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Tim Nichols

Tim Nichols

Tim Nichols is a founding partner at ExactDrive, a digital media buying agency with white label, reseller and managed service options available. ExactDrive plans, manages, and optimizes online advertising campaigns with the objective of delivering measurable value and empowering clients to find precisely targeted audiences. ExactDrive has offices in Minneapolis, MN, Milwaukee, WI and SouthWest Florida.

Tim Nichols is also a contributing author on Forbes.com.

Recent Posts

Jun 15, 2017 2:00:56 PM

Why Native Advertising Should Excite You

There’s no doubt about it, native advertising should be central to your digital strategy when it comes to generating online traffic. Are you investing time and money into it? Do you know how to do it properly? Do you really understand what it can do for you and your business? Maybe it’s time to see what all the fuss is about…

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Apr 20, 2017 3:56:46 PM

Benefits Of Programmatic Advertising

The benefits of programmatic advertising areincreasingly relevant in today’s content-saturated digital world. Marketers need their adsto be targeted, personalized and engaging whenever and however they’re reaching out to consumers; and although a great deal of this targeting takes place via the online tools we have at our fingertips, programmatic advertising takes it to another level.

If you’re not already allocating chunks of your ad budget to programmatic advertising, you may be keen to find out what exactly it is, and how can it help your business?

Put simply, it’s a style of advertising that cuts out the middle man. So instead of liaising and negotiating with people, it’s all done via machines - or a demand-side platform (DSP) to be precise. It sounds very technical, but a DSP allows you to manage multiple ad exchange and data exchange accounts with one platform. Genius Right?

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Mar 9, 2017 9:51:57 AM

Steps To Implement A Data Strategy Into Your Programmatic Media Buys

Simply diving into a programmatic advertising strategy without any kind of plan based on previous data is like jumping head first into a lake with no idea what's waiting for you at the bottom. While you might land on a pile of bouncy cushions, there's also the risk that you could fall onto a host of venomous snakes ready to eat you alive.

Unfortunately, a lot of marketers forget about the importance of data strategies when it comes to informing their programmatic media purchases. Following, we're going to look closely at what programmatic media buying is, and why you should always create a comprehensive strategy based on essential data if you want to make the most of your campaign, and your advertising budget.

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Feb 16, 2017 2:00:00 PM

Benefits Of Local Online Advertising

Lets discuss the benefits of local online advertising. As a business, you may be tempted to spread your marketing efforts as far and wide as possible, to catch as many potential customers as you can. Unfortunately, while a global approach to your marketing strategies might seem like a good idea to begin with, the truth is that it can limit your chances of success.

When you attempt to compete with huge companies for global ad purchases, then you're placing yourself in a difficult position - particularly if you're a small business. The chances are that you won't have the ad budget, or the brand authority that you need to make the right impact, and you could end up under utilizing your money on strategies that provide limited enhancements your bottom line.

An exciting solution for smaller businesses, is to consider localized ad buys, which are designed to attract a very specific geographical selection of people. These localized ads are based around your specific area, and are targeted to draw people who are browsing certain websites or searching for specific keywords that are linked to your location.

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Jan 3, 2017 9:46:42 AM

Is Programmatic Native Advertising The Answer?

The blend between native advertising and programmatic ad delivery could represent a powerful solution to many marketing problems. There are already a range of companies such as the New York Times, and Grupo expansion who are unlocking new mobile experiences to help advertisers offer better user experiences to their customers across different screens.

This adjustment is important, as every day 68% of smartphone users check their phones within minutes of waking up. At the same time, consumers across the world are using mobile devices to catch up with their family and friends, read new information online, and check out entertaining videos. That means that if you want to find your place within the current market, and sell more products, then you need to think about introducing smart, responsive websites and marketing schemes.

Up until now, the disconnect between ad experience and content experiences on mobile has stopped advertisers from taking advantage of incredible opportunities to engage their audience. However, programmatic native advertising could be the answer.

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Dec 7, 2016 9:11:07 AM

Why Consumer Behavior Should Drive All Of Your Marketing Efforts

There’s a really good reason why behavioral targeting is so powerful: It’s because behavioral targeting revolves around pure logic. Ultimately, it’s easier to sell to a warm and engaged audience than it is to clinch the deal with strangers.

By advertising to targets who have previously shown an interest in your website, you’re automatically being more relevant. You’re reducing guesswork. Your chances of yielding a return on your marketing investment have instantly improved.

But this isn’t an article about behavioral targeting. Instead, this post is about what behavioral targeting stands for. Because, really, marketing success depends on your knowledge of consumer behavior.

There are many types of marketing.

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Nov 22, 2016 9:00:00 AM

Mobile Advertising Continues To Grow

If you still haven't found a way to make your marketing campaign mobile-friendly, then you could be missing out on a huge amount of potential profits. Mobile marketing is unlocking powerful opportunities for marketers on a scale unlike anything we've ever seen before.

Bigger, and more powerful than any other channel for communication and engagement, mobile allows marketers to reach larger audiences in a way that is personal and instant. According to Pew research, around 68% of Americans have smartphones, while 45% have tablet computers. If that information wasn't enough to prove that mobile advertising is growing bigger than ever, how about the fact that smartphone browsing is now the most popular way to access the internet?

In simple terms, mobile devices are overtaking the digital World. That means that any marketer who isn't making use of this fact in his or her strategy could be missing out on the clear majority of selling opportunities that exist today.

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Oct 21, 2016 2:25:39 PM

How To Building A Successful Online Ad Campaign

If you're advertising for a business today, then the chances are you're doing it online. The digital marketing world has exploded in recent years, as more companies, organizations, and ideas race to the online sphere in an attempt to have their voices heard. Unfortunately, simply starting an online ad campaign iisn't enough - you need to make sure that you create the right campaign to appeal to your specific audience.

The key to building a successful online ad campaign starts with understanding that advertising on the internet requires more than just a computer and a little talent - it also requires discipline. Just because you have a creative ad doesn't mean that you're putting the right message across to your audience, along with the necessary call-to-action. You might even find that your ad generates leads to your website, but that it doesn't push those leads to convert. If you want to make sure your ad campaign is a success, keep the following tips in mind.

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Sep 9, 2016 9:49:52 AM

Is It Time To Change Campaign Creatives?

One of the most important features in the world of online advertising, and digital marketing, is the creative that you choose to display to the world. That creative is the first image that your potential clients, customers, and even future partners will use to get an idea of your company, and it not only needs to draw them towards your website, but it also needs to establish the uniqueness of your brand.

Ad creative needs to be bold, inviting, and engaging so that they can hook in the viewer before that person is distracted by something else, such as a new piece of content, or a decision to check their social media pages. Unfortunately, simply creating amazing ads the first time around won't be enough to keep your audience engaged - you'll also need to keep changing, updating, and refreshing your campaign creatives to stay ahead of the competition.

The problem is, it can be difficult for marketers and business-minded individuals alike to recognize when their creative is going stale. So how do you know when it's time to change up your campaign?

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Jun 21, 2016 4:10:14 PM

Exciting Video Advertising Trends

For the modern audience with a waning attention span, video-based content is often considered to be more entertaining, easier to grasp, and engaging enough to hold our interest for more than a couple of seconds. In other words, it's no wonder that more businesses have begun to leverage video content and video advertising on channels such as YouTube, Instagram, and Vine.

According to statistics, around 74% of the traffic that the internet receives will come from video content, so if you haven't started watching the trends already, now is the perfect time to brush up on your video marketing knowledge. Following, we'll cover just some of the most important video advertising trends to keep in mind as you enter the visual marketing world this year.

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