Author: ad_new

Introducing “Digital Dialogues” Podcast with Reim El Houni

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I have an apology to make.

It has been almost 8 months since I sent the last newsletter.

Yes, you are right!

I was the one who spoke about consistency, and I am the one who failed at it.

I take the responsibility.

Things have been crazy at Above Digital.

I have so many things to share with you.

The first good news is that one of our team members, Namitha (who shares the same name as me), delivered a happy, healthy baby boy this year. I call him AD Baby. This boy has all the digital marketing knowledge embedded in his brain? as since his conception; he has been listening to our marketing conversations in the office. I am, in fact, curious to know what field he will choose as he grows up.

The summer of 2023 was full of activities for me.

I went to the Dolomites again.

Yes Again!

And this time, I attempted 90% of the climbs. I, in fact, trained for it. The climbs I couldn’t attempt had an 18% gradient, and I was just too scared to fall. 🙂 Here is the link to my day-to-day experience of Dolomites. It is absolutely stunning. Everyone should at least see the Dolomites once in their life.

I also jumped out of a plane! Literally. 😉

I attempted skydiving in Spain. It was a life-changing experience.

I conquered my fear of heights and also realised that most of the time, our fears are not our own. They are passed down to us by others. I wrote a post on my sky diving experience on my Instagram. Read all about it here and check out my photos as well.

I also sat on roller coasters in Poland, which I would have never attempted if I hadn’t had the skydiving experience. My summer was full of adventure, and it was one of the best trips of my life.

We onboarded 4 new accounts in a single month just before our Account executive was going away on her maternity leave. And all of our new clients are from different industries.

Every new account needs a lot of attention in the first 3 months of the campaigns as we do a lot of testing to reach a point when the ad campaigns give us a steady flow of quality leads, and we start scaling from there.

Until then, we will keep testing with different offers or services or the landing pages.

This is What kept me so busy and the reason I was not able to take the time to send my regular emails to you.

We are testing the waters with AI and trying to integrate it into our marketing activities to complete some tasks faster. I will be sharing this in another newsletter soon. I would love to hear about your experience using AI for your business.

But amidst all the hustle and bustle, I’ve been working on something exciting that I can’t wait to share with you.

Introducing “Digital Dialogues” Podcast with Reim El Houni
Coming soon.

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my new podcast series, “Digital Dialogues,” in collaboration with Reim El Houni, the founder of TI22 Films & Dubai On Demand.

Reim is a dynamic force in the world of content creation, specializing in video. Her expertise in producing stunning visual content perfectly complements our digital marketing strategies.

For Reim, creating amazing content is her forte, but she knows that if it doesn’t reach the right people, all the effort and investment of time and money can go to waste.

In “Digital Dialogues,” we’ll discuss bridging the gap between creativity and marketing strategy, ensuring your content finds its audience and drives success.

In addition to our exciting lineup of topics, including AI, Web 3.0, the Metaverse, WhatsApp marketing, leveraging YouTube and Spotify, and the power of networking through content, we’ll delve deep into the art and science of content creation and distribution.

As we move into the final quarter of the year (Q4), the insights shared in “Digital Dialogues” are more pertinent than ever. This podcast will equip you with the knowledge and strategies to maximise your digital marketing efforts during this crucial period, helping you achieve your year-end goals.

I’m also delighted to share that we have some new members on our team, bringing fresh perspectives and expertise to Above Digital. Stay tuned as we introduce them in the upcoming newsletters.

Thank you for your continued support, and I promise to keep you updated with more frequent newsletters from now on.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my Dolomites adventure, and stay tuned for the first episode of the “Digital Dialogues” podcast coming soon!

P.P.S: One of my most-read newsletters was what I am watching on AppleTV. Would you like to know what I am binging on these days? Should I create another newsletter on some of my current favourite TV shows? Let me know 🙂

Maximizing ROI with a Minimum Ad Spend Budget: A Case Study on Cool Aroma Gentlemen’s Spa

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Client:

Cool Aroma Gentlemen’s Spa

Objective:

Maximize ROI with a minimum ad spend budget by combining Google Ads, Facebook Ads, SEO, Blogs, and Newsletters.

Challenges:

Generating quality leads and meeting daily sales targets while working with a limited ad spend budget.

Solution:

A holistic approach that includes strategic targeting of keywords, frequent blogs, and newsletters, along with a shift from Conversion to Traffic campaigns on Facebook.

Cool Aroma Gentlemen’s Spa has been our client for over a decade, and during this time, we have helped them achieve consistent lead generation and sales growth. Despite a limited ad spend budget of AED 6,000 on Google Ads and AED 3,000 on Facebook Ads, we have successfully generated an average of 34-50 leads per day, resulting in 24-35 daily bookings.

One of the main tactics we used to maximize the client’s ROI was a strategic shift from Conversion to Traffic campaigns on Facebook. This resulted in a significant increase in landing page views, with 300-400 new daily views. Our consistent SEO efforts have also contributed to high organic traffic, with the client ranking top for highly competitive keywords.

In addition, we have been producing 2 high-quality blogs per month, based on targeted keywords, and sending 2 newsletters per month. Recently, we increased the frequency of newsletters to 6 per month by repurposing old, successful content. This has helped encourage current clients to visit more often and buy more packages, resulting in an increase in the average yearly spend.

Overall, our holistic approach to digital marketing has enabled Cool Aroma Gentlemen’s Spa to consistently generate quality leads, meet daily sales targets, and maximize ROI with a limited ad spend budget.

Google did a case study on success with AdWords where in their crew interviewed the owners of Cool aroma Spa

 

Here is what Mr Peter, co-founder of Cool Aroma Spa said about us on Google reviews :

above digital review

 

From Cold to Loyal: How Ivory Aesthetics Increased Revenue with Targeted Lead Generation

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Client:

Ivory Aesthetics Clinic

Objective:

Ivory Aesthetics Clinic, a skincare and aesthetic clinic based in Dubai, wanted to generate a steady stream of high-quality leads each month. Their goal was to increase customer spend and grow their business over time.

Challenges:

The biggest challenge for Ivory Aesthetics Clinic was generating leads consistently while maintaining the quality of those leads. Additionally, they needed a way to nurture cold leads and upsell to current customers in order to increase their average spending per visit.

Solution:

To help Ivory Aesthetics Clinic achieve its goals, we implemented a holistic marketing approach that combined Google Ads, Meta Ads, SEO, Blogs, and Monthly Newsletters. Our strategy focused on targeting high-intent search terms and creating valuable content that would engage and educate potential customers.

Through our efforts, we are able to generate an average of 3-5 high-quality leads per day for Ivory Aesthetics Clinic. These leads were nurtured through a series of monthly newsletters that provided valuable information on the latest aesthetic treatments and trends. We also focused on upselling and cross-selling to current customers through personalized email campaigns, resulting in an increased average spend per visit of AED 1500 and above.

Results:

Since partnering with us in 2019, Ivory Aesthetics has seen a significant increase in its customer spend and overall business growth. The average value of a customer for the brand is now AED 10,000 over the year, which is a testament to the success of our marketing strategy.

Conclusion:

By taking a holistic approach to marketing, Ivory Aesthetics was able to achieve its goals of steady lead generation and increased customer spending. Our strategy focused on creating valuable content and personalized campaigns that engaged and educated potential and current customers. As a result, Ivory Aesthetics continues to grow and thrive in the competitive world of aesthetic clinics. Ivory Aesthetics have been our client since 2019 and counting.

Here’s the honest feedback of Shohreh Bagherian, the owner of Ivory Aesthetics Clinic

Baking Up a Brand: A Delicious Logo Design Case Study for ICE Academy

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Objectives:

  • Create a logo that reflects the company’s sense of professionalism, expertise, and experience in the food and beverage market, as well as in training people within that scope.
  • Develop a design that can accommodate the company’s future expansion plans to include all facets of cooking and chef training.
  • Main Target Group:
    • Professionals seeking training in advanced bakery and pastry methods and tools
  • Use the logo primarily as a backdrop for the company, with digital marketing being an essential element.

Challenges:

  • Incorporate raw material into the “ICE” part of the logo to reflect the company’s focus on culinary training.
  • Minimize the use of kitchen clothing and tools in the design.
  • Develop a sleek and modern design with a unique twist to reflect the company’s image as a high-end culinary training provider.

Solution:

  • Designed a logo that incorporates raw materials such as wheat stalks and cocoa pods into the “ICE” part of the logo, reflecting the company’s focus on culinary training and high-quality ingredients.
  • Avoided using kitchen clothing and tools in the design to ensure a modern and unique look.
  • Used a sleek and modern design with a unique twist to reflect the company’s image as a high-end culinary training provider.
  • Incorporated blue and white colors into the logo, providing a professional and sophisticated look.

What is working in Digital Marketing today?

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Hey there! Namita, back with you 🙂

Firstly, I would like to wish you a very, very happy new year. I know the greetings are a bit late; however, our year started with a bang, swiped with launches and projects. I hope you had an excellent start to the year as well.

Before I proceed, if you feel you are not enjoying my mailers, you can unsubscribe now, if you like. Once you do this, you will not hear from me again ever. However, I urge you to look at this email before unsubscribing from my list.

This newsletter topic came as an inspiration during one of our team meetings during the last week of last year 🙂 when we were doing campaign optimizations for all clients.

So what is working in Digital Marketing as of today?

The best way to find what is working is by knowing what is not working! 🙂

Every client is unique and has their independent scenarios, but there is one common element across clients that we are observing.

And that is: Traffic is getting expensive by the day.

The campaigns need higher ad budgets across all clients to generate the same results.

If you think about it, since 2020, the population using the internet for shopping has gone up by perhaps 1%, but the number of new businesses that have gotten added to the advertising universe is gone up by 1000%.

Running digital Ads on Google and Social channels have become the most essential activity for every business.

This was not the case before Covid.

Print, Newspapers, Magazines, B2B events, and Networking groups still had a significant dependency on lead generation then.

The number of users online is more or less the same, and as people are back to travelling and working from offices, the average time spent online has declined as well.

Social media inventory (the number of users online on a given platform) who are also spenders and online shoppers is thus limited.

This has made the platform raise its cost for showing Ads to 1000 people(CPM= Cost per thousand impressions), which has increased CPC(cost per click) and CPLs (cost per lead).

These are the highest ad costs I have seen in my career managing digital Ads (and Above Digital:)) since 2004.

The only way you can reach the right potential customer and get the desired number of leads /calls/bookings per day will be when you have a better or higher ad spend.

The second thing that has happened across platforms these days is policy changes. This is on both Google and Facebook ad platforms I am talking about.

Both Google and Facebook have become extremely strict in enforcing advertising policies, and you have to ensure your Ads are not rejected and that you are following the rules and regulations of the platforms when writing copy for Ads and creatives.

Facebook now has various courses on advertising policies.

Here are two that I can share:

Meta’s Ad Review Process and Policies

Introduction to the Advertising Standards

You are allowed a certain number of rejections before your account gets restricted from advertising.

Please be very careful when creating Ads for Facebook and Instagram, and make sure you follow the policies.

Google also has new restrictions on the business such as Plastic Surgeons, Medical services, Aesthetic treatments, Financial markets, Crypto, Currencies and online trading.

Another thing that is and will further impact ad campaigns and their performance is IOS updates.

IOS14 is now allowing Apple users to opt out of data sharing every time they download an app. When users opt out of the app tracking, the Facebook pixel can no longer store information about the users. Thus, the new operating system will not allow advertisers to target or exclude these users efficiently.

One way you can combat this issue is by verifying your domain with Meta and prioritising 8 events you would like to track with your pixel.

#If you need help setting up the pixel and tracking events, hit the reply button and email me.

There are still many tracking limitations and data logs for Apple users, and Facebook is finding it very hard to attribute conversions to its ad campaigns.

We look at additional data sources instead of just panel numbers when we optimize the ad campaigns on Facebook.

For instance, we look at the leads on the lead sheet for leads-gen clients and the sales number on Shopify for our E-commerce clients.

The next new thing happening in Digital is that Google announced sun-setting Universal Analytics by June 2023 and has rolled out a new version called GA4 that enables measuring traffic and engagement across websites, social networking sites and apps.

This means we can track what matters to us and not just what Google thinks matters to us.

Google Analytics 4 is the newest version of Google Analytics.

Most of the businesses and marketers are not excited about this switch.

Change is always hard right?

GA4 has a new dashboard; it allows cross-platform tracking and enables in-depth reporting and analytics with predictive metrics like purchase probability, churn probability and revenue prediction.

We have started implementing GA4 across all our clients and recording the data, so we are ready when the actual switch happens.

#If you need help setting this up, email me.

This newsletter is going to get longer… But I urge you to read.

These insights I am sharing with you are real-time of what we are learning on a daily basis while running client campaigns across platforms.


Here is what we @AD believe will work for digital marketing in 2023

  1. Higher ad spends will be needed to get the desired lead counts/sale numbers
  2. Creative is king. The message on the creative and the design itself. The more eye catchy and creative your ad image, the better your Ads will perform.
  3. Short video is the winner. Within 10 seconds videos are going to be trending for digital Ads in 2023
  4. Micro influencer marketing will gain further momentum. Influencers who have followers from 3000-100,000 are called micro-influencers.
  5. User-generated content like unboxing videos, beauty reviews, branded hashtags, and photo tags will be incorporated into the marketing strategy to uplift the brand’s authenticity. Buyers trust user-generated content 2.6 times more than brand-created content. We at Above digital will be working closely with our clients to produce this user-generated content.
  6. Conversational marketing using targeted messaging and AI automation to engage with the people when they are on your website are going to gain momentum. We have already started implementing WhatsApp chatbots for most of our clients. This will enable potential leads to get answers to their questions immediately rather than to wait to receive a call for their inquiry
  7. Email is the most money-making channel as it helps in cross-sells and upsells. However, the new IOS 15 is going to make it harder for the email platforms to track open and click rates, thus making it challenging to optimize email campaigns.

There is so much more I can talk about but let me not overflood you with the information and keep some for the following newsletter… which will be about AI 🙂 Stay tuned for that one.

If you are looking to grow your business and need help with lead generation or increasing revenue for your commerce website, reply to this email, and I would love to explore how we can help you grow.

Until next time,

N.

PS: Above Digital completed 19 years… can you believe it! Since 19 years, I am running this agency. We are doing a flashback video series on Linkedin wherein I am sharing our journey on video posts right from the year 2004. I am confident you will enjoy my video posts sharing what got us where we are. Click here to watch the video…Don’t forget to follow Above Digital, so you are notified of the new videos we post.
Link to our Linkedin for Video posts

PPS: I have been working on bringing on and accepting Change. From cutting my hair to getting a tattoo (something I would have never done as I thought inking the body is like staining the body), More on this in my future newsletters 🙂

Bringing in the New Year

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The end of 2022 is here. Above Digital has been through a number of ups and downs this year.

We revamped our website with a fresh new look and feel. We started a new podcast/video series. Yay to you subscribers of This Week @ Above Digital. We got hacked.

We’ve had a lot of learnings this year as a team, some forced and some sought. Above Digital would like to take this opportunity to wish all our subscribers and those of you reading this a happy 2023.

This Week @ Above Digital we are taking it easy and reminiscing. Here’s a special message from our CEO and Founder, Namita Ramani on what her year has been like. She talks of her professional and personal triumphs and hardships. A quick view on the changes that have taken place in the digital marketing industry e.g. the latest update from Apple about their iOS and cookie tracking system; policy restrictions from both Facebook and Google and so much more.

Watch our CEO’s New Year message here

8 Steps for a Successful Ad Campaign

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In today’s episode, we simplify the digital marketing universe for you in terms of your paid ads campaigns. We’ve broken down the process of building a successful campaign in 8 easy-to-follow steps.

Any good plan stems from knowing what success looks like. Success is not just the direct repercussion on your business revenue. Success is the softer goals set for your marketing activities as well – the reach of your campaigns, the recall value of your creatives, your social media ptat scores and all those little items that come together to make a complete campaign lifecycle.

As digital marketers, one of the key aspects we love talking about is the structure of our search campaigns. Fitness experts flex by actually flexing their muscles and showing their toned bodies to prove what they say works. Digital marketers flex by showing off their campaign structure. We start our episode by talking about this very topic – the structure and organization you have in your campaign activity.

We’ve gone on to further simplify the process into 8 steps. Scroll below for a timestamped update for you to skip to the main steps easily. Our approach towards bringing efficacy in campaign management is usually led by a performance model i.e. we look at bringing revenue in for the business. Our campaigns’ main goal would be sales/bookings and although that is not a direct goal within the campaign setups sometimes, we ensure that we keep an eye on the business side of the brand to maintain stability and consistency in all your paid media efforts.

We cover the entire consumer journey from customer acquisition to customer retention. Should you, as a brand, focus on building your brand name and recall or just blindly sell, sell, sell?

Watch this episode for a few tips on campaign management to know how to bring in the highest efficacy levels to your paid advertising.

We’d love to hear from you and your experiences. Drop us a line at info@abovedigital.com or join the conversation #ThisWeekatAD on Social Media.
Share this post with a friend or colleague who you think is looking for this type of a solution or support.

Timestamps:

Titbit: 2:09 – Don’t be a follower! Find what works for you and action accordingly

Step 1: 4:05 – This is a basic that most campaign managers miss out on! Make sure you have this within your campaigns.

Step 2: 12:36 – Does anyone read anymore? Most of us think not…

Step 3: 15:43 – Are you doing the thinking in your campaign management or have you put that job on the platform? Watch here for what we believe is the best way to do this.

Step 4: 19:54 – Know your brand goals. Decide between market awareness or capitalizing more market share.

Real Life Example: 22:03

Step 5: 24:29 – SHOW ME THE MONEY!

Step 6: 27:50 – “An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing” Dale Carnegie

Step 7: 31:32 – Dive in! Hold up, wait. Test the waters first.

Step 8: 33:58 – When’s the next sale?

Account Disabled, Suspended or Hacked? [Part 3]

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This episode marks the end of our mini-series on what to do when your ads get rejected, page disabled, account suspended or facebook or instagram hacked. In this final part, we address security measures that you should take to ensure your accounts have maximum protection.

We talk about all aspects, from simple and easy hacks to ensuring you have backup and recovery codes for your Instagram account, Google account and others. The episode touches on the sensitive topic of malicious activity through the form of links or even browser extensions.

We even have a quick mention of the safety of the all-time mighty Apple devices. Although at Above Digital, we are iOS fans at varied levels, sometimes more skewed towards desktop and laptop devices like the iMac and the Macbook Pro, others engulfed in the full suite of Apple products ranging from the iPhone right until the Apple TV, we realize that every device has its limitation, if treated incorrectly.

It’s always a stressful time when your paid ads stop running, for whatever the reason. It might be campaign management on pause because your account is hacked or alternatively, maybe your page is disabled and you’ve been restricted from running ads. Either way, the result is that you have to focus more on coordinating and fixing rather than looking at platforms and analysing data – a space no marketing manager would like to be in.

Tune in to this last episode of our 3-part series on “Account Disabled, Suspended or Hacked?” and let us know your thoughts or experiences. We’d love to hear from you.

Comment below, drop us a line at info@abovedigital.com or join the conversation #ThisWeekatAD on Social Media
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Account Disabled, Suspended or Hacked? [Part 2]

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We got hacked! And it was an eye-opener!

When your ad account is hacked, it’s like being cut off at the hip and then being asked to run a marathon. We know the feeling. We went through it. With all clients in the red at one shot because of a hack that came out of nowhere, it disrupted our otherwise peaceful daily lives and good performing campaigns.

This episode in particular talks about our journey when we got hacked. The moment we realized what was happening and the steps we then took to get our Facebook Business Manager cleared off the hack activity. It was a long process and the light at the end of the tunnel was possible only with the unconditional support by the Meta support team. Whenever we think of the hack, our immense gratitude towards the team is a natural reaction.

The episode details out the steps you should take when going through a hack. It seems to be a commonplace issue today. Facebook ad account is hacked. Instagram page or profile has been hacked. It’s like an epidemic. You don’t have to panic, nor do you have to give up. You can get out of it. Remain patient. See the journey through the entire way. There will be fruitful results.

If you need any help or guidance, please reach out to us in the comments below or on info@abovedigital.com. We would be happy to have a chat to point you in the right direction or work with you in more detail to solve the concern.

Tune in to this episode to watch us discuss our journey on being hacked.

Comment below, drop us a line at info@abovedigital.com or join the conversation #ThisWeekatAD on Social Media
Share this post with a friend or colleague who you think is looking for this type of a solution or support.

Account Disabled, Suspended or Hacked? [Part 1]

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Today we discuss and debate the most talked about conversation in the marketing world right now.

How do you deal with security issues and tech deaths? We cover it all, your ad accounts getting hacked, your page getting disabled and what to do next. Above Digital was recently hacked earlier in the year and we worked diligently with the Meta team on how to get our Facebook Business Manager released from the hack and to start advertising again and move forward.

We start off the episode by talking about something simpler which is ad rejections.

We’ve all been through this. There’s a last minute campaign that we want to take live, It’s Friday evening and your ads are in review for the longest time! While you keep praying that your ads go out of review, you realize later that you should have been more specific in your prayers. For now, your ads have gone out of review and you get the dreaded notification from Facebook Ads or Google Ads, that your ad has been rejected! The panic slowly starts creeping in. What do you do? We discuss in detail about what to do when your Facebook ad or Google ad is rejected, what the Facebook and Google policies mean and how to move forward.

If an ad getting rejected wasn’t the worst feeling in the world, Instagram has a new level of heart attack to provide. Your page has been disabled! Or the even better line from Facebook which says Your page has been restricted from advertising! What is a paid ads company to do from there? All page restrictions normally stem from a certain set of policies which we talk about in detail and how to combat it no matter what stage of the journey you are in.

And of course, we are no stranger to the dreaded message that your ad account is now suspended. Luckily some of these reasons for suspension are quick fixes and almost always solvable. We talk about the best way to address these issues and most importantly, staying calm through it all.

We’d love to hear from you and your experiences. Comment below, drop us a line at info@abovedigital.com or join the conversation #ThisWeekatAD on Social Media.
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    Useful links that are referenced in our conversation:

All Facebook policies:
https://www.facebook.com/policies_center

Facebook ad standards and specified policies for advertising:
https://transparency.fb.com/policies/ad-standards/

Facebook support and help center:
https://www.facebook.com/help
https://www.facebook.com/business/help/support (For Business support)

All Google Ads policies:
https://support.google.com/adspolicy/

Google support and help center:
https://support.google.com/google-ads/?hl=en#topic=10286612
https://support.google.com/google-ads/community?hl=en (Ask the Community)

 

    Timestamps:

4:06: An example of one of Facebook policies that can get your ads restricted and how to fix it to be able to advertise your product correctly

5:45: How to deal with your Social Media page getting disabled? It all comes back down to the Facebook policy and how to tailor-make your content to fit in with the policy guidelines

9:14 Your ad account is suspended. Now what?

10:28 What does circumventing a policy mean? This can be for either Facebook or Google

12:05 We got hacked! What did we do? We give a brief outline into our journey, but tune in to our next episode to know more about the hack, details of what you would need to do and how to move forward.

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