It’s hard to believe that programmatic first went “mainstream” seven years ago. Much has evolved in this mode of media buying and in the digital marketing industry as a whole. There are so many moving parts it can be hard to figure out where to turn your attention (and budget). We talked with some of our data partners about the New Year’s resolutions they think could benefit digital marketers.
Better understand branding
The New Year’s resolution of the digital marketing industry as a whole should be to improve our understanding and quantification of the value of branding campaigns. Digital marketers have mastered the science of direct response (DR) ad campaigns, but we have some progress yet to be made when it comes to understanding the art of branding and the essential role that branding plays in the consumer journey.
One of the main reasons that digital has been great for DR marketers has been the abundance of lower-funnel data in the digital ecosystem (search data, browsing data, purchase data etc.). This data performs well in reaching consumers who are already at a certain point in their journey. But for branding campaigns, where the objective is to build a relationship with consumers over time, lower-funnel metrics may be insufficient for identifying audiences and defining KPIs for a given campaign.
Yet branding is still crucial for marketers. Without branding efforts, marketers will struggle to move consumers to a place along their journey where they may be marketed to and converted via DR campaigns. Digital media can have a large role to play in branding campaigns. The key to making branding work in digital is using the right data sets that define more scalable audiences further up the funnel, as well as using the right success metrics that properly define the value of a branding campaign.
— Cory Ferreira, Director of Business Development, Affinity Answers
Use data to better target customers online
Digital marketers should aim to refine their online advertising strategies by using audience data for better targeting of online ads. Ad blockers have been a hot topic of late. Anti-advertising sentiments typically stem from poorly targeted ads—and this needs to be addressed. The digital advertising landscape is much trickier than traditional media where users watch or listen passively. Online users are in total control of their user experience.
Data can help marketers build comprehensive profiles of their target audiences and understand them as humans. They can then tailor their messaging accordingly so that the ads are relevant. According to a recent Millward Brown survey, 40 percent of consumers are receptive to ads from brands they like— so the challenge is keeping them engaged with targeted ads.
Marketers should reconsider wide-net strategies such as retargeting, as these might no longer work as effectively when it comes to growing the customer-brand relationship. Instead, a more targeted approach using the right data such as sociodemographic data for a broader reach, or zooming into specific target audiences with interest segments, may lead to better ROI.
A combination of data sources can help marketers target online ads more effectively. To achieve the best results for their online ad campaigns, marketers can make use of both first- and third-party data, and even a combination of data sources, to reach targeted segments of their existing customers. By employing a well-rounded data strategy, marketers will be able to truly understand their target audience as humans.
— Kevin Tan, CEO of Eyeota
Stay tuned for Part II next week, which will feature some tough love from additional partners on how digital marketers can make themselves better in 2016.