Digital asset management (DAM) platform Cloudinary has announced a new integration with Shutterstock that gives users direct access to their Shutterstock accounts from within the Cloudinary DAM.
For now, the integration is only available to users who already have a Shutterstock account. In the coming months, Cloudinary plans to roll out the feature to all Cloudinary users – adding the ability to search, license, and download Shutterstock’s library – without needing to have a Shutterstock account.
Why we care
Managing and organizing visual content can be a constant battle for creative teams, especially given the speed and scale of today’s businesses. Those who use both Shutterstock and Cloudinary will benefit from the increased efficiency of the integration, which reduces down the time and effort it takes to move visual content between platforms.
More on the news
Users of both services will be able to directly load previously licensed content into Cloudinary’s DAM without having to download and reupload the assets.
Cloudinary’s built-in metadata tools will apply to Shutterstock content in the DAM, making it easier for teams to collaborate, search, and organize content between platforms.
Cloudinary said it will continue to tighten its integration with Shutterstock, aiming to help further streamline visual asset workflows.
About The Author
Taylor Peterson is Third Door Media’s Deputy Editor, managing industry-leading coverage that informs and inspires marketers. Based in New York, Taylor brings marketing expertise grounded in creative production and agency advertising for global brands. Taylor’s editorial focus blends digital marketing and creative strategy with topics like campaign management, emerging formats, and display advertising.
Snapchat advertising has a lot going for it. With 249 million daily active users, you can get your brand in front of a large audience. The level of engagement on the platform is equally massive. Snapchatters open the app more than 30 times on average every day.
There are three types of Snapchat ads: Snap Ads, Filters, and Lenses. I’ve written before about the value each Snapchat ad can bring to your business. That post provides an excellent overview of the different advertising options available on Snapchat and whether they are worth the investment.
Today, I’m going to get more specific. Below, I focus on sponsored Snapchat filters, how to create them, and why you should.
What Are Sponsored Snapchat Filters?
Snapchat filters are overlay images used when taking selfies. They are one of the most popular features on the app and have been responsible for driving record growth. The gender-swapping filter attracted 7 million new users days after it was released, for instance.
Businesses can pay to create their own Snapchat filters. Each filter is available on the app for a limited period of time. Filters can also be limited to a specific area, which advertisers can set before they launch. This is called a geofilter.
Why Use Sponsored Snapchat Filters?
There are plenty of reasons why a business would want to pay for their own Snapchat filter.
First, they are a great way to drive brand awareness, given the kind of popularity they inspire. A 2019 study by Snapchat found filters are one of the main reasons users spend time on the app.
They can be incredibly cost-effective. You can create your own Snapchat filter for as little as $5, meaning you don’t have to be a massive brand to take advantage of them.
Snapchat filters offer much less competition. While every business in the country has a Facebook presence, only a fraction of them are creating their own filters. They are a great way to differentiate your brand from competitors.
Finally, Snapchat offers targeting that almost rivals Facebook. Being able to geofence your filters to a specific area, say, near your stores, means you can limit your ad spend to people who are actually likely to buy.
How to Create a Sponsored Snapchat Filter
Creating a Snapchat filter isn’t nearly as daunting as you think it is. I promise.
Simply follow my step-by-step guide below, and you’ll have your filter live in no time at all.
Load Snapchat
Head to Snapchat’s Creative Tools page. Click on ”Filters.”
Note: You don’t need to have a business account to create a filter on Snapchat. But it’s in your interest to do so. You’ll have more control with a business account and access to more advertising features.
Use a Template to Create A Snapchat Sponsored Filter
Snapchat offers businesses all the design help they need in the form of templates. Use the drop-down list to find a relevant topic, then choose the template you like best.
You should be able to find something to suit your tastes regardless of your industry or the kind of filter you’re looking to create.
Create Your Sponsored Snapchat Filter From Scratch
You can create your filter design from scratch if you don’t like any of the templates. I recommend using a design tool like Canva, which comes with preset design dimensions for Snapchat.
Upload your own design by clicking on the Upload button at the top of the page.
Your file size may be too big initially. If that’s the case, use a tool like Compress PNG to make it smaller.
Set Date and Time
Next, you’ll need to set the date you want your filter to be available and how long you want it to run. The longer your filter lasts, the more you’ll have to pay.
Set Location
Next, you’ll need to set the location for your filter. You can search for a town or monument in the search box, or you can draw an area as shown below.
Note: The geofenced area must be smaller than 50 million square feet.
Again, the bigger radius you choose, the more expensive your ad will be.
At this point, you’ll also be shown the price of your sponsored filter.
All you need to do now is check out. It will take a few days for Snapchat to approve your filter manually, but after that, you’re good to go.
4 Tips for Creating Great Sponsored Snapchat Filters
Don’t rush into creating a Snapchat filter. If you want to make your filter as successful as possible, there are a few things you’ll need to bear in mind.
Have a Specific Goal
No one will engage with a filter that looks like advertising spam. You need to have a valid reason for creating your filter and a measurable goal you want it to achieve. Being clear on both factors will make designing your filter much easier and, ultimately, make your filter more successful in the long run.
For instance, if you’re using your filter to promote a new product, you can find fun and creative ways of including the product. If you’re promoting an event, you’ll want to make sure you nail the geographic area and include the event’s name in your filter so guests can show off where they are.
Keep Specifications in Mind
Snapchat has a series of specifications your ad must meet to get approved. They include:
image must be 1080 x 2340px
file size must be 300kb or less
file must be in PNG format
at least 50% of the image must be transparent
there must be a 310px buffer zone at the top and bottom of the image
logo placement must be clear and obvious
Take time to read through these specifications carefully. There’s no point going through all the trouble of designing a great ad for it to get rejected for something avoidable.
There are also restrictions brands should be aware of, too:
No gambling or lottery images.
No URLs, barcodes, usernames, CTAs, phone numbers, email, or logos of other social platforms allowed.
No hashtags allowed.
Filters should honor Snapchat’s advertising guidelines.
K.I.S.S.
If there’s one piece of advice you should follow above everything else, it’s this: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
The best Snapchat filters are the most simple. Don’t take up loads of room with images, and don’t plaster your brand everywhere. The cleaner your filter looks, the more people will want to use it.
Check out this example from Starbucks.
The design is so simple even I could mock this up. You can bet your bottom dollar thousands and thousands of consumers took a selfie using it, however.
In other words, you don’t have to be a design genius to run a sponsored Snapchat filter. Any business owner can do it.
Measure, Optimize, and Improve
A sponsored Snapchat filter isn’t different from any other form of marketing. You need to measure and optimize your ad to drive the most value. Luckily, Snapchat makes doing this easy with its built-in analytics tool that gives you access to all of the metrics you need like impressions and engagement.
You can use this data to improve your next sponsored filter. For instance, you may want to avoid regions with low engagement and invest more in regions with high engagement. You may also want to look at other metrics, like store revenue, to see what kind of impact your sponsored filters had.
Ways to Use Your Sponsored Snapchat Filter
Are you still unsure about how to use a Snapchat filter for your brand? Don’t worry; there are many different tactics you can use, and I’m going to cover a few of my favorites.
Promote Your Brand Partnership
If you’re sponsoring an event like a charity run or a festival, use a Snapchat filter to make sure your name gets seen. Everyone loves to use social media to show off what they’re doing, so a filter will get tons of engagement. Plus, when you brand it carefully, you’ll get the recognition you deserve.
Attract Customers to Your Brick-and-Mortar Store
You can use the geofencing feature of Snapchat, so your filter is only available to consumers within the vicinity of your stores. A fun Snapchat filter can be just the kind of nudge people need to eat at your restaurant or shop your store.
It can also be a great way to leverage word-of-mouth marketing. If consumers take a selfie with your filter after shopping at your store, they may encourage their friends to visit, too.
If you have a lot of stores, setting up individual ads will require a lot of work. I recommend running a test program with a couple of stores to see if your filter is successful before expanding the campaign to the rest of your locations.
Launch a New Product
Snapchat filters are a great way to raise awareness of a new product launch. Including an image of the product within the filter will help consumers to identify it easily and engage with the product without needing to buy it.
The product doesn’t even need to be physical. The Terminator movie franchise created its own filter to promote the launch of “Terminator Genisys.”
Are Sponsored Snapchat Filters Better Than Other Forms of Digital Advertising?
I highly recommend businesses experiment with sponsored Snapchat filters. As I mentioned at the start of this article, they are very affordable and are less competitive than Facebook ads or Google PPC ads. This makes them a great choice for small businesses.
Major brands can also win big with Snapchat filters, especially if you have a product that Snapchatters can interact with. McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Disney have all had success with Snapchat filters.
Snapchat filters will be particularly relevant if you target young consumers and women. Over 75 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds use the app regularly. Almost two-thirds of app users are women.
If you are a B2B company or you target older consumers, then Snapchat probably isn’t for you. In that case, you’re better off spending your advertising budget on Facebook ads or Google ads, or even investing in SEO.
Otherwise, give Snapchat a go and see if it works for you.
Conclusion
Snapchat may not be the dominant social media platform it once was, but it’s still a valuable addition to your digital marketing strategy.
The site still enjoys almost 250 million daily active users, and filters enjoy a ridiculously high engagement rate. That means thousands of consumers could be interacting with your brand on a daily basis.
If your brand is B2C and targets young consumers in particular, creating a sponsored Snapchat filter could be a winning strategy.
Google Ads is currently not loading for advertisers now. If you try to login to ads.google.com you will be presented with a 502 server error. Google Ads went down at about 3:10pm ET today.
Millennials taught us new ways of viewing our socio-political world.
Generation Z showed us what the intersection of technology and humanity looks like.
Now, we have Generation Alpha, a demographic of tech-savvy, racially diverse, and unapologetically influential children who will start entering adulthood at the end of the 2020s.
But, they’re children. They aren’t our buyers. Why should marketers care about them right now?
Studies have shown children under 12 can influence parental purchases of $130 to $670 billion a year. And, it won’t be long before they are the buyers.
It’s never too early to prepare. In fact, since the oldest kids in this generation are starting to hit middle school, we may even be cutting it close.
Let’s take a look at the climate shaping this upcoming generation and what we can expect from them in the future.
What Birth Years Are Considered Generation Alpha?
Generation Alpha covers those born between 2010 and 2024. Most of their parents are Millennials.
Every nine minutes, a new member of Generation Alpha is born in the United States. By 2025, this group will reach a worldwide population of more than two billion.
Generation Alpha Culture and the Future of Marketing
Although some Gen Alpha babies haven’t been born yet, there are a few things we can predict about them.
For starters, Generation Alpha will be the most technologically advanced generation to date, growing up with mobile devices, AI, social media, advanced healthcare, and robotics as parts of their everyday lives.
They will be digitally literate and adept multi-taskers as a result.
Gen Alpha also stands to be the most materially endowed generation of all time. This means they could end up being able to spend more on nonessentials than previous generations.
They also stand to be the most globally informed group so far, and they will have the longest life spans.
Generation Alpha Technology Trends
As Generation Alpha evolves, so will their familiar technology.
We’ve already seen the effects of exponential technological growth on current generations, and these effects will continue to grow.
It’s expected that AI and robotics will be completely integrated into modern life by 2025. We can also expect machine learning, natural language processing, and smart devices to change, improve, and further connect us in the coming years.
Gen Alpha may find themselves interacting with robots just as frequently as with humans.
For marketers, this means speaking to an astute audience that may know the ideal product better than we do.
Similarly, we can expect Gen Alpha to reject traditional forms of marketing, much like their Millennial parents did not long ago. An increasing interest in personalization, humanized messaging, and social shopping should be assumed.
Generation Alpha Education Trends
Generation Alpha stands to be the most educated generation to date.
Access to education is at an all-time high, with most countries reporting twelve or more years of schooling for every individual citizen.
According to UNESCO, each additional year of education increases a person’s earnings by roughly 10%.
With improving digital resources and the increasing availability of technology, Gen Alpha will have better access to long-term education than any previous generation.
That said, the way they view education will likely be different. There may be less emphasis on formal degrees and, instead, a focus on skills.
In an age where every other tech CEO and startup founder dropped out of college and now rakes in millions, it’s hard to argue that moving forward, a degree will remain an absolute prerequisite for success.
In addition to these trends, we’ll see the continuation of highly personalized instructional content.
A generation used to instant access to information is unlikely to succeed in three-hour-long lectures. Instead, we can expect an increase in online learning, especially tutorials, which will further the technological proficiency of Gen Alpha.
Generation Alpha Social Media Trends
Young people are increasingly drawn to social media. With the introduction of social media e-commerce, social media has become one of the most essential tools for marketers in the modern age.
One survey found 49% of 16- to 24-year-olds look to social media for purchase inspiration. This is higher than older generations—their parents may only do this 20% of the time, for instance.
As more Gen Alpha kids grow up immersed in social media, we can predict social media usage will become an increasingly inextricable part of their lives.
Gen Alpha already uses social media differently than their parents. They’re less likely to be on Facebook or Twitter, favoring Instagram and TikTok. Brands that stay on top of the newest technology stand to see greater success with this burgeoning generation.
Generation Alpha Data Sharing Trends
Gen Alpha may be warier of providing or allowing access to their data to social media giants, search engines, ad agencies, and so on. We’re already seeing this trend today, with more and more countries instituting data privacy laws such as the GDPR.
By the time Generation Alpha reaches maturity, they’ll probably have a deep understanding of their data and how it’s used. This could lead to higher levels of criticism and questioning when consenting to data usage—they might read that fine print.
Companies looking to leverage consumer data should consider what they give back in return. Often, an equal exchange is enough to encourage consumer consent.
Brands doing this incorrectly risk losing their rising audience.
Generation Alpha Healthcare Advancements
Much like their millennial parents, Gen Alpha will likely spend more time finding medical information online. Self-service and convenience will continue to be driving factors for Gen Alpha’s healthcare.
In addition, younger generations are increasingly aware of mental health and are more likely to seek help for challenges with theirs when needed. They’ll likely expect their workplaces to offer mental health coverage and resources.
On the brand side, this means staying compassionate and aware of mental health can greatly improve overall brand integrity.
The Bell Let’s Talk movement is a strong example of a brand doing this right.
Generation Alpha Media Literacy Trends
Gen Alpha will have the best media literacy of any generation. They’ll be able to separate fact from fiction and more likely to identify conspiracy theories or fake news circulating on the internet.
For marketers, this means speaking to a well-informed audience that isn’t likely to be persuaded by traditional marketing tactics.
It also means engaging Gen Alpha in the arenas they prefer. Podcasting, video content, and gamification will become increasingly important when delivering information.
Additionally, personalization in marketing will continue to grow in popularity. For Gen Alpha, it won’t be enough to simply push a sale. Marketers will need to connect with this generation in an ongoing way.
Generation Alpha Diversity Trends
The US is becoming more diverse, and younger generations are increasingly aware and accepting of challenges based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Gen Alpha’s patience for inequality will almost surely continue to decrease as they grow up.
Children of this generation are unlikely to work for a company that doesn’t reflect their values. In the same way, they won’t buy from brands that go against what they believe in.
Brands championing diversity and social issues while embracing widespread change will flourish. Brands that don’t evolve will be left behind.
Generation Alpha Economic Trends
Generation Alpha first came into being during an economically tumultuous time as the world recovered from the Great Recession.
They’ve gone through some pretty interesting ups and downs since then, and significant political and social issues will continue to affect their economic standing.
We can be reasonably sure that they’ll be largely invested in the experience economy, including live entertainment, amusement parks, spectator sports, and tours.
This economy has largely been fueled by social media and technology, as people share the fun they’re having and others want to have adventures as well.
Additionally, Gen Alpha is predicted to be the longest-living generation of humans so far. Because of this, they’ll likely stay in the workforce longer, meaning more money over their working years.
As marketers, we need to plan for all of this. Our consumers face a bit of a question mark in terms of the economy. But, we know what they want—experiences—and that they’ll be educated and in the workforce for a long time. Catering to a changing climate and meeting their needs and desires throughout their lifetimes is essential.
Conclusion
Generation Alpha represents a fascinating, technologically advanced evolution of the human species.
People in this generation are digital natives growing up with smartphones, social media, and AI. They’re entering a genuinely advanced world where automation and innovation rule.
Additionally, their purchasing influence is already present, and they’re influencing their parents buying decisions even now.
Marketers who pay attention to this generation now will be better prepared to out-market big competitors in the coming years.
We can expect to see a well-educated, digitally fluent, socially-conscious generation. We need to keep up.
In the latest ad tech merger, Rubicon Project and Telaria have agreed to combine, the firms announced Thursday. In a stock-for-stock deal, the companies plan to operate one digital media buying platform that supports connected TV (CTV), desktop display, video, audio, and mobile inventory transactions.
Why we care
The companies said the combination of Rubicon Project’s ad exchange and Telaria’s yield optimization platform for video publishers will create the biggest independent sell-side programmatic ad platform (SSP). It will
Telaria, formerly Tremor Video, specializes in video and connected TV (CTV) advertising. The rebrand came after selling off its demand-side platform (DSP). The company moved into CTV and launched an ad server designed for CTV and analytics in 2018.
Connected TV (also referred to as over-the-top or OTT) ad revenues are expected to reach $3.8 billion this year, up 39%, according to Magna Global, reaching $5 billion by 2020.
The companies also noted that their combined forces could present an alternative to the so-called walled gardens of Google and Facebook. Google dominates the ad serving market. “Our businesses are highly complementary, and when combined, are a powerful, strategic alternative to the walled gardens, which have been frustrating both buyers and sellers due to their lack of transparency, innovation bottlenecks, and conflicted business models,” said Telaria CEO, Mark Zagorski.
More on the news
The companies said their combined revenue was $217 million over the 12-month period ending 2019, an increase of 32% year over year.
Michael Barrett will be named chief executive officer, Mark Zagorski will serve as president & chief operating officer and David Day will be named chief financial officer when the deal closes.
The deal is a stock-for-stock merger with Rubicon Project stockholders are expected to own a majority of the combined company’s shares (to trade as $RUBI), at approximately 52.9%.
About The Author
Ginny Marvin is Third Door Media’s Editor-in-Chief, running the day to day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin writes about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.
Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.
Founded in 1996, DreamHost is one of the oldest web hosting services to date. Hosting over 1.5 million websites with 400,000 customers and 750,000 WordPress installations—I think DreamHost is one of the best web hosting services for most website owners.
With extensive product offerings that aren’t just limited to hosting plans, DreamHost can help you integrate domain names, website builders, and email hosting into your website efficiently and affordably.
It’s web hosting with a purpose and will make sure your site is fast, secure, and up to date for your visitors.
DreamHost Compared to The Best Web Hosting Services
Compared to other web hosting services, DreamHost is a more well-rounded and inclusive option, with an extensive range of website hosting products for different needs.
DreamHost is my top pick for quick and responsive website changes because of its dedication to excel and adapt to new trends. Not only that, DreamHost also has a passion for privacy, security, and is employee-owned, so they have a strong focus on its users and their individual needs.
I reviewed dozens of different web hosting services and narrowed it down to the top eight options. I looked at each option to see who it’s best for, what options there are to choose from, and how to choose the right one.
See all of my top picks and get an in-depth analysis of each one to make the best buying decision for your website needs.
Who is DreamHost Best For?
With its low price and high quality, DreamHost is an excellent option for most website owners. This may seem broad, but hear me out.
DreamHost is the most inclusive web hosting service for both small and large businesses working on different sized projects. This is because it has a high enough performance speed, customer support, and reliable uptime for most website owners.
Whether you’re in the blogging or site developing niche, DreamHost will offer sturdy and dependable hosting support at an affordable price.
Because it supports SSDs and high-level technology, DreamHost makes it easy for users to customize their control panel with no issues.
From beginners to tech-savvy users, DreamHost knows that your website is your future, making it the best for most website owners who are looking for extra support and high-quality performance.
DreamHost: Pros and Cons
Even the best web hosting services have flaws, and it’s important to weigh up the pros and cons of a product before purchasing to make sure each element contributes to your preferences and the success of your site. Below is a list of the pros and cons for DreamHost.
Pros
Affordable pricing: DreamHost is one of the most affordable web hosting services on the market, which we will cover later on. To make it short and sweet, DreamHost offers a nice variety of pricing plans you can customize to pay for in either monthly or annual installments.
Monthly payments start at $4.95, whereas annual prices start at $3.95 per month, which means you save more by paying annually. This is a rarity for web hosting services, as many of its competitors seem to charge more for annual payment options.
Automated integrations: DreamHost offers automatic integration and one-click installation for a few CMS options, such as WordPress, MediaWiki, and Joomla.
This is a major advantage for most users because it gives them the option to choose a different website and transition with ease. It’s even easier for users who already use one of the supported CMS options because DreamHost will install it for you with one click.
The most popular CMS option DreamHost supports is WordPress, and you will have the easiest time integrating this specific option with your hosting provider. DreamHost also allows you to choose any WordPress theme or plugin for your website. Essentially, you will have full control of your website’s appearance, while DreamHost does all the nitty-gritty behind the scenes.
Extensive customer support: Another significant feature of DreamHost is its comprehensive customer support base. There are two main ways to contact them for free support via your control panel, including live chat and email support.
Live chat operates seven days a week from 5:30 am-9:30 pm Pacific Time, while the DreamHost support team strives to answer all emails within 24 hours. However, if you feel you need extra guidance for technical issues, DreamHost does offer a callback service for an additional fee.
Because callbacks aren’t included in your hosting package by default, you will have to add them. You can choose to add three callbacks per month for a nominal monthly fee or a one-time callback feature for a fee as well.
Not only does DreamHost offer those support services, but they also have dedicated pages for knowledge base questions, system status, tech support, and discussion forums.
High-quality performance and speed: DreamHost offers incredible performance and speed that will permanently transform your website’s quality.
For example, DreamHost specifically designs products to be compatible with WordPress for optimal performance. This ensures seamless and fluid integration between DreamHost and your WordPress website, making it run at peak speed.
Another great performance feature involves the use of SSDs. With DreamHost SSDs, your overall website, data, and caching are 200 percent faster than old HDDs. With lightning-fast speeds and a loading time of 2.35 seconds, your visitors can scroll your website without lag and won’t get caught up in unnecessary wait times.
DreamHost also guarantees 100% reliable uptime, so your site will always be online and functioning to its maximum potential. With emergency generators, constant monitoring, redundant cooling, and data center locations, your website will never operate as well as it does with DreamHost.
Cons
Additional fees for advanced features: If you’re looking for a more comprehensive web hosting service that offers advanced features and tools to transform your website, unfortunately, DreamHost lacks a little in this department.
In the beginning it’s possible to build your website for next to nothing—but there are some additional costs involved for those looking at extensive support. For example, DreamHost offers products outside of web hosting like website builders, G suite, design services, and marketing tools.
However, they all cost extra and can become quite pricey, as they aren’t included in your hosting package. If you do want additional support all from one platform for the added convenience, you’re looking at forking out an extra $2.95 per month for website building up to $1,499 for design services.
Even though a few of the features are quite affordable for monthly payments, if you want more professional services, it’s something you would want to re-evaluate and plan for in your budget.
The Shared Starter plan doesn’t include email hosting: Although email hosting costs an extra $1.67 per month per mailbox for the shared starter plan, which is still reasonably affordable—it’s also an additional cost for those who wish to purchase the starter plan as a complete beginner with little tech experience.
This is especially pertinent when it costs an extra $9 per month for the next plan with unlimited email hosting. This can be a disadvantage for website owners looking for a cheaper plan that aligns more with their budget.
DreamHost Pricing
A major benefit when choosing DreamHost as your web hosting provider is the price. It is one of the most affordable products on the market when you weigh it up against the high-quality services it provides to its users. DreamHost offers three main hosting plans you can pay annually for a discount, including:
Each of these three plans, Shared, DreamPress, and VPS, have additional options within the plan.
For example, Shared Starter and Shared Unlimited, DreamPress, DreamPress plus, and DreamPress Pro. And then the VPS plan is broken down into amount of storage, from 30 GB SSD storage on VPS Basic to 240 DB SSD storage on VPS Enterprise. There are two additional VPS plan options between those.
Let’s begin with the Shared plan. The Shared Starter option is brilliant for beginners who have one new website and aren’t sure where to start. It offers the basic tools your website will need for hosting, like one WordPress website, a free domain, and unlimited bandwidth.
For $3.95 per month paid annually, users also get a bang for their buck with the WP website builder and free automated WordPress integrations. These usually start between $2.59-$9.95 per month, so having both included in the plan for free is an enormous value to your business.
DreamHost also offers the Shared Unlimited plan, which includes everything in the Shared Starter plan, plus unlimited emailing and websites for $9.95 per month paid annually. This would be a good plan for users that have multiple websites who need different email accounts.
The next main DreamHost pricing plan is DreamPress. You save 15 percent by paying annually at $16.95 per month. This plan includes everything the Shared Unlimited plan has and includes on-demand backups, jetpack free pre-installation, and one-click staging.
This plan is more suited for users who already have a WordPress website specifically, as it’s created to co-exist with this builder seamlessly.
There are two other DreamPress options, including:
DreamPress Plus: $24.95 per month with double the SSD storage, jetpack professional, and unlimited CDN
DreamPress Pro: $71.95 per month with 120GB SSD storage, 1M+ monthly visitors, and one staging website
These pricing plans are more suited to high-demanding WordPress websites that require comprehensive tools.
I will get into VPS hosting and options in the next section.
DreamHost Offerings
DreamHost has a few product offerings for web hosting that cater to most users. Below is an in-depth look at the different products DreamHost offer for web hosting services:
WordPress Hosting
WordPress hosting is by far the most popular product that DreamHost offers to its users. DreamHost specifically optimized most of their tools and technology for WordPress compatibility, so it’s for a good reason that WordPress hosting is so popular.
WordPress hosting on DreamHost will completely transform your website with powerful features, add-ons, and 24/7 support. They do this by working closely with WordPress.org themselves, so you will always get the newest version and continuous updates to make sure your website is running and secure.
The easiest part about choosing WordPress hosting is the instant set up and installation process. If you select a plan that supports multiple websites, the one-click installer will do everything for you—offering seamless integration.
WordPress hosting starts at $2.59 per month for one website with a 36-month commitment.
By choosing WordPress hosting, your website will benefit from some key features, including:
Free privacy protection
Free domain with annual plans
Free email hosting
Advanced and easy-to-use control panel
Free SSL certificate
Automated backups
WordPress hosting is an excellent option for those who own a WordPress website for the most effortless transitions and seamless integration into web hosting.
VPS Hosting
Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting is another common hosting option that DreamHost manages and monitors very well. With performance and security updates, your website will be safest with the wide variety of tools and features of VPS at DreamHost.
A powerful feature DreamHost offers with VPS hosting is individual resources that only your website can use. This means dedicated resources will help your website create low latency and high performance.
With an intuitive control panel, VPS hosting has never been easier to manage. DreamHost also allows you to customize this control panel to your individual preferences. You also have the option to upgrade your RAM and storage in under 10 seconds, giving you that extra peace of mind for when your website inevitably grows.
The DreamHost VPS plans offer basic and advanced features for different goals, including:
Basic features:
20x faster SSDs that range from 30GB to 240GB
Scalable 1GB RAM
Reseller and sub-accounts for client and contractor website access
Unlimited MySQL databases
Advanced features:
Automatic software updates
Password protection
Access to raw file logs
Unique IPv4 and IPv6
These features will work well for users looking for a more comprehensive hosting service on a private server.
VPS hosting offers four different pricing plans, including:
VPS Basic: starting at $10 per month with 1GB RAM and 30 GB SSD storage
VPS Business: starting at $20 per month with 2GB RAM and 60 GB SSD storage
VPS Professional: starting at $40 per month with 4GB RAM and 120 GB SSD storage
VPS Enterprise: starting at $80 per month with 8GB RAM and 240 GB SSD storage
DreamHost makes sure there’s a pricing plan for every website owner looking at VPS hosting.
Cloud Hosting
Lastly, DreamHost offers a unique service called cloud hosting with OpenStack. Cloud hosting, also known as DreamCompute, is a product that provides simple cloud servers to advanced network configurations.
Cloud hosting is an excellent option for users who are looking at hosting a website using software of their choice, are running their own server, for gaming purposes, or are running web-scale applications.
Like the other two product offerings, DreamHost always makes sure speed and performance are a top priority for all servers. Cloud hosting SSH is ready in 30 seconds because of next-gen processors and accelerated SSD disks.
Cloud hosting offers a few helpful features, like:
Storage application integration
Backup WordPress sites
Run any application like Ruby, Python, and Redis
Migrate works into your private cloud
DreamCompute has three pricing plans with really flexible prices, including:
512MB RAM Server: $4.50 per month ($0.0075 per hour)
2GB RAM Server: $12 per month ($0.02 per hour)
8GB RAM Server: $48 per month ($0.08 per hour)
With the cloud hosting plans, DreamHost only charges users up to 600 hours in any given month. All plans come with 100GB of block storage and free bandwidth.
Overall, DreamHost is an excellent web hosting service option for most website owners looking for high performance and quick adaptation at an affordable price.
With great pricing packages and product offerings like WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and cloud hosting, there’s an option for everyone with different preferences.
The pros definitely outweigh the cons of DreamHost, and I think it’s worth looking into for website transformation and growth.
The pandemic has caused major shifts in the way that advertisers operate, making it more critical than ever to be able to prove ROI and make every ad dollar count
The inability to track reach and frequency is one of the biggest problems with cross-platform ad measurement that marketers face
As marketers enter the new year, they will need to have measurement solutions in place that account for cross-channel, cookieless, privacy, and walled gardens
Early adopters of cross-channel measurement, truly cookieless solutions, privacy, and consumer-centric policies, and data collaboration will gain insights needed to ensure future success
Marketers have faced an incredible number of challenges over the past year. The demise of third-party cookies, the loss of device identifiers, and evolving privacy regulations have forced the industry to come up with new solutions for identity. With consumer behavior shifting rapidly and market volatility expected to continue this year, proving ROI with accurate measurement will be more important than ever. Half of U.S. marketers say the inability to track reach and frequency is still one of the biggest problems with cross-channel ad measurement. Better measurement solutions are needed.
Advertisers need to take the time now to evaluate their measurement solutions in order to ensure every dollar spent has a purpose. Marketers should look for solutions that overcome measurement challenges and form a single view of the customer journey. Only then can they truly improve the customer experience by delivering personalized messages and offerings based on insights gleaned. In 2021, measurement solutions will evolve and improve to account for cross-platform, cookieless, consumer transparency, and walled gardens.
Cross-platform measurement will enable flexibility and control for TV and other mediums
Recent trends indicate that consumers are purchasing multiple streaming services and cutting the cord at an alarming rate. As consumer behaviors and viewer fragmentation across a range of digital mediums and streaming platforms accelerate, it’s important for advertisers to measure cross-platform reach and frequency in real-time and adjust course quickly if needed. This is nearly impossible to do using traditional TV metrics.
To determine where and how to best reach the consumer, measurement offerings must capture cross-channel metrics and normalize disparate data sets to better understand the actual viewer. For example, one spouse might be responsible for all the streaming subscriptions in a household while another manages cable and internet. To further confuse the issue, their online and offline purchases might be equally mixed.
With more accurate cross-screen metrics and measurement tools, including impact and reach, advertisers can track spend against specific KPIs to determine true ROI within a set audience. As advertisers and distribution players adopt new measurement solutions in 2021 and report these metrics more accurately, the industry will be forced to embrace flexibility in areas that have traditionally lacked agility and required firm budget commitments.
More accurate measurement gives advertisers key insights that require flexibility for optimizations and the need for more real-time control with TV and premium video. Measurement offerings that capture metrics across OTT and linear and link impact to actual outcomes will take center stage in the new year as advertisers are forced to prove ROI and can no longer rely on traditional TV metrics.
The deprecation of third-party cookies acts as a catalyst to better measurement
With less than a year before Google pulls the plug on third-party cookies and the simultaneous restrictions placed on certain mobile identifiers such as IDFAs, the advertising ecosystem is responding with a flurry of identifiers of their own. Despite this, the industry has yet to establish a standard for a universal way to measure reach without cookies, creating confusion in the marketplace and reinforcing the need for secure, privacy-conscious, and interoperable identity solutions that maintain neutrality.
Campaigns using people-based identifiers rooted in authenticated user data perform better across key metrics such as return on ad spend, cost per view, and cost per mille. In fact, certain types of cookieless solutions make it easier to measure results and prove ROI. Campaigns will be people-based and nearly 100 percent addressable—allowing advertisers and publishers to uncover undervalued inventory and see an improvement in their overall performance.
The industry is working diligently to build a better ecosystem – one with trust and transparency – that isn’t reliant on unstable identifiers like third-party cookies. A stronger, trusted ecosystem will ensure advertisers can measure across all consumer touchpoints long after the third-party cookie disappears. This helps to ensure the most relevant, tailored messages reach customers across channels – which ultimately leads to an increase in brand loyalty that will help strengthen businesses and improve outcomes for marketers and publishers alike in the post-cookie world.
Measurement evolves with privacy at its core
As privacy regulation continues to evolve, our industry faces a complex challenge — regaining consumer trust. There’s a conscious effort and trend towards consumer transparency, and that’s not going away. Thus, in addition to adhering to the law, advertisers are updating their policies to ensure transparency about how consumer data is being used. We need to do a better job of explaining that the data individuals share is part of a mutually beneficial value exchange that’s essential to developing products and services that serve consumers better.
As consumers engage across media — they opt-in, log-in, subscribe — and identify themselves in different ways. This data can be used to build and scale the right audiences and enhance measurement to better under which tactics are moving the needle on business outcomes. Advertisers should only use measurement solutions with privacy at the core to ensure the delivery of a seamless customer experience on the individual’s terms.
One example of where measurement is headed is LiveRamp’s integration with Google’s Ads Data Hub. This approach enables first-party data linkage to Google data within the ADH environment in a privacy-first way. An individual’s data cannot be directly viewed, edited, or manipulated in ADH, but actionable insights can be extracted.
Amazon sets the bar when it comes to understanding and measuring the customer buying journey and then executing against that data. Marketers are looking to create that type of measurement engine, without moving data or comprising privacy, that will form data partnerships to fill in the gaps in their line of sight, leveraging data from outside their four walls to measure the customer journey along with all endpoints.
The industry will embrace data collaboration to improve measurement
Walled gardens offer a prime example of how access to data at every point along the customer journey unlocks measurement of the whole customer experience. Following this example, consumer brands will seek to build a strong data foundation to form a unified view of the customer, then to optimize marketing touchpoints as part of the larger improvement to the customer experience. We’re seeing CPG brands analyzing sales lift by comparing data from retail partners to understand the holistic shopping journey of each customer.
As The Winterberry Group found in their January 2021 report ‘Collaborative Data Solutions’, one of the areas with the greatest adoption today is for insight and analysis. Data collaboration will only become more important as marketers strive to measure results and optimize budgets. With the right privacy-conscious structures in place, data science and analytics teams will be able to work across data sets, accelerate analysis, and forge a level of insight that is deeper than ever before.
Conclusion
After the year we had, evolution in measurement is imminent. In what will likely be another financially-difficult year, proving return on advertising investment will be the driving force behind this progression to more accountable metrics delivered with more speed.
Early adopters of cross-platform measurement, truly cookieless solutions, privacy and consumer-centric policies, and data collaboration will provide customers with the best in class experience today and reveal insights needed to ensure future success.
Matthew Emans is VP of Measurement Products for LiveRamp, and the co-founder/CTO of Data Plus Math, acquired by LiveRamp in 2019.
For local businesses of all kinds, maintaining an online presence is key. If your local business listings are mismanaged, and there is different information in different places, it won‘t be very easy for users to find you. Therefore, it’s important to claim your profiles on business listing sites to keep them up-to-date. In this guide, we‘ll show you some top directories and tell you how Semrush can help!
