By now most marketers have put in place a few moderately effective always-on digital media campaigns. But more often than not, despite achieving some success, most haven't significantly evolved their digital strategy and aren't sure how to level-up their paid media.
At Mediavision2020, we believe that leveraging new, targeted technologies and platforms for reaching consumers is the core of where media is going — but it's also critical you start with a strategic approach to developing your media plan. Here are three keys to success.
1. Give to Get: Using a Customer Experience Approach
Focus on solving salient customer needs, not just meeting business objectives. If you can't shake yourself out of "what's in it for me" thinking, you won't get much out of your media. While you certainly need to consider your transactional goals, you can't reduce every campaign to a transaction — not if you want to actually help people along the path to purchase.
Here are a few need states your media could target that don't immediately result in a sale, but drive strong brand preference:
- Seeking inspiring ideas
- Comparing items and evaluating options
- Asking basic questions about getting the most from a product
- Exploring affordability and financing
- Reading customer ratings and reviews for validation
If you can show up at the right time and place addressing questions like these, you will drastically increase the overall reach and relevance of your media. This is the foundation of a full-funnel digital media strategy.
2. Stop Hanging on What's Worked — But Build on It
Too many marketers get fixated on tried-and-true advertising tactics, but this eventually results in plateaued or decreased performance. While the temptation is understandable, it's rooted in an aversion to risk.
As a starting point, consider allocating 70% of your budget toward mature, proven tactics with predictable cost and return — and the other 30% toward new, experimental tactics. For those new tactics, you'll need a formal test-and-learn methodology. You can't kill a new tactic if it doesn't meet expectations after just a few weeks, and you certainly can't evaluate it without a controlled measurement method in place.
3. Rethink Media Measurement
Base your measurements on what business outcome and customer action defines the KPI for the campaign — not a one-size-fits-all approach. More often than not, marketers develop "bottom-of-the-funnel tunnel vision" and view their customers in a rigid, simplistic light that prevents insight and growth.
For new campaign tactics you're testing, focus on CTR and landing page optimization as the KPI. Before you can generate revenue, you have to connect the targeting and engagement elements. Consider whether shoppers used a website utility to completion, how many people shared content, or what customer feedback surveys are revealing.
To recap: help your customers, test new tactics, and measure what matters. Begin incorporating digital media into your overall business strategy and you will see profound improvement.
