New Product?

If you’re a small business owner or a startup, you may be developing a new product line or service for your potential customers. However, there’s this doubt in your mind that your product launch may fail. You’re probably thinking, “What if it fails?”, or “If I lose profits, how can I recover?”. To prevent any doubt, This is where you should run a small test to see if there’s a market for your product/service in the first place. As a business owner, you’ll always be excited when it comes to product launches. But, if you don’t do proper testing, your doubts could potentially become your reality. In this post, we would like to give you more ways on how you should test your new product with Google Ads.

How Do You Test The Market For A New Product With Google Ads?

Market Research

This is your first step to testing your new product, implementing a good old fashion market research. As you form your business idea, take the time to learn more about the market for your product. In particular, get into the minds of your customers, scope out your competition, and get up to speed on industry trends.

Set Up A Landing Page

Once you put together a profile of your customer wanting to purchase your new product, you’re going to set up a strong landing page. Since your product won’t be ready for the market, set up a page with some info on the product you are planning on launching. Also, use an email capture form so you can gather email addresses of interested buyers. At the same time, give them an incentive to sign up such as sneak peeks, early updates or first access to your product is a great incentive to get an email address.

Choose A Budget That You’re Comfortable Spending

Of course, you should always use a budget that your comfortable spending when you’re testing your new product. You’ll need to set the maximum cost per click you are willing to spend as well as your daily budget. Not setting these properly could cause you to burn through your test budget too quickly.

Analyze Results From Your Campaigns

If you find that there is a steady stream of traffic responding to your Google Ads you will know that there is a market and demand for the product or service you are developing. Once you begin capture email addresses from your landing page, you can contact your potential customers when you are ready to launch your new product. On the other hand, if no one is responding to your ads you may decide that the challenge in finding buyers may outweigh the potential for your product. Tweak your ads by changing up your headlines and description as well as researching and adding relevant keywords to your campaigns.

At The AD Leaf ®, we understand that not every business has the time to invest their full efforts into PPC Ads. To learn more about how investing in Google Ads can bring more leads to your business, contact us via our phone number, (321) 255.0900. Or, set up a consultation by emailing us at info@theadleaf.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

 

adwords landing pages

Why Should You Use Landing Pages For Google Ads?

A PPC landing page is a standalone web page that you plan to use in an AdWords, Bing Ads or related paid advertisement. It is a dedicated page for the user to ‘enter’ once they click on a Google Ad.

Particularly good PPC landing pages typically contain only one target or objective for a focused campaign known as a Call To Action (CTA). Their simplicity — and relevance — is what makes dedicated landing pages one of the best ways to boost your paid traffic conversions and lower the cost-per-click of your PPC campaigns.

The Benefits of Landing Pages For PPC

The game-changing value of landing pages and why they work so well with ads can boil down to the difference between organic versus paid traffic.

Your website is primarily a way to attract organic traffic. Google selects and serves links on your site that are thought to be the best match for a particular search query, and these links selected by Google are typically placed below paid ads. This organic traffic is largely why you need a search-optimized website.

In contrast, with paying ads on Google Ads or Bing Ads, you can choose where to direct visitors, as your paid ad will typically be placed towards the very top of the SERP.

For example, you can choose to link this paid traffic to the homepage of your website, but this isn’t actually your best conversion option. Generally, content on your homepage — or even other site pages — often does not match the premise of your ads, and will not always contain info or a tailored call-to-action.

As advertisers inevitably learn, paying traffic referring to common web pages does not lead to strong conversations, leading to an increase in cost-per-click. This is mainly because visitors often can’t find what they specifically searched for on the generic page and typically bounce faster (signaling to Google that the user experience was negative).

On the other hand, if visitors click on a highly relevant landing page from an ad, they will find information that reinforces the ad ‘s promise, and they will find a distinct call to action or be persuaded to take the next step. By simplifying the available options you are helping to ensure a smoother conversion path.

The Anatomy Of A Strong Landing Page

Once you have decided to lower your cost-per-click and get better ROI on your paid ad spending with PPC landing pages, it’s all about creating them.

The best PPC landing pages contain 5 key elements, based on what we typically see with our clients:

  • Strong images in context (including a ‘hero shot’ at the top of the page)
  • A headline and a subheader
  • A single, focused call to action that could either be a form or button
  • Features and benefits of your offer clearly outlined
  • Testimonials or social proof that supports your argument

AdWords Can Reward Relevant Landing Pages

Not only does a landing page allow you to present a focused, carefully selected call to action and customize your click-through experience to match the expectations set up by your ad, but if you match each PPC ad with its own hyper-relevant, standalone landing page, you could:

  • Get a higher AdWords Quality Score (in turn boost your Ad Rank and Search Impression Share, getting your ads served up more frequently)
  • Reduce cost-per-click
  • Lower cost-per-acquisition
  • Increase conversions on offers that you run with paid services

At The AD Leaf ®, we understand that not every business has the time to invest their full efforts into PPC Ads. To learn more about how investing in Google Ads can bring more leads to your business, contact us via our phone number, (321) 255.0900. Or, set up a consultation by emailing us at info@theadleaf.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Google Ads Update

Google Ads Requiring All Advertisers To Identify Verification

Google had announced a recent important Google Ads update. They are requiring all advertisers on their platform “to complete a verification program in order to buy ads” on the Google Ads network. This idea was brought up previously. However, the program is now being activated for all advertisers now. As Google explains here, certain advertisers will be required to submit some form of verification that will prove the legitimacy of their legal business or their individual name. This, of course, will be done through providing supporting documentation.

The verification program will first begin in the United States and will apply to Search, Display and YouTube advertisements. However, over time, it will be rolled out globally. Other details include that advertisers that are required to complete the verification program will be notified and given 30 days to complete and submit the verification form. Once the advertiser submits it, it will take about three to five days for Google to verify the information given. However, failure to fully complete the given program within the 30 days may result in not only ad restrictions, but Google may also stop your ads all together.

Google will also be adding new ad disclosures to each advertisement. Such disclosures will display the advertiser’s name and country. Overall, the verification program will involve the following:

  • Business incorporation documents
  • Personal identification methods
  • Operating geography (country, etc.)
  • Possibly other forms of proof to verify who they are

 

Why Google Ads Is Rolling Out This Program

According to the announcement from Jack Canfield, Director of Product Management, Ads Integrity, Google is trying to “provide greater transparency and equip users with more information about who is advertising to them”. He also further explains the following:

“This change will make it easier for people to understand who the advertiser is behind the ads they see from Google and help them make more informed decisions when using our advertising controls. It will also help support the health of the digital advertising ecosystem by detecting bad actors and limiting their attempts to misrepresent themselves.”

 

What Changes Users Will Experience in Ads

As mentioned earlier, Google is planning to add disclosures to all ads that are verified. This disclosure will simply give details on the identity of the advertiser. A small downwards arrow will be added to such ads, and when pressed, it will show a “Why this Ad?” option. Upon pressing this option, the following option will appear:

  • Advertiser name
  • Country location
  • A toggle option to stop receiving ads from them

For Display ads, the following information will be available on the Ad Choices icon, or the “x” that is on the following banner. For YouTube ads, the disclosure information can be viewed by clicking the “i” icon, as well as the three dot icon in the ad.

 

What Does This Change Mean?

Some would argue that there are both some positives, but also some downsides to the Google Ads update. The security aspect is a great improvement, as this would help keep out illegitimate advertisers from using Google Ads and competing against real users. However, a possible downside is that there could be an influx of accidental clicks. This is due to the fact the disclosure arrow is being added to each advertisement is actually very small, and some people may accidentally click the ad rather than the small arrow symbol.

PPC management

How To Manage PPC Campaigns During The COVID-19 Pandemic

As you well know, the world is in a major panic because of COVID-19. Not only is it affecting the lives of others, but it is also affecting businesses on a local and global scale (offline and online). Also, If you’re a business that implements online campaigns (Google, Bing, etc…) and PPC management strategies, you may have these questions come to mind:

  • Should I pause my campaigns in order to manage expenses?
  • Should I scale back my budget?

These are important questions to ask and hard decisions to make should you want to play on the defensive end. However, there’s always a flip side.

You can take charge of your business in this crisis by playing on the offensive end. There’s a popular saying that goes like this:

“When Everyone Goes Right, You Go Left.”

We’re not saying you should go crazy on your spending, but to keep your business moving forward so you can gain profits for your survival.

This is where you, as a business owner, will need to courageous, flexible, creative, and patient with our ever-changing environment.

In this post, we’ll provide some tips on how you can manage your PPC campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adjusting Your Budget and Spending For PPC Management

We mentioned earlier about pausing your PPC campaigns or scaling back your budget. Of course, pausing a PPC campaign would be considered playing defense. But what about scaling back your budget?

This may be also be considered playing defense but you’re actually playing both ends of the floor (We know we’re using sports references).

Instead of spending $100 a day on a campaign, cut your budget in half and spend $50. Also, take a look at your campaigns to see where you’re getting more clicks and conversions and focus your attention there.

Let your campaigns run for a week, look at your data, then adjust your budget and spending accordingly to see if you’re gaining a profit or taking a loss.

Mentioning Your Business Proposition In Your Ad Copy

Many businesses are closing their doors which means that many people will be staying at home which also means that many people will be online. This is where you can take advantage and pivot your message by adding a promotion on your PPC campaigns.

For example, if you’re a restaurant business, you can add a discount of 5% on orders that are over $40 if they apply a particular coupon. In addition, you can provide a Free Touchless Delivery Service in your message to show that you’re concern about their health and want to protect them.

Of course, whatever promotion that you’re providing to your customer, make sure it’s adjusted on your website.

Now that you know how you can manage your PPC campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic, you’re fully equipped to make a decision to play defense or offense for your business.

There’s no reason why you should just sit on the sidelines. Your competitors are experiencing the same fears you are, but at least you can take matters into your own hands by using sound PPC Management principles as well as having your PPC campaigns online so your business can survive in the upcoming future.

If you’re in need of PPC Management for your campaigns,  contact the team at The AD Leaf ® Marketing Firm and learn how you can grow with us today and weather the storm that is COVID-19!

Digital Marketing Strategy

Why Businesses Need Digital Marketing To Survive COVID-19

Why Businesses Need A Digital Marketing Strategy To Survive COVID-19

In the coming months, businesses of all sizes are going to become extra reliant than ever on their digital marketing strategy. Without wanting to sound too much like a killjoy, in many cases, it will be the deciding factor in whether they make it through the tough times that are ahead. 

The unparalleled, and almost-total disappearance of all channels related to live events and conferences, and the increasing barriers on face-to-face business, pose an enormous challenge to any business model. 

B2B companies, in particular, rely on the annual circuit of trade shows and exhibitions to network and build customer relations. In industries that are not digital-native, they may also be less sophisticated in their digital growth and customer relations strategies. Especially in the case of smaller businesses that are used to getting new customers strictly word-of-mouth referrals or on the strength of a hard-won reputation, their loss is going to come as a shock if it hasn’t already.

Larger companies are now finding themselves in the position of having potentially lost millions of dollars from canceled events alone. They won’t claw back the hours of time and expense spent on preparations for this year, but insurance and flexible cancellation policies are going to leave them with some marketing budget to reassign. Digital Marketing in any aspect is likely going to be the clear and obvious choice here, and companies that may not so much as had a Facebook page before will need to move into social media marketing, content marketing, SEO, and even influencer-led campaigns. 

This, of course, means there are opportunities out there for the taking and a key factor in resilience is adaptability. If it’s standard in your industry to go out and meet new customers face-to-face before you do business, adapting may mean opening new channels over web or social media platforms where introductions can be made and relationship fostered. In the coming months, you prospective clients are going to be less open to the idea of letting you walk through the door and shake their hand, and no-one really has any idea how long this will last and whether this will lead to longer-term change. 

We are going to be in some uncertain times, but with the increase of remote working and a collaborative approach, companies are going to turn to digital channels and embrace the transformation. There has already been a real spike in the last few weeks from companies wishing to create or update their websites, launch new social media channels and campaigns focused on home-workers and a real focus on using influencers and SEO to reach new audiences. 

Being confined to the office — or even the home — rather than on the road on sales visits or at events, means marketers are going to have more time to develop digital marketing strategies. This means researching where your customers can be found online, and how different approaches and tactics might impact your success. If your organization previously put minimal efforts into digital channels, now is going to be a prime time to revisit them. That could be as simple as giving your website or social media pages a refresh, or a more innovative approach. 

A key point to note is that a lot of corporate entities use up about 50-60% of their marketing budgets on events. When things go back to normal, budgets will most likely be going back to those live face-to-face events, but if organizations can see the benefits and opportunities that digital marketing can offer, they might understand the benefit of adding it to their long-term marketing strategy. 

Channels such as Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn Live are going to be crucial moving forward as the ability to connect with a targeted audience real-time is very beneficial, if not essential. 

It’s certainly true that the coming weeks, or months – or however long this situation lasts – will be a challenging time for any company that isn’t ready to think about how they will replace the opportunities that have been lost. 

As long as businesses can approach the shift to digital marketing strategically, there’s no reason why it should just serve as an emergency fill-in but could carry on providing long-term value when the world eventually gets back to normal. And of course, this would make companies more resilient to deal with any future pandemics. Do you need help with your Digital Marketing Strategy? Looking to take your social media or SEO to the next step? Contact the team at The AD Leaf ® Marketing Firm and learn how you can grow with us today and weather the storm that is COVID-19!

Marketing Agency

5 Reasons To Hire A Marketing Agency VS An In-House Team

Should you hire a Marketing Agency or build an in-house team?

In today’s digital landscape, there is no shortage of marketing options for businesses. From freelancers and marketing agencies to hiring your own in-house team, companies have more choices than ever before, specifically when it comes to online marketing. As your business grows, you will need to consider how your marketing will be handled, including whether to hire new employees and build an internal marketing team or empower your brand through a Marketing Agency.

While each has its own advantages, a full-service Marketing Agency provides substantial value to large, medium, and even small businesses. They strive to build cohesive and effective brands, put organizations in front of their customers and audience, and drive sales through awareness.

5 Reasons to Hire A Marketing Agency

1. Unparalleled Experience

Why piece together individual talents when you can hire an experienced Marketing Agency to handle everything for you? One of the major advantages of hiring a Marketing Agency is a professional experience. In fact, a good agency will have specific knowledge in a wide range of industries and markets, along with experience facing a diverse range of scenarios and challenges never encountered by many newer business owners. Having a knowledgeable and experienced staff at your side can produce immediate results for owners, helping to quickly get your marketing efforts off the ground.

2. Broader Skillsets

It can be difficult to locate suitable in-house employees with branding and marketing skills such as SEO and graphic design. By hiring a Marketing Agency, you’ll not only have the necessary tools to achieve your vision for success but a suite of creative services at your fingertips.

For example, a full-service Marketing Agency can assist clients in everything from rebranding their company image and website, developing their print and direct mail campaigns, and creating a social strategy to boost SEO and PPC campaigns. With a Marketing Agency, a client may choose to utilize one service or all them–whereas, with an in-house team, businesses are limited in what they can achieve.

3. Fresh Perspective & Inspiration

Another major advantage of hiring a Marketing Agency is a new perspective. A marketing team can help inject new life into marketing efforts, helping to identify unseen opportunities and enhance current campaigns. One example is social media marketing. With more companies looking to broaden their social reach through sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, a Marketing Agency can significantly enhance a brand’s approach to social media, including how they’re perceived by their audience.

4. Speed, Efficiency, and Consistency

As an up-and-coming business owner, you’ll be forced to wear several hats when getting your business off the ground. Generally speaking, this will almost include tackling aspects of the business you’re unfamiliar with, such as branding and digital marketing. With only so much time in the day, it’s important your marketing approach doesn’t suffer from time restraints or inexperience. Hiring a Marketing Agency can easily solve this dilemma.

5. More Affordable Than Hiring In-House

The cost of hiring and maintaining a team of in-house marketers can be very expensive. For smaller businesses, this expense may be too much to afford.
One of the more surprising benefits of hiring a Marketing Agency is cost-effectiveness. Along with providing a plethora of knowledge, experience, and skillset, a Marketing Agency is almost always more affordable compared to hiring a full-time marketing team. For example, after hiring a marketing manager, web designer, graphic designer, content writer, and social media manager, the total cost can reach upwards of multiple six figures a year! And that’s not even including the cost of employee benefits.

Marketing is the heart and soul of any business. At The AD Leaf ®, we’ve spent the last 25 years working with a diverse range of clients — from healthcare and technology to governmental, law enforcement and consumer goods — to perfect our approach to marketing, advertising, and branding. From strategic creative direction to engaging digital marketing, our extensive marketing team is here to handle every aspect of your business.

Want to enhance your content marketing? Looking to take your social media to the next step? Contact the team at The AD Leaf ® Marketing Firm and learn how you can grow with us today!

“Loretta”: Kicking Ads & Taking Names

We’ve all seen it.

The tear-jerker ad released by Google during this year’s Super Bowl commercial ad space.

This ad by Google depicts the voice of an elderly gentleman using Google to remind himself about his late wife, Loretta. This ad was also inspired by a real person, a Google employee’s grandfather. As the commercial begins, it avoids much of what Super Bowl ads are known for. Comedic humor. Celebrity faces. Nostalgic flashbacks. With so many of these pop-culture references and heavy emphasis on humor, each company and advertising agency has one of the most competitive niche ad spaces to fight over. And with a 5 million dollar price tag for a 30-second commercial space, the competition and drive to stand out becomes even more daunting.

To be fair, there were so many ads that were incredibly well-done and clear in their communication. From the Cheetos commercial with MC Hammer dancing in those…pants, to the dog that was the survivor of heart cancer, to the loveable Ellen ad showcasing life before Alexa, the lineup was chock-full of heavy hitters in the marketing space. Then there’s this Loretta ad that had us holding back tears and smiling without even trying.

The commercial opens with slow typing on a familiar Google search browser. The typing was the immediate initial stand-out element. It was slow, more intentional. Before a male voice could be heard I knew this was going to be potentially an elderly person behind the keyboard. Then the words “How to not forget” are seen, typed into the search bar. The stringed music begins to play, creating a somber ambiance. As the commercial continues, you can feel both sadness, but not mourning; a relatable “human-ess” but also a hope for one’s own life.

Then we hear an elderly man asking Google Assistant to help him remember different aspects of his wife, Loretta. It takes a moment to realize, but the more you watch you begin to realize that Loretta is the man’s wife, and she is unfortunately no longer with him. The commercial is of an obviously kind and warm widower who is using Google to help him remember things of a woman he loves but is no longer there with him.

As you continue to watch you see slideshow and videos that are obviously taken from a real individual from a real marriage and a real life. This is so important because if this was done any other way, an ad like this (which is already a big risk due to the nature of the ad) could be seen as insensitive, manipulative, and morbidly crass. But as you watch you see over and over pictures and videos of a real couple, happy and in love. Google is right there, helping this man remember Loretta’s favorite foods, how she liked going to Alaska, and how she hated his mustache he grew one time. Heart-warming doesn’t even begin to describe all the feels we feel watching this!

“Remember, don’t miss me too much, and get out of the dang house.”

Here we see that she truly is gone, but we also see a beautiful snippet of her relationship towards him, not just his towards her. It alludes to a moment he had with his wife, probably one of the last. Google helps with the heart-string tugging here by including the last little note from Loretta that said, “…and get out of the dang house’ helping the viewers navigate this sad topic with life and humor. The commercial ends with us hearing a human voice, the voice of the widower, and a door opening as he leaves the house with his dog, ending on a beautiful, real note.

Google’s “Loretta” ad embarks on a risky balancing act of sadness and joy, life and loss…and does it beautifully. Check out these stats from the data-driven video marketing agency, Unruly:

“Loretta” earned an EQ score of 6.5 thanks in large part to its large emotional impact. Nearly half (49%) of viewers had an intense emotional reaction to the ad. It was a 58% more intense reaction than the average U.S. ad and the highest of any of the 40 Super Bowl ads tested by Unruly. According to the company, “Loretta” was nearly twice as likely to make viewers smile, almost four times more heart-warming and 12 times more sad than the average U.S. ad.
The emotional reaction also seemed to translate to brand impact, leading to the highest brand favorability of any of the Super Bowl ads Unruly. Nearly half (49%) of all viewers reported a favorable view of the brand, compared to a U.S. average of 37%. What’s more—46% of viewers also reported purchase intent, with 47% saying they were willing to find out more about the brand.

“The Super Bowl is traditionally the chance for advertisers to bring home the laughs, yet two of the top three ads leaned heavily on more serious emotions. Google’s ‘Loretta’ ad had the highest score for sadness in the top 10 and both Google and New York Life Insurance had some of the highest scores for warmth at 32% and 26%, respectively,”
The data and the results shine a burning spotlight on one (there are obviously many more) glaringly important fact when it comes to marketing: In order to win big, you must risk big.

When I say risk, I mean to dare to take the road that others aren’t taking. Google did it perfectly in this ad because they counted on seeing the same trend of humor and nostalgic ads, all clamoring for a spot as top dog (Speaking of the dog, the other ad in the top 3 tier was about the dog who had heart surgery!). Google specifically and deliberately swam against the proverbial current by taking not the humorous and nostalgic road which is always a safe choice that “works”, but by daring to forge a new path by sewing themselves into your lives through appealing to something that binds every person together: Love. Google was making a simple and yet incredibly effective claim that we need Google for the most important things in our lives.

In order to win big, you must risk big. Sure, you can spend too much money on a 30-second ad space to create something brilliant, funny, and feel-good. Most of the ads we viewed and analyzed were indeed incredibly well thought out. But what about making something memorable? By appealing to different emotions than the typical niche space of the Super Bowl ad space, Google dared to be an outlier.

This is why Google’s Loretta is brilliant marketing. It perfectly goes against the trend by taking big risks in appealing to unusual emotions, while implying that we need Google for life’s most beautiful things.

And won.

Is your business ready to take the road less traveled and make something not only great but memorable? Consider partnering with us at The AD Leaf ® and let’s start kicking ads and taking names together. Call 321-255-0900 today.