Now
that we've all enjoyed the holidays and made our New Year's
Resolutions (you did, right?) it's back to business as usual.
Work… life… money…. You know the drill. And
with the gloomy financial forecast hanging over our heads,
what better way to douse the dismal than with the time honored
tradition of cleaning house? Isn't it a great time to take
a good hard look at your digital marketing initiatives,
analyze the elements, and declutter the way you market online?
The online landscape is fraught with many, many players. And the more it grows, the more costly and confusing it can become. Every new technology promises the moon, while gobbling up a piece of your pie. Targeted ad networks, ad servers, ad agencies, social media, search, email, data targeting agents – to name a few.
Consumers are people too. Beyond the inherent digital clutter, advertisers are also faced with a new focus – engaging with consumers as human beings. Brian Morrisey, in an insightful AdAge article earlier this week, said, "as the Internet becomes more social, there will likewise be an acceleration of a move from purely technical implementations to using the Web's emerging social infrastructure to connect on a more human level." Anne Mack, Director of Trend spotting for JWT predicts that this year brands will adopt one word: authenticity, and that the financial crisis will force brands to regain credibility and trust.
Keys
to the kingdom.
This year, the keys to success will require achieving your
business goals, and making sure your marketing initiatives,
vendors, and media placements actually create a relationship
between you and the consumer.
1. Which targeting assumptions are sound? You can target via your ad server, your targeted buys, or data agents. How much overlap is there, and what's the up charge associated with it? Are they really finding your customers and prospects, and improving your conversion rates, or could you accomplish your goals for less? Ask your targeting agent how they deal with 3rd party cookie deletions.
2. Do your ad technology partners play nice with your existing marketing ecosystems, or did you have to hire extra people to handle the millions of new tasks created by their systems? Are these solutions making your life easier, or harder? Did it ever fully integrate with your internal systems?
3. What is your key business metric? Agency's want to satisfy their clients by helping them meet their goals in the most expedient and cost effective way possible. Assess your internal processes and your assortment of vendors and publishers. Who gets the job done? Where is there overlap? For advertisers, the goals vary. Your real goal may not be Conversion Rate, Cost Per Acquisition or even ROI. Perhaps it's a revenue-to-spend ratio? Whatever the goal, align your online campaigns, vendors, and media buys accordingly.
4. Are you simply reaching your customers, or can your online efforts create a sustainable and lasting communication that nurtures the relationship and creates loyalty? Utilize all your existing resources and talent to hammer out your Engagement Advertising strategy.
– Layne Salter
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