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From the (Advertising) week that was

 

The Advertising Week in New York concluded last week. It was a week where the best brains in advertising, marketing, and media industries met, shared best practices and engaged in conversations that can shape the future of the industry. This year, there were many data-backed insights that were highlighted during the Think With Google sessions that we particularly loved. Filled with some great examples of marketing, the sessions brought to light how brands can increase engagement with customers by simply knowing how to connect better. Here are some of the highlights

Show them you know them

 

Google’s VP of Agency & Media Solutions Tara Walpert Levy and Wendy Clark, CEO of DDB North America spearheaded an interesting discussion on what drives consumer attention for video ads and how new innovations in the video can help advertisers. As digital marketers, we’ve been constantly vying for consumer attention. We sometimes call it a click, sometimes a goal and even a conversion. But when it comes to video marketing, advertising has long been looked upon as an intruding filler. Over the years, the video industry has studied data to improvise how the ads are presented to consumers. You are forced to watch some for 5 secs before you can skip. Others come right in between the video you are watching, just like a TV commercial, and you are forced to sit through. Even then, some ads work better than others and are more willingly consumed. Is creativity the only key to increasing attention span?

Levy begs to differ.

Here are a few myths she busted during her session

a) People DO pay attention, even today

 

Did you know that according to Ipsos, 81% of video-viewing occasions get all or most of people’s attention. But attention is given with a certain caveat. Your ad will get attention only if is really interesting to the viewer. You may look at that sentence with two highlight words – ‘interesting’ and ‘viewer’. Universal creativity, generating awe or shock or even humour gets covered under interesting. But what eludes most ads is the attention they choose to give their viewer.

How much do you understand the viewer?

Do you think they’ll be able to relate the product or service directly within the first five seconds? That is a key question when you are demanding their attention.humour gets covered under interesting. But what eludes most ads is the attention they choose to give their viewer. How much do you understand the viewer? Do you think they’ll be able to relate the product or service directly within the first five seconds? That is a key question when you are demanding their attention.

b) Attention-worthiness of video ads depends just as much on how the ads are served as what’s in them 

 

Consider the restaurant analogy. If you go to a high-end restaurant that has exotic ingredients listed for its recipes but doesn’t match it’s ambience with great service, would you recommend them?

Good service comes from a deep understanding of your customer.  Same goes for video ads. It matters ‘how’ you serve them.  As both Levy and Clark emphasized, “People will give you their attention if you can show them you know them”

 

c) Intent-based targeting can get you 20% higher ad recall and 50% higher brand awareness compared to only demographics targeting

 

What is intent-based targeting?

It involves collecting data about your actions, things you like, stores you visit, apps you install, search history and the likes and then show you an advertisement based on what is likely to resonate best with you. This is definitely better than plain old demographic targeting. For example, if you are a beverage company launching a new flavour of coffee, you could target your ad to 18-50-year-olds and expect some level of engagement. But if you could choose people who already like popular coffee shops and have had recent conversations about coffee, their chances of consuming your advertisement are high.

So you see, it’s not just about the coffee but how and when you serve it.

 

Use data to put customer first

 

How well do you understand your customer?

From the first time, they visited your website to the time they saw your ad on YouTube, read a review on a third party site, saw a blog about your product, then walked into your store and made a purchase. From awareness to action – can you trace your customer’s journey and see how you did at each touch point? Marketers today have access to Big Data that can slice and dice to present numerous facets of your customer and help you know them better. From their general shopping habits to the shows they like to watch to their average family size, you can know both demographics and psychographics from data that’ll allow you to market your products better. But are you doing it?

Google partnered with Econsultancy to conduct a research among leading marketers (defined for the study as those that significantly exceeded their top 2016 business goals) to see how they use data to understand their consumer. Here’s what they found:

 

1. Successful businesses are investing in technology that allows them to gather and act on consumer data quickly

 

The study showed that “leading marketers are 72% more likely than the mainstream to strongly agree that they’re investing in improving the quality and/or volume of the first-party data they capture“. Collecting data across websites, on-ground sales channels, teams, and even kiosks allow marketers to get a holistic view of the relationship they share with the customer. This allows them to personalize their offering to an extent and improve engagement and loyalty.

 

2. Use that data to find more customers like yours

The data collected from current customers are not only helpful to keep them happy and engaged but is also useful in finding more customers. Applying the statistical probability to a larger set of audience allows marketers to discover new and similar audience groups.

 

3. Use data for assistive experience along the customer journey

 

89% successful businesses acknowledge that gathering and analyzing data is critical for their growth as it allows them to anticipate customer needs along every step of their journey. The brand’s interaction along each step not only ensures a conversion but also builds a great relationship with the customer.

4. Use data to develop an internal culture rooted in innovation and experimentation

 

When a brand begins to see different facets of their customers which come to light because of data, it gives them a route to not only convert them in their current category of products but new ones too. To do this, everyone in the company should be aligned to understand and use data to forge a growth path the company has set for itself and its employees. To know more, you can access the full report here
Both points here got us thinking – is intent marketing new? Not really. Google has already been doing it for years with Search. It shows relevant ads at the exact time when the user has an ‘intent’ to know about the product. What’s new is how refined and enhanced intent marketing has really become. It tracks a customer across channels and medium to help brands connect with them at their exact time of need.

Speaking of which, if you are in need of someone to chart out a content marketing strategy that aligns to your marketing goals, let’s say we fully understand your intent and have the expertise to connect the dots that lead to a successful execution.

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