Harley Cannard, Amz Automation Australia
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Reciting statistics about Amazon’s latest round of hires or how many sneakers were sold online this month in Australia is redundant. We’ve all read the stories. We all know what’s happening. E-commerce is finally coming into its own. But as brick-and-mortar brands struggle to play catch-up and digital agencies brace themselves for an onslaught of new, high-maintenance clients, it’s important to remember: Budgets will be tighter, and they’ll need to stretch further.
The pot of gold at the end of the digital rainbow is the ultimate prize. The question on everyone’s lips: How do you get there on fewer dollars, faster than your competitors?
Here are seven ways your brand could be making more from its digital dollar.
1. Multiply Your Message
The old way of developing brand messaging involved crafting messaging pillars based on customer audiences defined by demography and psychographics, and then building value propositions and unique selling propositions (USPs) grounded in that data. The new way of crafting value propositions adds another layer of refinement to brand messaging, including where the value proposition is viewed and what online experience or content your brand is offering.
It stands to reason that the engagement type of a Facebook user is entirely different from that of a YouTube viewer, even if it’s the same person. What’s the point? It personalizes advertising content. By crafting USPs with utmost precision and tailoring your message for each digital touchpoint, you’re significantly improving your brand’s chances of being relevant and prompting engagement.
2. Remaster Social Media
In Gartner’s Covid-19 poll (subscription required), when the pool of surveyed marketers were asked: “What changes in buying behavior are most likely to endure beyond the Covid-19 crisis?” Eighty-four percent expected increased use of social media to engage with brands.
Many brands have made the mistake of thinking certain platforms can only be used for consumer brands and others for B2B. This myth keeps brands away from reaching new audiences. Businesses are marketing to other businesses on Facebook and Instagram, and it’s likely more will start once it shows itself a viable B2B marketing platform. As the number of people working from home has expanded, the environmental context of work has shifted from the office to the kitchen or living room. A smartly presented consumer brand leveraging LinkedIn can speak to the needs of housebound professionals.
3. Fine-Tune Your Funnel
Often, agencies trumpet their ability to swamp clients with floods of leads in their above-the-fold offer. Yet, time again, the tactics some use result in a bucket of dud leads or wasted media buys because of a failure to properly fine-tune their marketing.
Number one on the list of epic marketing fails is neglecting to exclude audiences. Ads kept in front of the same eyeballs costs you money with no return. The most effective way of reducing this waste is through audience exclusion. The secret of funnel optimization (if there is one) is to populate the top of your funnel with as many marketing qualified prospects as possible. Failing to exclude is like delivering junk mail to a full letterbox.
4. Fine-Tune Your Frequency
Facebook ads can deliver incredible advertising ROI. Precision targeting and excluding means your advertising dollar can be strategically directed, measured and optimized. Yet, lurking in the sea of analytics is a silent killer — frequency — which is often found sucking the life from campaigns. Look at any underperforming campaign and odds are, average ad frequency is out of control. In a nutshell, ad frequency tells you an ad’s average number of views. Why is this important? As with failing to exclude, letting frequency run unchecked causes waste. It can also cause annoyance and audience backlash. More importantly, it’s wasting campaign spend by revisiting viewers who aren’t interested in your offer. With every additional view, your average click-through-rate drops and cost-per-click increases. It’s vital to find your campaign sweet-spot and set frequency limits.
5. Class Up Your Content
Content was crowned “king” a long time ago, but the demand for high-quality and captivating content means you can never rest on your laurels. As with messaging, content should be tailored to the platform it’s delivered on and positioned strategically to increase and accelerate funnel traffic.
While video has huge appeal and offers higher engagement, the key is to offer your audience the most relevant content experience, whatever the format. So before you rush to find a film director and scriptwriter to produce a series of short films featuring your product, uncover what your audience is seeking. What’s weighing on their minds, and how can your brand provide original, useful answers? Being helpful is always classy.
6. Find Your Influencers
While a well-targeted campaign can do wonders for building brand awareness and recognition, nothing turns attention into spend like influencer marketing. Why? Trust is the ultimate brand currency. The authentic voice of a recognized individual outperforms every format.
Many brands have recognized this and are investing in reputation management and sourcing influencers to champion their products. Others lag behind due to misconceptions about influencer marketing being something only millennials respond to. Opportunities exist in every sector to tap into this trend by finding the right influencer for their brand. Microinfluencers, catering to specific niches, leverage their high engagement levels (rather than enormous reach) and can deliver significant returns in leads, sales and — the big win — brand trust.
7. Develop Your Digital Savvy
Digital marketing is an incredibly complex and varied field. Most brands rely on the expertise and capabilities of a third party — such as a digital agency — to achieve marketing at scale. However, it’s increasingly important that business leaders develop a well-rounded understanding of how digital marketing is done in their space.
As with all aspects of business, people — not technology or strategy — ultimately drive success. Finding the right people to take your brand to the world requires a discerning eye. As new vendors emerge, catering to increased demand for digital marketing services, making a well-informed choice of digital partner can be a make or break for your brand.
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Author: Harley Cannard, Forbes Councils Member
