This article was originally published on Marketing Land on March 24, 2016.

When it comes to creating engaging video content and optimizing the connection with your target demographic, brands need to have a clear video marketing strategy in place from the get-go.

Goals must be defined, and your audience needs to be identified. Key performance indicators (KPIs) should be clarified beforehand, with a call to action front and center.

But there’s more to successful video marketing than just these...

This article was originally published on Business2Community on March 10, 2016.

Interactive video is an innovative approach to marketing that can increase audience engagement, especially among millennials. Major brands like Toyota, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Deloitte are beginning to catch on, dipping their toes into the sea of possibilities this technology represents.

Still, many in marketing and advertising remain in the dark about the opportunities interactive offers and how to best...

Rapt Media CEO and founder Erika Trautman recently sat down with Forrester Research principal analyst serving Jim Nail to discuss the influence of emerging content technologies on personalization, consumption, data, and ROI, and the shifting content marketing landscape.

In the interactive interview, Erika and Jim cover a wealth of topics from why consumers’ self-guided discovery of content matters to how technology is changing online video consumption to the challenges marketers face with...

Online advertising and all of the ad tech supporting it is certainly under the microscope these days. And it is not just the rise in ad blocking driving the scrutiny. There is a fundamental shift of online behavior going on with the almost visceral rejection and distrust of anything that is too “commercial.” And if it is interruptive, then just the state of being interruptive is in itself an offense. Programmatic doesn’t solve this dilemma. Putting the customer in control does.

Everything a...

Running a startup is not for the faint of heart. The pressures of navigating the strenuous process of starting, growing and running a successful business are constantly increasing. The number of pitfalls to avoid seems endless and can throw even the most promising companies off course.

But the question is, how do you avoid these common hurdles? And if they can’t be avoided, how do you navigate these challenges to come out on top instead of joining the constantly growing ranks of failed...

Content personalization is great. We know it. You know it. Marketers know it.

But execution is proving tricky, and most marketers are focusing only on half the battle. And if we may be so bold, they’re focusing on the wrong half.

We recently surveyed marketing creatives to better understand the challenges, priorities, measurement strategies, and technology investments associated with today’s evolving content marketing ecosystem. The results clearly show that we’ve reached a turning point...

Joint insight from Rapt Media CEO & Co-Founder Erika Trautman and Adcade CEO & Co-Founder Rob Cromer

It’s no secret that over the past few years brands across all industries have been looking for ways to better engage and reach audiences. And at a time when more than 50 percent of video is viewed on mobile devices, it is essential for brands to rise above the online noise and find unique ways to connect with savvy and increasingly mobile consumers.

Today, more than ever, brands must be good...