Put Your Marketing Where Your Customers Are
For marketers, it’s critical to put your money where your customers are, when and where they’re looking for your products and related information.
For Mary Meeker, this presents a $20 billion opportunity in Internet and mobile advertising because these channels are under-represented in terms of advertising dollars.
While there’s some validity to Mary Meeker’s point since multiple media platforms are needed, the reality is that distributing your marketing budget based on time spent doesn’t address the issue of what viewers are doing on these devices and how it supports your purchase process.
Time-pressed, most consumers are multitasking and viewing content on more than one screen about 40% of the time. For marketers what counts is the fact that about one in five viewers is checking related content or coupons tied to a television ad.
The bottom line is that marketing spend refers to more than just your advertising budget. It includes your website (online and mobile), social media, emailings and other online content, not necessarily advertising, since over 60% of consumers do online research before making a purchase.
As media options evolve, marketers often debate how to allocate their advertising budget without looking at it in the context of their marketing needs. Here are five critical marketing and advertising factors influencing where you should put your marketing spend and related research and analysis to help you determine how to distribute it.
- Television is needed to build brands. While various digital media and mobile platforms are effective for targeting specific niche audiences and driving action, when it comes to branding, television is needed. Millward Brown research shows that non-television media are 40% less effective than television alone. Further, television viewing remains relatively consistent.
Take-away: If marketers are looking to develop and/or support major branding initiatives, then television is needed. Even last year’s highly successful Old Spice viral video campaign was started with a Super Bowl ad. - Prospects and consumers must see an ad on a variety of platforms to recall a brand. Marketers have known for years that prospects need to see an advertisement multiple times before it’s remembered. In addition to the Millward Brown findings, recent Nielsen research shows aided recall increases by almost 50% when a variety of devices, television, PC, smartphone and tablet are used.
Take-away: Only using one platform for marketing and advertising isn’t as effective as a combination. To maximize audience and have individuals receive multiple impressions, use a combination of platforms to reach prospects and reinforce your message. - Web beats television for targeting; but better web targeting is still needed! Nielsen research showed that online advertising is able to reach target segments better than television advertising, regardless of whether it’s tightly defined group or not. By it’s nature, television is broader in its appeal regardless of the show or channel. That said, web advertising requires better targeting to effectively reach its target market.
Take-away: If you’re looking to reach a targeted niche, digital and mobile advertising options are more likely to attract the right audience. That said, consider using a form of behavioral targeting to ensure your ad’s served to the right market. - Consumers don’t trust advertising. This is no surprise. It’s one of the reasons that social media marketing has become so important. Consumers trust other consumers, preferably family and friends. Alterian research found that only 5% of those surveyed trusted advertising. Take-away: Augment your other marketing efforts such as your website, emailing, advertising (online and offline) and other product packaging and collateral with social media content, especially product reviews.
- Consumers want relevant content, not ads, on appropriate platforms and devices when and where they need it. 55% of smartphone owners use their device while shopping according to research by Chadwick Martin Bailey. Think that you can avoid having a mobile presence? Think again. The top reasons consumers gave for using their smartphone while shopping was to compare prices and/or products, find the nearest location, and check for discounts. If you don’t have a mobile-friendly presence, you may be loosing sales to your competitors, both online and offline.
Take-away: Create a mobile website. It’s not good enough to hope that your regular website will load quickly enough or in a readable state for a consumer who’s on-the-go. At a minimum, include your location and phone number at the top of the home page.
Consumer consumption of various forms of content and different content delivery devices has changed and continues to evolve. While Mary Meeker’s point that marketing allocation not being correctly aligned is valid, the marketing spend applies to more than just advertising. Further, it’s critical to consider other factors, such as how, when and where consumers consume the content, in determining how to distribute your marketing budget.
Are there any other suggestions that you’d make with regard to distributing marketing budgets? If so, what other elements would you consider?
Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen
This article was inspired by Brian Morrissey’s “Should Time Spent Equal Budget Spent?”
Here are some related articles on the subject that may be of interest.
- 42 Ways to Attract Shoppers With Relevant Content
- 5 David Ogilvy Quotes To Boost Your Content Marketing To The Next Level
Photo credit: Danielle Moler via Flicker
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