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HomeSEO18 Essential Varieties of Advertising (Examples Included)

18 Essential Varieties of Advertising (Examples Included)

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On the planet of enterprise, there are numerous, many kinds of advertising.

To simplify issues, listed below are 18 varieties which were developed, tried, and examined by generations of entrepreneurs from varied industries.

It’s additionally probably each has a devoted annual convention someplace within the world.

Yow will discover examples of all 18 varieties round you. They’re continually copied and “remixed” to win the shoppers’ hearts. Someplace on this checklist might even lie the advertising success of the subsequent world-changing firm.

Every of them is totally different, however most can be utilized in parallel to type a bulletproof development engine.

On this article, we’ll cowl:

  1. Digital advertising
  2. Offline advertising
  3. Inbound advertising
  4. Outbound advertising
  5. Content material advertising
  6. Search engine advertising
  7. Development advertising
  8. B2B advertising
  9. B2C advertising
  10. Online marketing
  11. Social media advertising
  12. Model advertising
  13. Direct advertising
  14. Influencer advertising
  15. Electronic mail advertising
  16. Phrase-of-mouth advertising
  17. Occasion advertising
  18. Guerrilla advertising

Digital advertising is an overarching time period for any sort of promotional exercise that leverages the web because the messaging channel. Accordingly, even two totally different advertising techniques, like web optimization and PPC, are thought of digital advertising.

This time period is usually used to distinguish a class of techniques from offline advertising.

Instance

At Ahrefs, we use varied digital advertising techniques and instruments to share our experience in web optimization and advertising and promote our product.

Typically, a selected matter, comparable to an web optimization guidelines, will probably be utilized in a weblog submit, then repurposed on different platforms and promoted by means of totally different channels; all of that’s digital advertising.

Ahrefs' Ultimate SEO checklist blog post

Right here’s a tweet that includes the web optimization guidelines compressed into one infographic.

We’ve additionally promoted the guidelines by means of internet marketing. This instance is from Quora Advertisements:

Ahrefs' ad on Quora

And right here’s our Weekly Digest publication selling the unique submit:

Ahrefs' Weekly Digest email

In distinction to digital advertising, offline advertising (sometimes called conventional advertising) is an overarching time period for any sort of advertising performed with out using the web.

If an commercial is printed in a paper journal as a substitute of a web-based journal, that’s offline advertising. Equally, when you ship a personalised message by means of junk mail as a substitute of an e mail, that’s additionally offline advertising.

Though phrases like “offline” and “conventional” could give the impression that one of these advertising is a factor of the previous, commercials in printed magazines or between TV reveals haven’t disappeared simply but.

In keeping with Statista, TV adverts nonetheless have the strongest attain amongst all kinds of adverts.

Graph showing TV is top medium for ads

Instance

Between 1999 and 2002, Anheuser-Busch brewing firm promoted its Budweiser beer with a TV advert that grew to become a well-liked tradition phenomenon.

The “Whassup?” marketing campaign received many promoting awards, together with the Cannes Grand Prix, and helped the corporate improve gross sales from 2.4 million barrels to 99.2 million barrels in 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJmqCKtJnxM

Inbound advertising is a advertising technique that goals to tug clients in with related and helpful content material.

To raised perceive this time period, let’s examine it to outbound advertising.

Whereas outbound advertising tries to achieve the shopper with a message that “interrupts” (e.g., TV adverts, PPC, billboards), inbound advertising hopes to create a state of affairs the place a possible buyer discovers an organization whereas searching for an answer.

For instance, a buyer searches for one thing on Google and stumbles upon a related article on an organization’s web site.

Lady welcoming man, then lady with megaphone screaming "buy" at man

Instance

Ahrefs’ free instruments, such because the free backlink checker, are designed as a type of inbound advertising.

Ahrefs' backlink checker

They pull clients from search engine end result pages (SERPs) for queries like “backlink checker” or “analyze backlinks.” If the search demand is excessive, one of these free software can convey a big quantity of natural visitors:

Search Ahrefs' backlink checker page on Site Explorer

Outbound advertising is an “interruptive” type of advertising the place an organization pushes a message a few product out to a prospect by means of chilly calls, chilly emails, junk mail, most types of promoting, and many others.

Outbound advertising tries to boost consciousness of a product or encourage actions (e.g., shopping for, subscribing, visiting a store) among the many target market no matter their curiosity.

Instance

Locations like Occasions Sq. in New York are examples of outbound advertising reaching its peak, each when it comes to the house used to get the message throughout and the finances wanted to broadcast it. A few of what you possibly can see within the image beneath is outbound advertising by means of billboards.

Billboards in Times Square

Content material advertising is the method of making and distributing content material to draw and retain clients.

Content material advertising is often practiced as a type of inbound advertising, the place the content material affords an answer to an issue {that a} prospect is researching. Prospects uncover promoted merchandise by studying about their functions.

Content material advertising is usually used to generate leads, the place essentially the most premium content material is gated behind a type requesting private info like identify, cellphone quantity, or e mail. In a while, that info is used for different advertising techniques (together with outbound).

Instance

Some in style kinds of content material advertising are:

  • Weblog articles
  • Movies and vlogs
  • Podcasts
  • Webinars
  • Case research
  • eBooks
  • White papers

Right here’s an instance of how some can be utilized in a coherent content material advertising technique:

Table summarizing content strategy

6. Search engine advertising (SEM)

Search engine advertising is a time period used to explain promotion messaging printed by means of SERPs. SEM divides the messaging into two classes: paid outcomes and natural outcomes.

Natural outcomes are pages {that a} search engine like Google finds, crawls, and indexes on its SERPs. The place on natural outcomes can’t be purchased, solely influenced by means of content material advertising and web optimization.

Paid outcomes are a type of pay-per-click promoting. Companies pay search engine firms to participate in a bid competing for one of the best advert placement.

Google search page showing paid results at top, organic results at bottom

Instance

Let’s say you wish to rank on the primary web page of Google for the key phrase “advertising automation” within the U.S. You have got two choices to do that: One is thru paid outcomes, and the opposite is thru natural outcomes.

A paid end result will probably be one among these:

Example of paid results in Google search

And an natural end result will look one thing like these:

Example of organic result in Google search

As you possibly can see, they give the impression of being related (and match what Google needs). The primary distinction is it’s going to price the advertiser round $50 per click on to be included among the many huge gamers within the advert house.

To be included within the non-paid, natural house, the advertiser has to create related content material that matches the search intent and construct a number of backlinks.

KD score and CPC cost of the keyword "market automation"

Development advertising is the method of accelerating an organization’s income by making use of an experiment-driven and built-in method to all phases of attracting clients.

Development advertising is one other time period that’s typically utilized in distinction to “conventional advertising.” It is because when development advertising entered the stage within the early 2000s, it was shortly adopted by startups that wanted a distinct method that helped them:

A. Compete with established firms.
B. Get buyers’ consideration by proving scalable development techniques.

The desk beneath explains the variations between development advertising, “conventional advertising,” and development hacking.

Table comparing 3 marketing types

Instance

There are a lot of superb and inspirational trendy development tales: Slack, Spotify, Uber, and Sq..

However I wish to level you within the course of Notion’s development advertising technique as a result of it appears to get almost each side of development advertising proper. Plus, it’s been analyzed dozens of occasions, so it makes an excellent instance for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs to study from.

Notion’s success depends on many pillars: nice product, big and vocal group, and the “freemium” mannequin.

It does development advertising, however it’s not some black hat development hacking. It’s rising quick, however its technique is customer-centric, doesn’t compromise the model, and goals for the lengthy time period.

Many additionally emphasize the function of user-generated templates in Notion’s success. The corporate encourages the creation and sharing of usable templates for varied paperwork and operations.

Notion Template Gallery webpage

Notion’s customers create templates that entice, interact, and retain different customers. A lot of these new customers will then create and share their very own templates, persevering with the cycle.

Right here’s a graphic from Basis that completely explains how this tactic touches your entire advertising funnel and kinds a development loop.

4-step growth loop for Saas

B2B advertising, or business-to-business advertising, refers back to the advertising of services or products by companies to different companies.

This time period is usually utilized by entrepreneurs to call and differentiate kinds of advertising methods and techniques which can be particularly efficient in B2B relations (e.g., account-based advertising), versus business-to-consumer (B2C) relations.

Instance

Companies prefer to promote on LinkedIn. Motive: Its customers go to the platform for work-related functions. LinkedIn takes benefit of that (by design) and affords an assortment of promoting merchandise.

By far, LinkedIn holds a 3rd of all U.S. B2B digital show advert income. As you possibly can see beneath, even giants like IBM use LinkedIn adverts to draw clients.

IBM's ad on Linkedin

This B2B advert factors to a lead-capturing type providing free credit in IBM Cloud’s service.

Lead-capturing form with steps to get credits

B2C advertising, or business-to-consumer advertising, refers back to the advertising of services or products by companies to shoppers.

This time period is usually utilized by entrepreneurs to call and differentiate kinds of advertising methods and techniques which can be particularly efficient in B2C relations (e.g., influencer advertising), versus B2B relations.

Instance

B2C advertising is in every single place. I don’t even must hyperlink to a examine that may show how a lot we’re bombarded with adverts. You simply want to go searching you.

All the stuff that you just personal was purchased due to B2C advertising. Which means, both you noticed some type of B2C promotion that satisfied you to make a purchase order or another person did and advised you the way nice that product was.

Let me begin this auto-therapeutic train with myself. 

Someday, I used to be simply minding my very own enterprise. All of the sudden, I acquired an e mail from Vans saying that it had this big sale of its outlet stock. OK, Vans. I’ll click on.

Vans ad with guys playing guitar, young woman singing, little girl excited

That e mail (it’s in Polish) led to this touchdown web page, the place I noticed these sneakers.

Cartoon excited about purple, gray shoe with green stripe

It was precisely what I wanted this fall. So just a few days later, the sneakers materialized at my place.

Purple, gray shoe with green stripe on top cardboard shoebox

And that’s the brief story of how B2C advertising made me purchase sneakers in seconds. I didn’t even go to the shop to strive them on. I used to be doing one thing fully totally different and never even eager about shopping for sneakers.

However not each e mail can do this. You’re wanting on the energy of the model—Vans being one among my favorites.

With emails like these and on-line procuring alternatives, a model can capitalize on each different exercise it has invested in, making me know, like, and belief it.

Online marketing is a sort of promotion the place an organization pays fee to an exterior web site for visitors or gross sales generated by it.

You’ll be able to spot affiliate hyperlinks totally on blogs. These are the hyperlinks that comprise monitoring parameters like “tag,” “hop,” or “customid.”

The word "tag" in a URL

Which means the proprietor of the web site receives a fee each time somebody clicks that hyperlink or buys one thing through that hyperlink. This manner, the paying firm rewards associates for influencing their backside line.

Instance

This cooking weblog explains the way it elevated its meals weblog earnings by fivefold in three months, one of many techniques being affiliate internet marketing.

Somebody purchased mushroom capsules price $3,240 on Amazon after clicking a hyperlink on the weblog. Identical to that, the homeowners acquired $145 that day, 24 hours after posting an article that includes these mushrooms capsules.

6 bottles of Umi No Shizuku mushroom capsules

Everybody’s a winner on this story—the producer, the retailer, Amazon, that weblog, and the one that purchased these capsules (I presume).

There’s one other type of affiliate internet marketing that’s typically known as companion advertising (albeit companion advertising has a minimum of two totally different meanings).

It’s when resolution suppliers maintain a companion program for different firms to drive the demand and adoption of a services or products utilizing the market capabilities of this system attendees.

Right here’s how Microsoft pitches its companion program: “The Microsoft Associate Community is a hub of individuals, assets, and choices introduced collectively to present you every little thing you could construct and ship profitable options to your clients.”

Be a Microsoft Partner CTA

11. Social media advertising

Social media advertising is using social media like Fb, Twitter, or LinkedIn to market an organization’s services or products.

The purpose of social media is to develop an viewers and have interaction with them. This results in elevated model consciousness, web site visitors and, finally, gross sales.

Social media advertising includes a mixture of techniques, together with publishing content material, responding to feedback, and operating social media commercials.

Instance

Wendy’s Twitter account has turn out to be one thing of a legend. Right here’s why:

The story started with epic Twitter roasts that spared nobody. It began by accident with a simple reply to a not-too-bright remark from a buyer and shortly progressed to the spotlight of this Twitter deal with.

3 sassy tweets from Wendy's

That sort of “model voice” gave Wendy’s messages a sense of authenticity that made its rivals sound like heartless companies.

As extra eyes turned to the subsequent factor Wendy’s mentioned, this tweet got here alongside, aka the third most retweeted tweet in historical past:

This man didn’t get these 18 million retweets (solely 3.1 million). However Wendy’s hooked him up with a yr of free hen nuggets anyway. Wendy’s proved not solely can it get folks’s consideration, however it may additionally maintain its promise (one thing fast-food chains usually are not identified for).

There are extra superb Wendy’s social media case research (see GroupNug or March Insanity). However whereas pushing the boundaries of company advertising, Wendy’s doesn’t overlook social media can be about customer support or just selling its enterprise from time to time.

Tweet promoting products, another tweet helping unhappy customer

Model advertising is a time period to explain actions that promote a services or products in a approach that highlights the model and shapes its picture.

However what’s a model?

Within the trendy subject of promoting, it’s fairly arduous to present a definition that’s exhaustive and passable. In any case, model advertising is practiced in so many kinds.

Let me offer you some examples of robust manufacturers. Do take discover of what you affiliate with them.

  • Apple
  • Mastercard
  • The Avengers
  • Fb
  • BMW
  • Coca-Cola

So what did you get? Did these names spark some sort of picture in your thoughts or an affiliation with an individual? Perhaps it evoked a sure feeling and reminiscence and even made you thirsty. That’s what manufacturers basically are: cognitive and emotional triggers.

So it’s much less essential what manufacturers are. Moderately, it’s extra essential what they do. And that’s the purpose of brand name advertising: to strengthen the impact that manufacturers have on shoppers and make them:

  • Acknowledge the product (and distinguish it from the remaining) – In any other case, you’d be asking your self the query, “Is that the scrumptious chocolate bar I had final time?”
  • Affiliate it with a constructive expertise – It’s possible you’ll not have tried the product. But when the fantasy of you consuming the product provides you a constructive feeling, then that’s all it takes.
  • Rationalize the price of the product – BMWs usually are not the best-built automobiles on the planet. And they don’t seem to be the most affordable both. But, a BMW continues to be mentioned to be the “final driving machine.”

Shoppers usually are not the one doable targets of brand name advertising. Corporations may additionally use one of these advertising to extend their inventory market valuation or to draw expertise to their firm (employer branding).

Instance

I’ve to be sincere. I fell in love with this advert instantly. It made me wish to purchase some LEGOs and “rebuild the world.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XraFU5BjYjQ

The advert reveals a bit little bit of LEGO’s product. However extra importantly, it highlights the model and shapes its picture.

I don’t know when you’ll agree with me, however this advert frames LEGOs as constructive, non-violent, and cognitively stimulating toys for everybody.

Furthermore, that is the toy for the builders of tomorrow. A world constructed on variety, respect, and mutual assist; a non-zero-sum world.

And it doesn’t matter which LEGO set I’ll purchase—they’re all like that. And thru model advertising, LEGO managed to get that message throughout in 60 seconds.

Direct advertising is a technique the place the corporate immediately communicates with the target market as a substitute of utilizing mass media.

Direct advertising is often chosen for its decrease price (in comparison with mass media), the power to personalize the message, and the potential of the viewers responding to the message (e.g., by means of an included type).

Instance

All of us are recipients of direct advertising. The proof of that’s the little steel field subsequent to the mailbox many people have, designed to maintain undesirable flyers and catalogs in a single neat place. It will also be seen within the ubiquity of those sorts of indicators:

Mailboxes with "no junk mail" signs

However let me offer you a constructive and efficient instance of direct advertising: Ikea’s first few catalogs.

That’s how the enterprise of Ikea began within the first place. Ikea was a bit bit totally different in these days. It didn’t promote principally furnishings; it bought principally every little thing.

That is an instance of an Ikea mail-order catalog from 1950:

Slightly faded catalog of bags, wallets, pens

These days, we will simply go to the Ikea retailer and decide one thing up. No person must mail us something. Higher but, we will see the stock on-line and make a purchase order with out leaving the home.

And that was the concept behind the primary Ikea catalogs staged in a world with out the web and only a few TVs. It was an ingenious resolution (however not precisely unique) to achieve many potential clients and “decrease the friction” of buying merchandise.

Additionally, for folks dwelling in distant areas of Sweden, the catalogs represented selection and elegance delivered to their doorways.

An influencer on this regard might be anybody with a big community, or “following,” of individuals and/or authority in a selected subject.

Affect mechanisms leveraged in one of these advertising can take many kinds: inspiration, belief, perception, and imitation. Influencer advertising is efficient as a result of following others’ examples or recommendation helps folks to make decisions.

Furthermore, since affect is a phenomenon of human relations, influencer advertising works each in B2B and B2C conditions.

Instance

Right here’s an instance of an influencer advertising super-production.

YouTuber Meredith Foster was one of many few rigorously chosen influencers to advertise Motorola’s new smartphone product line.

Right here’s what Meredith got here up with:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgyZ9SaN0cA

Sentences of Meredith thanking Lenovo, promoting Motorola's new smartphone line

Meredith’s channel has 4.8 million subscribers. Evaluate that with the typical attain of stories programming within the U.S., and it’s straightforward to see why influencer advertising is usually a highly effective technique.

Average number of TVs tuning to ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC affiliates respectively

Electronic mail advertising is any sort of advertising messaging performed by means of the channel of e mail.

That mentioned, e mail advertising isn’t just sending emails. It includes:

  • Constructing an e mail checklist.
  • Designing and sending emails to the subscriber checklist.
  • Monitoring the outcomes.
  • Curating the e-mail checklist.

The sort of advertising serves 4 predominant functions:

  1. Generate visitors – You’ll be able to talk together with your viewers by means of emails with the purpose to take them from the e-mail to a selected web page, e.g., your newest content material.
  2. Lead nurturing – This contains so-called drip campaigns used methodically e mail by e mail and touchpoint by touchpoint, main e mail subscribers to a purchase order alternative. This course of additionally “qualifies” results in several types of subscribers, e.g., potential enterprise alternatives and model followers.
  3. Onboarding – This refers to a sequence of emails despatched by means of the “lifecycle” of a buyer to make them uncover and expertise the worth of the product and finally retain them. A typical use of e mail onboarding is inside a trial interval of a SaaS product.
  4. Generate income – Like Vans did with me. Manufacturers typically provide clients an incentive to enroll in a publication, comparable to 20% off the subsequent buy. Then it’ll ship particular affords to publication subscribers.

Instance

Since I’ve proven two examples of emails earlier than, and because you in all probability get a ton of emails your self, right here’s an illustration of an e mail advertising workflow.

Example of email workflow

On this easy e mail drip marketing campaign, recipients are routinely despatched emails based mostly on their engagement.

If recipients react positively to the emails, they get extra in-depth academic supplies and even a product demo.

But when they don’t open the following emails, they’re placed on a path of much less time-consuming academic supplies and will probably be finally taken off the drip marketing campaign workflow.

This type of e mail advertising workflow might be designed by means of a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor in lots of right this moment’s e mail advertising instruments with out coding abilities.

16. Phrase-of-mouth advertising (WOMM)

Phrase-of-mouth advertising is the method of influencing and inspiring pure discussions a few product, service, or firm.

In on a regular basis use, it may describe two kinds of conditions:

  • WOMM as a naturally occurring “aspect impact” of an organization’s operations, comparable to exceeding shoppers’ expectations of a services or products. In such situations, the corporate could not intend to actively affect the unfold of discussions. But, the way in which it’s doing enterprise creates such a robust expertise that shoppers wish to share it with mates, household, social media followers, and many others.
  • WOMM as techniques used to deliberately and actively affect the unfold of discussions in regards to the firm or its services or products. This type of WOMM would be the focus of this brief chapter.

The essence of WOMM is to present folks a purpose to speak. The explanation why this technique works is that individuals typically belief what others must say.

That phenomenon has even been studied:

A Nielsen examine from 2015 revealed that 83% of respondents from 60 international locations trusted suggestions from family and friends. However when a advice got here from an opinion posted on-line, the belief ratio was right down to 66%.

The aforementioned “purpose to speak” doesn’t must be a advice of an organization’s providers. It may be something that offers an organization publicity, creates “buzz,” and will increase its model consciousness. Because of this, WOMM is usually known as “buzz advertising.”

Phrase-of-mouth advertising can take many kinds. It could possibly begin as a social media marketing campaign, a PR marketing campaign, or a referral marketing campaign with incentives for spreading the corporate’s message.

Instance

It’s one factor to “earn” word-of-mouth advertising within the type of constructive evaluations and uninfluenced social media threads. It’s one other factor to design and management the entire present.

In “Buzzmarketing: Get Folks to Discuss About Your Stuff,” Mark Hughes describes how he managed to vary the identify of a city within the U.S. to the identify of a startup e‑commerce platform he was selling.

So a city known as Midway was renamed Half.com. For a yr. That actually put the brand new e‑commerce platform on the map.

Welcome sign of the town half.com

That act was so outstanding that it drew the eye of the Related Press, Reuters, USA In the present day, Good Morning America, amongst others. So think about how a lot publicity that e‑commerce firm acquired by means of this single act—all in time for the platform to launch.

In return, the city of Midway obtained new computer systems for the varsity, a brand new web site, and $110,000.

And 6 months later, Half.com (the e‑commerce) was bought to eBay for $300 million.

Occasion advertising is a advertising tactic the place branded occasions are used as a technique to talk with the target market and promote services or products.

The purpose of occasion advertising is to create a memorable expertise by partaking occasion contributors, encouraging them to immediately work together with a model.

Interactions could take totally different kinds: making an attempt out a product, watching a product demonstration, watching a live performance, attending launches, networking, participating in a seminar or convention, and many others.

Instance

Since 2003, Salesforce has organized an annual occasion known as Dreamforce. It brings collectively “the worldwide Salesforce group for studying, enjoyable, group constructing, and philanthropy.”

The occasion is an enormous, three-day annual pop-up theme park for every little thing Salesforce. This yr, the occasion was additionally streamed on-line.

Crowded entrance to dreamforce National Park

It permits Salesforce to create a multifaceted product expertise: Attendees can study Salesforce product bulletins, uncover superior makes use of of the CRM, and achieve some Salesforce certifications.

However like several theme park, there must be totally different sorts of points of interest. The occasion doesn’t simply promote Salesforce’s CRM. Dreamforce is a chance to hearken to talks from celebrities, thought leaders, and politicians. Final however not least, attendees can have some enjoyable at a get together.

What’s additionally fascinating about this instance of occasion advertising is it’s open to different manufacturers. A whopping 103 different manufacturers assist Salesforce make this occasion doable by means of sponsorships, scoring their piece of brand name consciousness.

Guerrilla advertising is a promotion tactic that includes utilizing sudden and unconventional interactions to evoke robust feelings and provoke word-of-mouth.

Traits of guerrilla advertising:

  • Low price
  • Artistic
  • Easy and brief messages
  • Use of public locations like streets or procuring malls as a medium of commercial
  • Creates a robust, memorable impression

Instance

I consider this instance ticks all packing containers of exemplary guerrilla advertising.

Balloon tied and hovering above storm drain near sign saying, "It's closer than you think."

This is among the many situations of the “IT” film’s guerrilla promotion marketing campaign. Even when you haven’t heard of the lethal clown from Stephen King’s novel, this signal is so weird that it’s assured to make you a minimum of Google the film.

Furthermore, I wager you’ll inform different folks what you noticed that day and even tweet about it (I do know I would).

And when you truly went to see the film and watched that scene with the balloon popping out of the storm drain, recalling this guerrilla advert would make the film a lot extra actual and scary.

As for the finances of this marketing campaign, it’s fairly apparent. It’s the price of some balloons, string, and white paint.

Last ideas

With all of these 18 kinds of advertising, it makes one marvel: The place’s Occam’s razor if you want it? May you simply use one sort of promoting and cease worrying?

Effectively, the entire varieties we’ve mentioned had been developed for a purpose. Some are used to distinguish from rivals and others to accommodate clients’ life.

The purpose is you possibly can take a look at these kinds of advertising as ready-made options for reaching your purpose.

Understanding these tried and examined varieties makes work a bit simpler. You simply want to decide on properly.

Obtained questions? Ping me on Twitter.



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