Case Study: PA Sports' "20 Reasons Why" Campaign

PA Sports is a consortium of the state’s leading sports tourism organizations, with a collective of 14 member destinations representing communities across Pennsylvania. Their core mission is to attract and host sporting events at international, national, regional, and local levels. PA Sports member organizations include regional visitor bureaus, sports commissions, and event and tourism authorities. They operate as support partners for event planners, offering a diverse range of indoor and outdoor venues that prioritize accessibility, affordability, and an overall enjoyable experience for both participants and spectators.

PA Sports leverages its network of member destinations to offer a wide range of capabilities across the state. These regional partners bring a wealth of host venues to the table—everything from the versatile Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg, which offers over one million square feet of event space, to specialized facilities such as the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Butler County or the York Expo Center. Through a coordinated approach, PA Sports promotes Pennsylvania as a premier sports-event destination—fostering economic development, enriching community life, and showcasing the Keystone State as a dynamic place to “visit, live, work, and play”.

A ROBUST BRAND AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

In 2024, PA Sports celebrated their 20th anniversary, and they wanted to celebrate. Partnering with Twothirty Media, they decided to create a social media campaign to celebrate the achievements of PA Sports members, while also increasing awareness in the sports events tourism industry of the types of events hosted in Pennsylvania.

In an effort to reach new potential clients and increase their visibility nationally, PA Sports partnered with Twothirty Media to create a Facebook campaign highlighting “20 reasons why PA is the best place to host a sporting event” to help celebrate the 20 years that PA Sports has been supporting, hosting, and promoting sports events in the Commonwealth.

CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW

The campaign included regularly scheduled Facebook page posts highlighting each of the 20 reasons with graphics and hashtag terms sourced for content and engagement. This content campaign resulted in:

In addition, a paid ad campaign comprised of six ad sets was developed to target users who mirrored the attendees of six tourism industry shows. They were developed with appealing and creative messaging that adjusted dynamically depending on Meta’s targeting data demographics of each user. The ad sets ran for 30 days each, surrounding the time of each event. The industry shows included in this effort were Sports Express, Connect Spring Marketplace, Sports ETA Symposium, and the Esports Travel Summit. The paid ads campaign resulted in:

The increased brand visibility on Meta has had lingering benefits for the PA Sports team members. Bold moves, such as establishing a strong brand presence online and specifically targeting industry networking events, have helped position Pennsylvania as a whole to be one of the leading destinations for sports events in 2026.

Partnering with Twothirty Media to build and implement custom, well-developed media campaigns can help leverage social interactions to elevate your digital brand presence. Contact us today to discover how we can harness the power of social media platforms for you!

Case Study: How We Reignited Foot Traffic at a Pittsburgh Sports Bar

When our client’s North Shore sports bar opened its doors in Pittsburgh, it had a strong launch. However, as is common in hospitality, the post-launch momentum began to fade. That’s when they came to us looking for results. They wanted the place full again.

They needed locals who cared about sports, social energy, and a great place to watch the game. And they needed a campaign that could both feel like Pittsburgh and deliver measurable foot traffic.

The Challenge: Bring the Crowd Back

Our client’s national sports bar chain had seen mixed success in other cities. Some openings thrived. Others, not so much. They struggled to understand why some locations saw results and some did not. They had not implemented a uniform procedure for the launches, but often used trial and error at each location.

Their Pittsburgh location had enjoyed a successful launch, largely due to a robust content and buzz-generating package we provided, which helped them make a big splash on the North Shore scene. Sports bars are common in the Pittsburgh area, so careful content marketing, media packages, exclusive prelaunch events, and PR appearances helped our client stand out from the crowd for their opening.

As time goes on, it is common for the grand opening buzz to fade for a restaurant, bar, or venue. When the initial customer surge began to ebb for their other sports bar locations, our client often tried quick-fix events and small campaigns to boost visits. For their North Shore location, they wanted to do something differently.

For Pittsburgh, they wanted control over a new campaign to improve foot traffic. They didn’t want to just put up social ads and hope for the best. They wanted to track what worked, know who showed up, and see whether digital could drive real-world results.

Additionally, they requested email sign-ups to build their list, despite their system relying on a separate in-store signup process.

The Strategy: Speak Pittsburgh, Track Everything

It's no secret that Pittsburghers respond to anything related to their city. We designed a hyper-local digital campaign, one that combined high-impact placements with creative that actually resonated with the western Pennsylvania sports-loving crowd.

And most importantly, we provided verifiable tracking on who saw the ads and who walked through the door.

The Results: Visibility, Visits, and Verified Value

The campaign ran for just a month, and it worked. The numbers are undeniable:

This wasn’t a spray-and-pray campaign. It was tight, focused, and rooted in local intelligence.

The Bigger Picture: Changing How They Launch

Although the campaign paused mid-run for internal reasons, the impact had already taken hold. The Pittsburgh location performed better than other cities. The client noticed. They began adjusting how they handle new markets, even bringing in local agencies in other cities to mirror what we did here.

What We Learned

In local markets, success stems from understanding the language and closely monitoring the outcome. That’s what this campaign proved.

Thinking about your next campaign?

If you’re serious about reaching local audiences and driving actual results, we’d love to talk.

How Long Should I Run My Advertising Campaign?

Have you ever wished you could just flip a switch and instantly attract a flood of new customers? In practice, advertising doesn't function like that. It's more comparable to cultivating a garden: you plant the seeds (initial impressions), nurture them with consistent, targeted messaging, and let them grow over time. This gives audiences the necessary exposure to move through the buying process—from initial awareness to consideration, and ultimately, conversion.

In other words, advertising is often not a quick fix. Your campaign may do better centering on long-term brand-building rather than a single, short-term sales push. Each campaign introduces prospects to your brand, encourages them to explore your offerings, and gradually increases their receptiveness to taking action. Consumers often need multiple interactions with a brand before they're ready to make a purchase.

When you are in the planning stage before you begin a campaign, it can be helpful to consult with an experienced advertising agency. An agency can put together a plan based on research that will recommend industry-specific campaign duration, ads platform, and budget.

Phase 1: Planting the Seeds

The advertisements you create will inevitably engage an audience that is not yet familiar with your brand or services. At this stage, the primary goal is to foster brand awareness and recognition, rather than pursuing immediate sales results.

Monitoring key metrics can help in evaluating your campaign's progress. An increase in ad clicks, website visits, or social media engagement can indicate that your marketing efforts are beginning to yield results. Each interaction represents a chance to connect with potential customers and gradually establish a relationship that could eventually lead to sales. By prioritizing brand awareness, you are effectively laying the foundation for sustained growth and success in the market.

Phase 2: Nurturing Your Campaign

Much like a gardener regularly inspects their plants, you will monitor the performance of advertising campaigns to achieve optimal results. Start by analyzing key metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of your ads. Assess whether they are meeting the desired click-through rate (CTR) or underperforming.

It's also important to review your budget to determine if current spending levels are adequate for effectively reaching your target audience. If certain ads show signs of underperformance, consider reallocating funds to those that are generating more engagement.

In addition, scrutinize the copy and creative components of your advertisements. Evaluate whether the messaging resonates with your audience and consider refining it if necessary. Implementing A/B testing with different versions of your ad can yield valuable insights into what appeals most to potential customers.

Utilizing metrics such as cost per click (CPC) will help assess the efficiency of your spending and inform where to allocate more resources. By maintaining a proactive approach and being open to adjusting strategies in response to performance data, your campaign can continue to evolve successfully. Thoughtful adjustments and ongoing nurturing will ultimately lead to a more fruitful outcome for your advertising efforts.

Phase 3: Reaping the Rewards

To really get the most out of your ads, it's important to give them some time to grow. With patience, you are going to see some great results, like more people recognizing your brand, an increase in leads, and better conversion rates.

The advertising landscape is in a constant state of flux, which means that even when your campaigns are performing well, it's crucial to remain proactive. Regularly testing new versions of your ads can help identify what resonates most with your audience. Exploring new target demographics may uncover connections with your brand that were previously unconsidered.

For any sustained advertising campaign, carefully refining your strategy based on performance metrics and audience feedback is vital. Embracing the iterative nature of advertising will help ensure that your brand remains competitive and relevant in the market.

The Value of Playing the Long Game

A successful advertising campaign may emerge through a process that spans several months. This extended timeframe is vital for cultivating brand loyalty and trust among consumers, both of which play a crucial role in securing repeat business. Establishing a lasting relationship with your audience helps ensure that they think of your brand first when making purchasing decisions.

A long-term advertising campaign also provides the opportunity to collect and analyze a wealth of data regarding your audience's preferences, behaviors, and demographics. By continually engaging with them over time, you can gain deeper insights into what resonates most effectively with your target market. A marketing agency can use this valuable information to refine and optimize your messaging, ensuring it aligns more closely with the interests and needs of your audience. As a result, prolonged campaigns not only enhance the effectiveness of your advertising efforts but also contribute to a more sustainable and impactful brand presence in the marketplace.

Patience is Your Best Friend

When cultivating a garden, no one expects to reap a bountiful harvest overnight, and the same thing goes for your ad campaign. Just as seeds require time to grow and flourish, your advertisements need time to make an impact. The journey of building brand awareness is gradual, and modern campaigns tend to go through a "learning" period where advertisers ensure you are hitting the sweet spot. As potential customers take the time to become familiar with your brand, they move closer to making a purchase decision. This slow and steady engagement will ultimately lead to sustainable growth if you remain committed and patient.

How Direct Response Tactics Diverge from Traditional Campaigns

All that said, in some cases a long-term brand-building approach may not be necessary. For instance, direct response or performance marketing campaigns can be structured to drive immediate action, such as a limited-time promotion. Established brands with strong name recognition also have a shortcut to faster results, since trust and familiarity are already built into their audience relationships. These advertisers risk their message falling flat—so it is important that they have done their homework and know their audience, and preferably, their audience already knows them.

Additionally, certain industries and product types thrive on impulse buys or require quick consumer decisions, making a protracted campaign less critical. If the offer is compelling and the market is primed to purchase, short bursts of advertising can deliver swift conversions. Ultimately, the strategy and its timeline depends on your brand's goals, visibility, and audience needs.

In a Nutshell

Advertising is not a simple switch that you can turn on and off like a faucet; it is more akin to nurturing a garden that demands ongoing attention and care. Success in advertising does not come from instant gratification but from consistent effort and dedication over time. By investing the necessary time and energy into your campaigns, you will witness the gradual blossoming of your advertising efforts into lasting success.

Choosing where, and how, to spend your advertising dollars can be a complicated task—consider partnering with a specialized advertising agency in Pittsburgh or one located in your area. Professionals can provide valuable insights and strategic guidance, helping you navigate the complexities of advertising and ensuring that your campaigns continue to flourish. Remember, just like a well-tended garden, successful advertising requires patience, perseverance, and a willingness to learn along the way.

Making Landing Pages that Convert

Your questions about building effective landing pages are answered.

Recently, I was surprised to read that even though landing pages designed with a clear call to action (CTA) have a much higher average conversion rate (~6% more) compared to general websites (2–5% total), only a little less than half of marketers build a new landing page for each marketing campaign!

So, why, if landing pages significantly enhance the success of marketing campaigns, do so many advertisers not use them? With the growth of DIY ad solutions like Google Ads, more small businesses are handling their ads themselves than ever before. While savvy users can figure out how to run ads, they may not have all the tools or strategies that a traditional marketer would bring to the table—especially when it comes to optimizing landing pages.

But that's okay! Landing pages certainly have specific needs, but they're not inscrutable. In fact, best practices for landing pages are straightforward when you don't overthink them.

Here are ten ways to make landing pages that convert visitors into customers:

1.   Landing pages that convert value the call to action above all else.

2.   Landing pages that convert do not distract users from the conversion.

3.   Landing pages that convert make users identify with the conversion.

4.   Landing pages that convert ensure fast load times.

5.   Landing pages that convert meet user experience expectations.

6.   Landing pages that convert test their assumptions about traffic.

7.   Landing pages that convert are mobile-friendly.

8.   Landing pages that convert use compelling visuals and design.

Let's start with the most essential element of your landing page: the point of conversion - your call to action.

1.) Landing pages that convert value the call to action above all else.

What is the most important feature of a landing page? Conversions happen fast, and you need to capture users who are ready to commit immediately. The longer a user spends browsing, the more likely they are to talk themselves "out" of a conversion. So, what should be the most visible thing on your landing page? It's simple: whatever action you want your user to take.

If you want purchases, make sure the "Buy Now" button is easy to find. Need calls or newsletter sign-ups? Your clickable phone number or simple form should be front and center. Avoid vague CTAs like "Learn More." Use clear, action-oriented language like "Get Started," "Claim Your Offer," or "Buy Now." And don't forget the button design—use contrasting colors and ensure it looks clickable.

When collecting data, keep forms as short as possible. The more fields you include, the more likely users are to drop off. Stick to the essentials—name, email, and maybe one additional field if necessary. You can always gather more information later as the relationship develops.

2. Landing pages that convert do not distract the user from the conversion.

If the first thing your users see is your conversion point, what should follow that? Again – don't overthink it. The answer is whatever it takes to get your user to go back to a CTA! If your user was not tempted into an impulsive purchase, maybe they need a little more evidence. This is the right place to add any copy, graphics, or arguments in favor of your conversion. That might be a paragraph about your product or service; it might be smiling people using your service that customers can relate to. Other common examples include testimonials, ratings, guarantees, comparisons, or promotions. Ideally, if the focus is on redirecting the user to the CTA, you're on the right track.

Continuing the argument against distracting your visitors - landing pages that convert users into customers eliminate distractions by minimizing unnecessary elements like navigation menus. It's a hard sell, but your landing page should not be just another page on your website. It should be a separate page that cannot be navigated away from. This focus helps guide users toward specific actions, improving the effectiveness of your (paid) advertising campaign.

Furthermore, all offsite links should be strictly limited to those you need. By need, I mean links you would need for legal compliance, like privacy policies.

3. Landing pages that convert make their users identify with the conversion.

You may have been introduced to ethos and pathos at some point in your life. Today, let's look at these concepts through our marketing lens as appeals to credibility and emotion, respectively. We are not just using these concepts but also magnifying them with a more modern marketing technique: appealing to the user's identity. And we are supporting the whole thing with logos—the appeal to logic.

This is a powerful idea that gets used in marketing very often. Your users should already identify with your product or service on some level. Think about it: You have used tracking, or your user clicked a sponsored link on Google or another site, and they want to find a solution behind your advertisement as much as you want them to. They have already self-qualified themselves as a lead beyond the average person on the street. So when they reach the site, they need to feel at home. They should see happy people, people that they relate to, using your product. That can be accomplished with photos, videos, and embedded social media posts. These are your appeals to emotion - smiling, happy users. Next, you display their peers submitting testimonials, reviews and ratings, impressive clientele lists, or anything else that will increase your credibility. Finally, you appeal to their logic. You can and should wrack your brain to find a logical reason why every user you're targeting needs your product, but you should also provide them with a logical incentive. A discount, money back, a guarantee, a limited-time offer, something that appeals to their sense of cunning.

4. Landing Pages that Convert Ensure Fast Load Times

Speed is crucial for conversions. Studies show that a landing page should load within 3 seconds; anything longer risks losing users. Optimize images, reduce heavy scripts, and ensure your page performs well on both desktop and mobile devices. A slow landing page can kill conversions before they even begin.

This is yet another reason to ensure that your landing page isn't just a page on your website unless you are confident in your server speed! If you are not sure, perform a speed test!

5. Landing pages that convert meet user experience expectations

Do you remember the book "Don't Make Me Think”? This was the guide on user experience for a long time. Unfortunately, the user-first interface techniques have not made it to all of our modern digital interfaces because users don't have another option. But your users always do, and every time you ask them to flex their mind muscles, they are just a little more likely to close the browser window and move on with their day. Keep that from happening; you want your conversions to be as mindlessly straightforward as possible. Anything else, including detailed information about the user, can wait in line behind the almighty conversion.

"Don't Make Me Think" also answers how your landing page should be designed. Like your brand, like your ad. If your user comes to your website, they want your website to look like the ad. They want it to use the wording they heard in the ad. They want to experience a brand that they are familiar with. This all eases the transition to conversion because it increases user trust – the ethos. This is the hardest part because it is easy for an amateur to make a landing page that looks like it could give your computer a virus.

6.  Landing pages that convert, track (and test their expectations about) their traffic.

You may think you know what your users will do. You may have read a few articles or followed best practices, believing your landing pages will convert. But without testing and data, you'd be making a big mistake. If you're planning a long-term advertising campaign using landing pages to convert visitors, you must gather metrics on user behavior. Without metrics, it's difficult to determine how many visitors clicked on your ad, how many stayed for the page to load, how far they scrolled, or even where they clicked on the page.

Tools like Google Analytics can help you track key data points like traffic sources, user demographics, and conversion paths. Heatmap tools like Microsoft Clarity can show you where users are engaging on your page—where they click, scroll, and even lose interest.

However, tools like Google Tag Manager (GTM) are essential to unlocking the full potential of tracking. GTM allows you to implement various tracking codes—such as Google Analytics events, conversion tags, or custom scripts—without needing to constantly update the site's code manually. It simplifies tracking everything from button clicks to form submissions. With Tag Manager, you can customize what events to track and gather more granular data on how users are interacting with your landing pages.

Combining these tools gives you a complete view of your landing page performance, allowing you to optimize for conversions and improve your advertising ROI. However, setting up and managing a successful ad campaign can be one of the more complex and technical aspects of digital marketing. While you may have a good grasp of what it takes to set up a campaign, monitoring and fine-tuning it requires a different level of expertise.

If you find the technical side overwhelming, consider reaching out to Twothirty Media. As a Pittsburgh-based advertising agency, we specialize in tailoring solutions to fit your specific needs, helping you achieve your goals on your terms.

7.  Landing pages that convert are mobile-friendly.

Users are continuing a trend toward mobile-first browsing, so optimizing your landing pages for mobile is essential. Many visitors will access your page on their phones or tablets, and if your page isn't mobile-friendly, they'll likely bounce. Use responsive design to ensure your landing page looks and functions perfectly across all devices. This is especially true if your ad appears across apps!

Speed, layout, and clickable buttons should all be tailored to mobile users, and mobile versions of forms should be short and easy to complete. A clunky or slow mobile experience can cost you conversions.

8. Landing pages that convert use compelling visuals and design.

The visual design of a landing page plays a considerable role in driving conversions. High-quality images, videos, and graphics that support your message can create an emotional connection with your users. Visual elements like product images, explainer videos, and infographics make your offer more appealing, while minimalistic design keeps the focus on your CTA. Your visuals should be purposeful and help reinforce your value proposition. Avoid clutter and distractions, and ensure that your design aligns with your overall brand image.

Extra Credit: When Should You Not Use a Landing Page?

While landing pages are highly effective for driving conversions, there are times when they might not be necessary. Here are a few situations where you can skip the landing page:

Keep these tactics in mind when you build your landing page, and your users will convert more often. If you need help setting up a landing page like this or would like an advertising campaign consultation, feel free to reach out!

How Does an Advertising Agency Decide What Platform A Digital Ad Should Appear On?

Advertising can appear in many places across the digital landscape. You have seen ads in site banners, in apps, across streaming TV, on podcasts, digital radio, social media, or as search results in your browser. With so many choices, it can be difficult to decide the most effective avenue to place your ads so that your potential customers will see them. That is why an advertising agency specializing in digital marketing can help businesses and organizations determine which platform (or ad location) is best for your marketing campaign.

Advertising agencies determine the best place a client’s digital ad should appear by answering these three questions:

  1. Who is the intended audience?
  2. Which advertising platform contains the best match for the intended customer?
  3. What is the duration, budget, and purpose of the ad?

Who Are You Advertising To, and Where Do They Frequent?

Who is the intended audience for the product or service you are advertising? This is a big question, and one that any successful company has taken time to figure out. A company needs to develop a customer profile or persona. Customer personas are created when you list common characteristics, habits, or traits that your ideal or intended customer has. Sometimes you can use the data gathered from past customers to build a profile of your ideal customer.

But what about situations where you don’t have past customer data? If you are launching a new product or service it is helpful to partner with an advertising agency that can provide market research and analyze your competitors to collect that data for you. Something as simple as creating a paid survey of the general population can be the difference between a successful or a failed launch.

Which Digital Platform Contains the Best Match For the Intended Customer?

Once you determine who your target customer is you can begin to determine where that customer frequents online. If you sell services to new moms, then placing ads across social media platforms or across Google where a potential customer might be looking up answers is always a good start.

If you are selling something to another company, your intended audience would likely be the decision-makers of businesses in your target industry. If that's the case, then you need to find out if your business-to-business sales need to be advertised on a platform like LinkedIn.

When developing a customer profile, it is always beneficial to get as granular and specific as possible with the shared traits your customers have. An ad agency that is familiar with platforms like Meta can sometimes use platform-specific, audience-building controls to target potential customers who mimic your current customers in behavior or demographics. A savvy marketer can help steer your ads to be shown to your customers where they are already spending time – sometimes literally! Digital Ads don’t just include banners across social media or search ads on Google – they cover much more. There are advertising opportunities across mobile phone apps, ads on YouTube, even digital screens on street kiosks, and ads across streaming media services.

What Are My Options for Platforms?

Digital advertisers have a variety of platforms available to them, and each one is suited to different types of campaigns and goals. Social media platforms like TikTok and Meta are excellent for getting engagement, particularly for brand awareness and consumer products, and the trick is choosing the right platform and messaging for your audience. Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) utilize programmatic advertising to automate buying display ads, video ads, and other formats across a wide array of websites and apps, making them ideal for large-scale campaigns targeting specific demographics or interests.

Environmental ads, such as billboards and digital screens like what you might see on street kiosks, transit hubs, or restaurants and waiting rooms, offer high visibility in public spaces, perfect for local or urban campaigns. Radio and podcast ads can effectively reach a captive audience with niche interests during their commute or leisure time, especially for storytelling and brand-building purposes. Sponsorships and direct placements on popular websites provide a more controlled environment to align your brand with specific content, enhancing credibility and targeted reach. Search ads, including Google search and display ads, are powerful for targeting users actively searching for related products or services, defending your brand, and driving high-intent traffic to your site. Print ads, while more traditional, still play a role in reaching specific audiences that prefer physical media. Even direct mail has a use case and an audience. Each platform has unique strengths and is chosen based on the campaign's goals, whether it's driving immediate sales, increasing brand recognition, or building long-term customer engagement.

What Is the Duration, Budget, and Purpose of the Ad?

The last question you need to answer before launching a successful digital advertising campaign is a doozy. You need to decide how much time you have available to run the campaign, what budget you can allocate to it, and what the purpose of the ad is. Shorter campaigns can have success if the budget is larger, and longer campaigns are sometimes more successful on some platforms than others. These first two ingredients of your campaign depend quite a lot on the third: what is the purpose of the ad?

Sometimes the purpose is very simple, like a broad brand-recognition campaign. These types of campaigns require very little of the viewer other than to remember your brand or associate your brand with solving a problem or being reliable, etc. Your ads here are not asking someone to make an immediate conversion. They are setting up a future conversion with brand familiarity. When your audience is given the opportunity to make a purchase, your ads ensure that your brand feels familiar and like something the audience can identify with.

Sometimes the purpose is a little more nuanced. If you are asking your potential customers to sign up or register for something, or you are trying to build awareness of a problem they were unaware of, you need to educate them about the problem and provide them with the solution.

Here is an example: Imagine you run a company that removes discoloration from brick homes using environmentally friendly cleansers. First, you would need to make the homeowner aware that this is a problem that needs to be addressed. Then you can position yourself as the easy, quick, and environmentally friendly solution to this problem. In a case like this, the ad could benefit from being a video ad. If so, the best platform to serve this ad would be one that allows videos and has solid metrics for people responding to video ads on their platform.

Partnering With A Digital Marketing Agency

If you have more questions than you did at the start of this article, you’re not alone. Businesses and organizations of all sizes need the support and expertise of an advertising agency that can help guide your campaign to success while quantifying the results of the ads. Agencies with proficiency in branding, design, and analytics can help you from ad concept to ROI scalability. You want your campaign to be well-targeted, and streamlined, with engaging visual content and clear calls to action. Having your website prepared to receive and convert those leads is also essential. Contact Twothirty Media today to find out how we can prepare you for your next campaign.

What Things Should You Know Before Creating a Multimedia Promotion?

A multimedia promotion is one of the most comprehensive and robust ways to build a brand, launch a new promotional campaign, and drive sales and leads. The question is, how do you pull it off when there are so many moving parts? 

Multimedia support is nearly always best if you're in the preparation phase of building an advertising campaign. Turning to a company like Twothirty Media makes the entire process effective and efficient. However, you should still know what goes into a successful multimedia promotion.

What Is Multimedia in the First Place?

Multimedia marketing utilizes various media forms to reach your audience, promote a product or service, and build your brand. Every component of the process needs to communicate the same message with the same branding details. Otherwise, you'll confuse your audience and limit any return on investment. 

Typically, multimedia uses traditional media methods, like radio, direct mail, TV promotion, and digital channels, including social media, digital marketing, and email. Today's more elaborate multimedia campaigns encompass photoshoots, aerial videos, and even animation, all to communicate your message in a way that gets attention from your target audience. You need to focus on incorporating the types of multimedia most likely to get attention from your target clients. 

How to Build a Multimedia Promotion

Working side-by-side with a multimedia marketing team, you'll navigate through several steps to build a strong promotion. It will include several starting points to ensure your brand management is on point first. You'll need to have a well-defined brand image. Then, consider the following steps:

#1: Define Your Target Customers

Multimedia promotions can be versatile enough to draw in various groups of customers. However, before you can launch a campaign, you need to zero in on the most likely-to-buy customers you want to target first. 

Once you break down your market into segments, based on the answers above, you can start to formulate a plan for marketing to each group. You'll learn who these people are, what they need, and where you can find them to reach them effectively.

#2: Define the Types of Multimedia Best Suited for Your Target Audience

Once you understand your market, you can now begin to define the types of multimedia best suited to them. This is where it helps to work with a multimedia marketing company specializing in this. It's easy to watch your budget balloon go out of control if you're using every type of tool out there. And you certainly need to meet your ROI goals. So, where do you start? Consider these areas:

For your multimedia campaign, focus on the marketing strategies that reach your audience.Think about where your customers are. 

You can work closely with your marketing team to refine where your content and ads must be placed to reach your target audience.

#3: Develop a Customer-Centric Campaign

With the tools in place, work with your marketing team to build a promotion that communicates a compelling message to your target audience. Consider these tips and strategies:

There's also a necessary period of testing and development. That often means considering past campaigns and successes as well as integrating tools that can help to monitor progress. 

Whether you are a small company breaking into a market or an established brand building your reach multimedia marketing is exceptional, necessary, and within reach. At Twothirty Media, we bring the tools and expertise to pull together a successful campaign by handling every step of the development process. If you are looking for help building an advertising campaign, feel free to reach out!

What is an Example of a Creative Strategy in Advertising?

Excellent marketing is essential to any successful business, and advertising plays a crucial role. The key to effective advertising is having a creative strategy that persuades your target audience and sets you apart from your competitors. In this article, we will discuss multiple examples of creative strategies and will detail how it can make a difference in the success of your marketing efforts.

What is a Creative Strategy?

A creative strategy refers to a marketer's plan or approach to communicate a thought-provoking message in an engaging or unique way. Developing a creative strategy for advertising involves using new and innovative ideas to capture the attention of potential customers and persuade them to take action. A well-executed creative strategy might appeal to a customers emotions, enhance a brands credibility, or confront them with a logical argument. This kind of campaign to build brand awareness and drive revenue might sound like a very modern concept, but it has roots in ancient Greece.

Incorporating Pathos, Ethos, and Logos into your Creative Strategy in Advertising

Believe it or not, advertising is tied to the ancient art of persuasion. Aristotle introduced the concepts of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in his work "Rhetoric" as the three modes of persuasion. He outlined them as essential elements for effective communication and argumentation. These concepts still play a crucial role in crafting messages that resonate deeply with audiences and can be seen at work in various creative strategies, driving the success of memorable ad campaigns. 

Developing a Creative Strategy in Advertising Using Pathos

You will find Pathos everywhere. Pathos, the emotional appeal, is masterfully employed in campaigns like the SPCA's ads featuring Sarah McLachlan. These ads create a lasting impact by evoking strong emotional responses, compelling viewers to take action. This strategy often leaves a lasting impression on the viewers. You may be like me and try to avoid these ads, or you may not, but you cannot deny their existence or their impact. The SPCA had over $250,000,000 in contributions, memberships, grants, and sponsorships in 2022. 

Another successful example is the Dove Real Beauty campaign, which used emotional storytelling to promote its message of self-love and acceptance. By featuring real women describing themselves to a forensic sketch artist, Dove created an emotional connection with its audience and promoted its brand as one that celebrates diversity and inner beauty.

Pathos and Storytelling

Some advertisers take this one step further and use storytelling to help customers visualize meeting their goals using your services or product. Everyone's favorite story is one about them, after all. Everyone is the hero of their own story, and we all love a happy ending. So, for example, an organization that offers physical therapy might use a storytelling technique to walk a customer through the recovery process by showing an actor dealing with pain on their own, learning about the service, making an appointment, going through the steps of physical therapy, and then be seen enjoying some physical activity they would typically enjoy in their leisure time. On the other hand, an environmental nonprofit may promote membership or donations by telling a visual story about a character who grew up loving nature and took steps to help protect it for the next generation.

Pathos and Humor

Of course, everyone's favorite example of a creative strategy in advertising is humor. Humor in advertising typically falls under the category of Pathos, as it aims to evoke positive emotions in the audience. By making people laugh, humor creates a sense of enjoyment and connection with the brand or product. This emotional response can make the advertisement more memorable and increase the likelihood of the audience associating positive feelings with the brand, which can ultimately influence their purchasing decisions. While humor primarily appeals to emotions, it can also enhance Ethos (credibility) by making the brand seem more relatable and human. In some cases, it can support Logos (logic) by simplifying complex ideas or highlighting the absurdity of a problem.

Using humor, advertisers can make their audience laugh and associate positive emotions with their brand or product. This makes the advertisement more memorable and can create a sense of likability, or at least memorability for the brand. Examples here range from State Farm's Bundle Mantra (feat. Patrick Mahomes), which features a clever joke and plays the actor's overreaction for laughs, to the Quiznos Sprongmonkeys, the bizarre yet entertaining proto-meme flash cartoon-inspired commercials that recently returned to a warm but puzzled reception after 20 (!) years. Like them or not, that's a long time to be in the public memory! And that’s the point.

Of course, you can and should simultaneously take advantage of more than one of these concepts. The State Farm ad above lists Patrick Mahomes in the title, and that's not an accident. This ad will be searched for on YouTube and other social sharing sites and found by people searching for football players on Google. The connection that State Farm makes by associating themselves with Patrick Mahomes is clearly quite valuable to them. And it's a great example of using the concept of Ethos.

Developing a Creative Strategy in Advertising Using Ethos

Ethos, or the appeal to credibility, is vital in establishing trust between a brand and its audience. For instance, Dove's Real Beauty campaign, which we discussed earlier, leverages Ethos by featuring real women rather than models, thus positioning the brand as authentic and relatable. This approach strengthens the brand's credibility and fosters a genuine connection with its audience.

Endorsements from industry experts or celebrities boost a brand's credibility. For example, Nike's partnerships with athletes like LeBron James or Serena Williams lend credibility to their products through association with respected figures in sports.

Ethos and Credibility 

The SPCA's campaign featuring Sarah McLachlan is a prime example of how credibility can be established through a sincere and heartfelt appeal. The SPCA enhances its credibility and trustworthiness by aligning the organization with a well-respected celebrity known for her compassion towards animals. This connection draws attention to the cause and encourages viewers to take the message seriously, leading to a significant increase in contributions and support for animal welfare.

Ethos and Expertise

Another method is to exude expertise by association. An environmental conservation organization might use it’s Annual Report to highlight the successful projects and partnerships with recognized scientific institutions to demonstrate its authority in the field. By providing evidence of its accomplishments and expertise, the organization establishes itself as a credible and reliable source, encouraging individuals to support its cause and trust in its ability to positively impact the environment.

Developing a Creative Strategy in Advertising Using Logos

Logos, or logical appeal, is evident in the strategic storytelling of ads like the physical therapy example mentioned earlier. By logically outlining the benefits of the service and the steps involved in the recovery process, the ad appeals to the audience's rational side, helping them visualize the practical value of the service.

Taking advantage of a powerful concept like Logos can help carry a message far, even with a small budget. A compelling creative strategy does not equate to massive spending on production and expensive campaigns. It is all about the idea and how it is executed. For example, the "Dumb Ways to Die" campaign by Metro Trains in Melbourne, Australia, successfully promoted train safety awareness through a humorous and creative approach. McCann Melbourne estimated that within two weeks, the campaign had garnered at least $50 million in global media value, along with over 700 media stories, all at a fraction of the cost of a single TV advertisement.

By illustrating the consequences of unsafe behaviors in a humorous (there's sneaky Pathos again!) yet precise manner, the campaign provides a logical argument for the importance of following safety guidelines. This approach engages the audience and drives home the message that safety is a serious matter, leading to a positive change in behavior.

Logos and Rational Appeal

Employing a logical appeal is critical in convincing an audience of a service's value. A physical therapy organization can take this approach by outlining the steps of the recovery process, from initial pain to successful rehabilitation. By presenting a clear and logical progression, the advertisement appeals to the audience's sense of reason, helping them understand the benefits of the service and how it can effectively address their needs.

Logos and Logical Arguments

An environmental nonprofit can effectively use logos by presenting logical arguments about the importance of conservation efforts. For instance, the organization might highlight the direct impact of climate change on specific ecosystems and how their initiatives are combating these effects. By providing scientific data and logical reasoning, the advertisement appeals to the audience's rational side, persuading them to support the cause based on sound environmental principles and the tangible benefits of their actions.

The Importance of a Creative Strategy in Advertising

Having a creative strategy in advertising is crucial for several reasons. First, it helps brands stand out by showcasing their uniqueness and creativity. This can be the key to capturing consumers' attention and differentiating yourself from other brands in a crowded market.

Moreover, unique advertising strategies can also help in building brand awareness. By creating memorable and impactful advertisements, brands can increase their visibility and stay top of mind for potential customers. This can increase brand recognition and recall when consumers make purchasing decisions.

By partnering with an innovative, creative agency, brands can also receive fresh and unique ideas to help them stay ahead of the curve in their advertising efforts. 

That's where Twothirty Media comes in! As a full-service Pittsburgh creative agency, we specialize in creating and executing effective and unique advertising strategies for our clients. Through our expertise in storytelling, design, and digital technology, we help brands connect with their target audience in meaningful ways that drive results.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your brand stand out with a creative strategy in advertising.

Multimedia Marketing vs. Digital Marketing: Choosing the Right Path for Your Business

Marketing has evolved into a dazzling array of options for promoting your products and services. It's like a candy store; you're the kid with a sweet tooth for success!

You've probably heard about multimedia and digital marketing as two popular strategies to level up your game. But what's the difference between them, and which is the perfect match for your brand?

Fear not! In this blog post, we'll dive deep into these marketing approaches, unraveling their key differences and helping you make the best choice for your business.

Understanding Multimedia Marketing

Let's start by unraveling the concept of multimedia marketing. As the name suggests, it involves leveraging multiple forms of media to reach and engage with the target audience. 

This could include traditional television, radio, print, billboards, direct mail, and digital platforms like websites, social media, email, and mobile apps. Multimedia marketing aims to create a cohesive and integrated consumer experience across various touchpoints, utilizing offline and online channels.

Digital Marketing: The Power of the Online Realm

Digital marketing, on the other hand, focuses primarily on online platforms and channels. It encompasses various strategies and tactics, including search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, email marketing, influencer marketing, social media marketing, and more. The advantage digital marketing has is its ability to precisely target specific audiences and track the effectiveness of campaigns in real-time through analytics.

Comparing the Two Approaches

1. Reach and Targeting

Multimedia marketing has the potential to reach a broad audience by utilizing various offline and online channels. However, digital marketing offers unparalleled targeting capabilities, allowing businesses to define specific demographics, interests, behaviors, and other criteria to reach the right people at the right time. This precision targeting often leads to higher conversion rates and a more promising return on investment (ROI).

2. Cost-Effectiveness

Regarding cost, digital marketing has an edge over multimedia marketing. Online campaigns can be more affordable, especially for small businesses with limited budgets. Traditional media channels like television or print advertisements often require significant investments, making them less accessible for companies with restricted resources.

3. Flexibility and Adaptability

Digital marketing shines in terms of flexibility and adaptability. With digital campaigns, making adjustments, optimizing strategies, and experimenting with different approaches based on real-time data and insights is easier. On the other hand, multimedia marketing may involve more time and effort to modify campaigns once launched, especially if they rely on print or broadcast media.

4. Consumer Engagement

Multimedia marketing has the potential to create a more immersive and memorable experience for consumers by utilizing various sensory elements. Combining visual, audio, and tactile components can leave a lasting impact. In contrast, digital marketing often focuses on short-form content and immediate interactions, which may have a different level of sensory appeal but can foster real-time engagement and conversations.

Finding the Sweet Spot: Combining Multimedia and Digital Marketing for Maximum Impact

Ultimately, the choice between multimedia and digital marketing depends on your business goals, target audience, budget, and the nature of your products or services. While multimedia marketing offers a broader reach and the potential for a multi-sensory experience, digital marketing provides precise targeting, cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and real-time analytics.

Ideally, a well-rounded marketing strategy could incorporate elements from both approaches, ensuring a comprehensive and effective promotional campaign. 

Remember, understanding your audience and staying updated with the latest trends and technologies will empower you to make well-informed decisions and remain ahead of the competition in this dynamic marketing landscape.

Enhancing Marketing Possibilities: TikTok and OTT Programmatic Advertising

In the context of our exploration into multimedia and digital marketing, it's important to remember that multimedia and digital marketing are not mutually exclusive. For example, let's consider platforms you are almost certainly already familiar with: TikTok and OTT programmatic advertising. These additions bring a new dimension to the dynamic interaction between multimedia and digital strategies, adding depth and vibrancy to your marketing endeavors.

Imagine TikTok as a modern twist to traditional marketing channels. It functions like a television station, but it's right on people's smartphones. With TikTok, you can craft short, captivating videos that convey your message and engage your audience in an entertaining and creative manner. It's not just an app – it's a platform that can establish an intimate connection with potential customers, integrating your brand seamlessly into their daily lives.

OTT programmatic advertising might sound complex, but it's a compelling way to expand your brand's reach, and you've probably run into it before, even if you don't realize it. Consider your favorite shows on platforms like Netflix or Hulu; these are Over-The-Top (OTT) services. OTT programmatic advertising involves displaying your ads on these platforms, allowing your message to appear during viewers' streaming sessions. Think of it as a chance to join the party of their entertainment and make your brand an indispensable part of their leisure time.

As we piece together these marketing components, envision a puzzle coming together to reveal a complete picture. By incorporating digital multimedia advertising platforms such as TikTok and OTT into the existing blend of multimedia and digital marketing, you add an extra layer of depth to your approach. TikTok contributes an element of fun, creativity, and immediacy through short videos that can resonate with a younger demographic. Conversely, OTT programmatic advertising enables you to engage a broader audience during their leisure moments, seamlessly integrating your brand into their entertainment experience.

The significance of these additions lies in the enhanced engagement they offer. TikTok transforms your brand into a relatable, shareable story. At the same time, OTT ensures your presence during those prime moments when your audience is most receptive. By embracing these tools, you amplify the overall impact of your marketing strategy, creating a more comprehensive and effective outreach.

As you navigate your marketing journey, consider the value of combining your multimedia and digital advertising campaigns. Integrating platforms like TikTok and OTT programmatic advertising into your existing strategy can propel your brand's success in this ever-evolving landscape. 

Twothirty Media: Unleash the Power of Creative Marketing in Pittsburgh!

Ready to craft the ultimate marketing strategy for your business? Look no further than Twothirty Media, your go-to creative marketing agency in Pittsburgh! Our team of experts is here to help you navigate the multimedia and digital marketing landscape, ensuring you make the perfect choice for your unique business needs. Get in touch with Twothirty Media today, and let's create a marketing masterpiece together.

What Is The Difference Between Inbound And Outbound Marketing?

There are a lot of similarities between inbound and outbound marketing, but there are also some key differences. This blog post will look at these differences more closely. We'll also discuss the pros and cons of both. So, if you're curious about the difference between inbound and outboard marketing, read on!

Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing

Inbound marketing attracts customers to your products or services through content marketing, search engine optimization, or social media.

In contrast, outbound marketing is more traditional and relies on advertising, cold-calling, or email blasts to reach potential customers.

So, Which One Is Better?

Well, it depends on your business and your goals. Inbound marketing can be a great way to build awareness and generate interest if you're selling a new product or niche.

However, outbound marketing may be more effective at generating leads if you're selling a more established product or service.

Ultimately, the best approach will likely be a combination of inbound and outbound marketing.

Examples Of Inbound Marketing Techniques

Generally, inbound marketing refers to any marketing strategy that draws customers in rather than going out to them. This can take many different forms, but here are common examples:

YouTube Videos

YouTube videos are a great form of inbound marketing because they allow you to share your message with a large audience at a low cost. Additionally, videos are a great way to engage with your customers and build trust.

SEO

With SEO, you create blog posts and relevant articles for your target audience. You optimize your website for search engines and include keywords and phrases pertinent to your business. By doing this, you'll attract more traffic to your website and also be able to rank higher on search engine results pages.

Social Media

Social media is an especially helpful way to do inbound marketing because it connects to potential customers directly. For example, companies could post updates about their products or services on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. They could also share blog posts or articles about their industry or topics related to their business. Questions from customers can be answered in real-time, and these interactions build trust with their follower base too!

Examples Of Outbound Marketing Techniques

Outbound marketing is any type where businesses find their target audience rather than relying on them to find the company. Here are some popular examples:

Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most popular outbound marketing techniques, although technically email marketing can be inbound and outbound. It involves sending (outbound) commercial messages to a group of people via email, but this group consists of people who opted-in (inbound) to hear your messages. These messages can be in ads, newsletters, or promotional content. It's a great way to reach many people quickly and efficiently, and your leads can self-segment by level of interest.

Online Advertising

Online advertising is when businesses pay for ads to appear on websites or in search engine results, and it takes many forms. Some of these ads are in the form of SEM (search engine marketing) or banner ads, video preroll, etc. They usually link to a landing page where potential customers can learn more about the product or service being advertised.

Direct Mail

Direct mail is an outbound marketing technique that uses physical mail for marketing a product or service. While it may seem old-school, it isn’t too shabby when it comes to targeting, and remains a great way to saturate an area with a brand or message.

Inbound Vs. Outbound Marketing: In Closing

So, what is the difference between inbound and outbound marketing? We hope this article provides some answers for you.

They're two very different techniques, but both can be successful in the right circumstances.

The one that will work best for your business depends on various factors, including your products or services, your target audience, and your overall marketing strategy. A curated mix of inbound and outbound can give your company the ROI boost you are looking for.

If you’re looking for a marketing plan in Pittsburgh, Twothirty Media is here to help - we can craft a marketing strategy that is tailored to your business’s needs. Get in touch with us today!

What Makes Advertising Effective?

What Makes Advertising Effective?

People are inundated with advertisements all day long. They hear ads on the radio, they see ads on TV, in print media, while streaming, and online. Companies need to filter out the noise in a world where advertisements are everywhere to understand what makes advertising effective. After all, companies use advertising to stand out from the crowd. 

Your Product or Service Must Stand Out From Your Competitors

Before jumping into an ad campaign, you must be confident that you're starting with a rock-solid product or service - one that is better than the competition, something no one else can offer. Each company, business, or entrepreneur must have a "Unique Selling Proposition," commonly referred to as a USP.

So What is a USP?

A USP tells the reader, listener, viewer, or niche audience to buy a product for a specific benefit. The product or service should be something they cannot get from anyone else, which means uniqueness. Finally, the proposition in the advertisement should ‘move the masses’. This means it should motivate previous customers to buy your product while attracting new customers. 

Here are some USPs that have been effective throughout the years:

Of course, your USP doesn't have to be a slogan, and your slogan doesn't have to be a USP. Maybe it's a specific product or offering that is unique to you. If you have trouble finding your USP, consider niching down to a particular audience you can specialize in.

The Audience

Imagine you are at a party, and your goal is to find someone you can connect to on some level. How would you go about doing this? For starters, you might look for someone with similar interests; maybe a sports jersey grabs your attention. If you don't see any dead giveaways, you'd need to start a conversation and ask about a person to try to make any real connection. Sure, you could talk about the weather or the color of the paint on the walls, but that's not bound to get you far. You need to know a little about someone to connect with them.

An advertiser is more like a DJ at a party. They can engage and make a connection with everyone at the party at once. But the same risks apply; without understanding their audience before they begin, they run the risk of alienating everyone at once.  

If you are an advertiser with a unique product, skill set, experience, or service, you need to make sure you reach a unique audience. Even national burger chains market to regional audiences in different ways, when they know what makes advertising effective.  

How do you know that your ads are reaching your audience? Well, that's a bit more complicated. At some point, you will need to place your ads, and that's where targeting comes in. Facebook and Google have a lot of advanced features for helping target your audience and can get good results from a small spend if you are willing to learn the ropes and keep up with the curveballs they'll inevitably throw your way. Whether you are a small advertiser looking to master Facebook and Google Ads, or you have a large budget and are looking for something more advanced, like programmatic display or over-the-top streaming ads, we can help you out. 

The Headline

Now that you have a USP and know your audience let's figure out how to combine the two into a headline. The headline is one of the essential parts of any advertising. Think about your time on social media or while going through a news feed. There are tons of stories and posts that are clamoring for your attention. How do you choose which one to read? The headline, of course!

The headline should grab their attention, but it also has to deliver. If the headline is clickbait, you will have many potential customers exiting the advertisement in frustration, which could ultimately cost you. 

The Benefits

Every potential customer wants you to answer one question: what's in it for them? This should be the core idea you build your advertisements around. What are the features of your product or service, and how do these features benefit the client?

For instance; if you are a bakery trying to get new clients with a new muffin you just released, it is not enough to say, "come on in and try our new banana pumpkin muffin." You need more. Why do I, the customer, need a banana pumpkin muffin? Does it taste good? Is it healthy? Low on calories? Is it cheap? Is there a discount? This time you need to be more than better than the muffins down the street - you need to justify your existence. 

Great Graphics / Copy

The copy must be excellent - whether your ad is in print, video, or voice. The graphics must be clear, crisp, and attractive whether your ad will appear in print, on screens, or video. Photos should both show the product and what the product has to offer. What will eating your new banana pumpkin muffin do for me? – show me a picture. Will I be happy? Refreshed? Has this helped me have a more productive morning?

The Call to Action

The Call to Action, or CTA, is one of the most critical parts of the ad. Sure, a muffin is nice. It looks attractive, the baker seems happy, and the shop is well maintained. If you have established why they need this muffin, now you need to show them how to get it right now. Tell the customer what to do:

What Should You Do Now?

Now that you know what makes advertising effective and how vital good advertisements are to a business, you should learn more about our advertising agency in Pittsburgh! Visit us to learn more about what we can do for you and your business.