This year has brought countless changes to markets everywhere, including the political arenas. But unlike the downturn of other markets, 2020 political ad spend is expected to increase and break all previous records. In a recent report from Politico, the initial 2020 ad spend estimates of $6 billion were modified by 12% to predict at least $6.7 billion in this year’s political ad spend! With so much being invested during such a pivotal time for the globe, all eyes will be on politicians and their answers to the many challenges we’ve seen this year. As the world continues to evolve, political advertising campaigns need to evolve and adapt as well if they wish to see victory. That’s why a solid programmatic marketing platform is critical to the success of any advertising strategy-including political ad campaigns.

Sometimes marketers take creative content for granted, but no matter how intriguing or relevant their work may be, it cannot lead to success without a solid content promotion strategy crafted with a digital programmatic platform. Savvy marketers are always on the lookout for ways to improve content visibility and drive more quality traffic to their blogs and websites. Listed below are ways that we here at Genius Monkey have found to be rather effective at boosting interest in your content and increasing traffic with each new post. But it’s important to remember that building an audience does happen—but not overnight—so be patient.

More and more people are “cutting the cord” with traditional cable TV services and moving to television streaming services, instead. According to a report by PwC Consumer Intelligence, 78% of households use one-or-more streaming platforms, such as Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, and many more. These are known as online streaming providers because they connect users to TV programming without a cable connection. Why consumers are making the “cut” Cord-cutters are turning to TV streaming services not only because they’re more affordable, but because they add convenience to the watching experience. Viewers can choose what they want to watch, when they want to watch it, and also pause or replay content at will.

Introducing The New Genius Monkey Logo + Brand Since 2009, the Genius Monkey brand has strived to represent a culture and relationship unique to the world of digital programmatic advertising. Now, we’ve taken a dose of evolution-inducing radiation and gone ATOMIC with our brand to exemplify where our company has been – and how we’re progressing forward. Wait, Is The Company Changing? Nothing about our business operations will be changing. We’re simply evolving our company visuals to better-match the ever-evolving core of our brand. We’re continually branching out with more unique products and services in every line of advertising we work with, so we feel this logo rebrand more accurately represents who and what we are today. Our new look is simply a fresh reflection of the high standards and services we uphold as a company.

While 2020 has brought dramatic changes to the ad market, one medium is still going strong and continues to climb: audio ads. Programmatic audio ads allow advertisers to reach target audiences beyond screens, thereby expanding their reach and potential conversions. And 2020 is the year to start including these powerful ad types to your marketing campaigns. Why? We’ve got a few powerful reasons for you to consider, along with the latest statistics proving just how influential audio ads are in today’s market.

During this time of COVID-19, our portable devices have been somewhat of a lifeline to the outside world, as so many people have been ordered to stay in place during the global pandemic. Needless to say, this has brought about increased mobile use. In other words, the time spent on our smartphones and tablets has risen drastically. Changes in mobile use Over the past year, some of these trends were expected, and were already manifesting themselves before the global pandemic hit the U.S. These trends include an increase in time on social media, streaming audio, video, and gaming. COVID-19 didn’t bring these trends about, but it sure did speed up the increases. Additionally, we might just adopt some new routines that could outlast the quarantine orders as users begin to use their phones in new ways.

Connected TV is currently one of the fastest growing channels in advertising, and it’s not surprising. Connected TV ads are an effective way of reaching your target audience. These highly targeted, unskippable, trackable, brand-safe OTT ads are guaranteed to make an impact on viewers–and Genius Monkey is now offering clients even greater ad optimization with dedicated A/B testing solutions for Connected TV ads! Our new dedicated optimization feature allows advertisers to evaluate different variations of their ads, such as; 15 second vs. 30 second ads, various voice-overs, calls-to-action, and several other variables that can all be tested to determine which creative performs best. For the first time ever, our clients can now customize, analyze, and instantly use their OTT and Connected TV ads

Optimism Through Programmatic Advertising This year has seen unprecedented changes and challenges enter the marketing world, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for optimism for advertisers. Last month, the Interactive Advertising Bureau released its 2019 Internet Ad Revenue Report, along with additional first-quarter insights from the second edition of their Coronavirus Impact Report. Here are their findings. CPMs Experience Pricing Pressure First-quarter 2020 showed year-over-year (YoY) advertising growth despite the impact of COVID-19 beginning in March, but the pandemic did create significant pricing pressure on CPMs, as follows:

Adaptability in the Auto Industry In the early days of COVID-19, one of the first business sectors to readily adapt to market changes was the automotive industry. With lockdown and social distancing measures preventing traditional car-buying transactions, a few savvy dealerships took measures into their own hands and got creative with their sales strategy. And their initiatives saw promising results and positive customer response. The intersection of creativity and adaptability Certain auto dealerships have reworked their entire purchasing process to better suit at-home car buyers by rolling out purchase-from-home vehicle programs. Trucks Only is one such dealer. Their customers can shop online and buy a car from the comfort of their couch with convenient options such as; at-home test drives, online financing and trade-in offers and front-door delivery.

OTT Continues its Climb One of the fastest growing channels in marketing today is Over the Top Television (OTT), or Connected TV (CTV). This isn’t surprising to the advertising world, as it’s such an effective way to reach your targeted audience. These ads that run on this platform are highly targeted, brand-safe, trackable ads that will always make an impact. These programmatic messages are designed to take away the “spray and pray” method of TV advertising. In fact, these sharp-shooting commercials are quickly becoming a mainstay of the marketing mixes of many brands. Any marketer wanting to succeed in the programmatic landscape will eventually need to become familiar with Over the Top TV, and why it’s so invaluable.