Category: Blogs

Paid Search Advertising 101

Posted on by Coegi

Do you ever wish you could wave a magic wand to drive your customers through the sales funnel faster? Something that cuts the time needed to build awareness and pushes them straight through to consideration? Good news – one of the most tried and true digital marketing tactics can do just that. Enter: paid search advertising. 

Organic Search vs Paid Search

When looking at search engines as a marketing opportunity, it is important to know the distinction between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid search advertising, also known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Pay-per-Click (PPC) Advertising. 

SEO is the process of optimizing your website to be more appealing to search engines. This increases the chances that your site will show up organically in search results. SEM is a marketing channel where you create search ads to show when specific keyword queries are searched and then pay when your ad is clicked. 

While you can implement some aspects of SEO in a SEM campaign setup, SEO primarily requires time and human resources to optimize website content and performance whereas SEM requires that plus financial investment in search networks such as Google and Bing. The best results occur when SEO and SEM are integrated and seamlessly optimize toward your overarching business goals.

Broad Match, Exact Match and Phrase Match: Keyword Targeting Options

Exact match keywords are what they sound like: targeting searches that match exactly to your target keywords. Broad match expands your reach to show your ads in searches related to your terms. An example of a broad match targeting is if a brand targets the phrase “low carb diet plan” and then has their ad show up when “Mediterranean diet book” is searched. 

Phrase match provides a middle ground between in between exact match and broad match. With phrase match, your ad will show up for searches that include your targeted terms but can include other relevant words. These other relevant words are often adjectives and additional descriptors helping the user narrow their search, but your ad will still show.

Use a strategic combination of these keyword targeting options to show up in the highest opportunity searches for your brand. 

Responsive Search Ads vs Dynamic Search Ads 

Responsive search ads are the most common ad type within Google Ads. This format allows marketers to add up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. The search algorithm then cycles through and tests, optimizing towards the combinations driving the greatest amount of desired actions based on your campaign objective. Responsive search ads are great for those looking to create flexible ads that can be tailored to reach and influence multiple audiences. 

Dynamic search ads pull headlines and other ad content directly from a brand’s website. These are excellent for targeting people who know exactly what they want and are using intent-based search terms. Google’s algorithm can pick up on things from your website that you may not think to add manually. If you are looking for an ad format that constantly updates with your website, dynamic search is a great choice.

Best Practices for Paid Search Campaigns

Building a search campaign differs from programmatic or social campaigns. Audience data targeting is of lesser importance. Instead, targeting keywords in your search campaign that are most relevant to your audience’s queries is of the utmost importance. Conduct in-depth keyword research to understand what people are searching, how the target audience speaks, and what information is most valuable to them. Then, further the reach of those terms using both broad match and exact match search terms. 

To maintain high-performing search campaigns, it’s important to consistently monitor search terms. With broad and phrase match keywords, it’s possible to show up for terms that do not align with your brand or campaign goals. Monitor your Google Ads or preferred SEM platform for terms your ads appeared for, and regularly update your exclusion list for words and phrases you no longer want to appear alongside. This process helps ensure all campaign traffic is relevant, thus minimizing marketing budget waste on low potential terms. Keyword blacklists also help optimize for cost per click (CPC), driving greater efficiency towards terms that are more likely to produce results for your brand.

Why You Should Incorporate Paid Search Into Your Marketing Strategy

Paid search marketing is a must-have advertising channel for most any brand. There’s a multitude of reasons why, but the primary benefits are:

  1. Cost efficiency: Only pay for ad clicks rather than impressions, which may or may not provide any value. 
  2. Competitive advantage: Ability to strategically target and bid on competitor search terms to place yourself as the alternative or preferred brand. It’s an excellent tool to level the playing field among businesses, assuming your budget is able to compete.
  3. Conversion-driving: Paid search is a strong driver for site traffic. Highlight your most high value landing pages or educational content by showing up for common search queries. 

Implementing paid search in your marketing mix is highly influential, especially for driving lower down-funnel results. It presents a unique avenue to reach audiences with high intent. If a user is searching for terms that demonstrate interest in the product or service, they are immediately exhibiting more value than a user who simply sees a banner ad. In the latter case, you are hoping to pique their interest. With search, they are already interested or in-market for products or services similar to yours, and are that much closer to selecting your brand. 

Everyone uses search engines, make sure your brand does too. Test out various keyword tactics and ad formats using both organic and paid search to find your competitive edge. Then, use these tips to fast track your company growth. 

Need a strategic partner to manage your digital marketing advertising campaigns?

Contact Coegi for a discovery call today. 

How to Level Up Your Instagram Marketing Strategy

Posted on by Julia Read

Instagram is a social media powerhouse which nearly all brands should be using in some way. With 1.4 billion users available to target and a wealth of commerce-focused tools, there are endless opportunities for brands to grow through the platform. 

Instagram has a multitude of capabilities to help businesses grow: Instagram Shops, full-funnel campaign options, integrated commerce websites through Shopify, BigCommerce, Magneto and WooCommerce, as well as multiple ad formats to connect with your brand’s audience.

However, if you’re only leveraging static images in your advertising, and not incorporating new media formats and interactive tools, you may be missing the mark. 

Keep reading to learn what Instagram’s new algorithm changes mean for marketers and key ways to drive your brand goals using Instagram marketing.

What You Need to Know About Instagram’s Algorithm Changes

Instagram recently made two major updates. First, they altered their algorithm to focus on video and reels. Seeing the vast opportunity with the rise of video on platforms like TikTok, the goal of this change was to drive greater interaction with content users interact with rather than content from personal connections and followers. Another change made was regarding the length of video content. Instagram Reels used to be restricted to a 30 second maximum. That has now been extended to 90 seconds. 

After backlash from very popular influencers (The Kardashian-Jenners in particular), Adam Moseri, CEO of Instagram, paused the company’s test of a full-screen video/photo feed layout. They also began decreasing the volume of recommended posts in feed, once again showing more follower content instead. Although the video-heavy test is on hold, the main goal of social platforms is to keep users on the apps for longer. And video content proves time and again to be the most engaging type of media.

The algorithm heavily impacts both users and brands. How can you use these changes to your advantage? We have four tips you can use to lean into these updates and maximize the effect of your Instagram ads on business goals. 

4 Tips to Level Up Your Instagram Marketing Strategy

  1. Lean into video: Although Instagram reverted their video heavy update, 91% of Instagram users watch videos on a weekly basis. Also, Reels now make up over 22% of all posts and receive higher engagement than any other post format. The longer your audience views or interacts with your content, the more likely they are to remember your brand when preparing to make a purchase. 
  2. Understand your audience: Instagram users are looking for quick, emotionally-compelling content. You don’t necessarily need high production value to do this – in fact, authentic marketing is exactly what people want to see. Find what your audience values and speak to their motivations through your ads.
  3. Complement with other marketing channels: Build a strong omni-channel experience for your audience. One of the best ways to improve your Instagram marketing is by supporting it with other channels. Make your brand consistent across multiple social and digital platforms, as well as in-person, to connect the dots in the customer journey. 
  4. Test new tactics: Regularly experiment and test new ad formats such as Instant Experience to increase engagement or a Collection Ad to drive conversions. Or, test first and third-party data segments other than Meta’s demographics and interests to reach a different audience. Find what works best for your brand and use these learnings to your advantage.

As the second largest social media platform in the US, Instagram offers boundless opportunities for advertisers. To take advantage of this, it’s important to stay in tune with platform updates and changes in user behavior. Use these four steps to future-proof your Instagram marketing strategy and start connecting with your customers.

As marketers, it is our responsibility to understand trends and algorithm updates to help grow your business. For help kickstarting your social media strategy, contact Coegi for a discovery call today. 

How to Nail Your International Marketing Launch

Posted on by Coegi

In today’s world, we have access to the global marketplace with much less friction than in decades past. Previously, it was very difficult to initiate an international marketing launch without local people on the ground. You had to know who to call to get your ads placed. 

The growth of digital was the biggest catalyst for globalization at the turn of the century. We gained the ability to conduct business, advertise and communicate from one location to another with ease. Access to the international marketplace means boundless opportunity, but can also be overwhelming for brands and marketers. 

Thankfully, digital advertising and content promotion provides the flexibility to test, adjust, and be nimble with your marketing campaigns as you learn the nuances of a new landscape.

Here’s four reasons why digital marketing is an ideal starting point for your international marketing launch:

It allows you to: 

  1. Launch campaigns quickly
  2. Test before you invest
  3. Flexibly adjust media placements 
  4. Track real-time results 

Launch Campaigns Quickly

Taking a digital-first approach lowers many logistical barriers to entry for a new market launch. Oftentimes, traditional advertising mediums involve lengthy contract processes, upfronts and lead times. 

For example, in Japan, one media conglomerate owns the majority of all traditional media in the country. If you want to activate traditional ads in Japan, you must partner with them in order to penetrate the marketplace. On the contrary, digital offers a much quicker way to market, with much less red tape and upfront cost. Once you have digital campaigns up and running and understand what is working, you can begin to supplement with traditional media placements. This allows you to have a well-rounded, data-driven strategy. 

Test Before You Invest

With digital advertising, you can understand your ability to scale with your target audience in a new market before making a major investment in buys that offer little flexibility. To do so, lean into a test and learn approach to allow your marketing initiatives to fail forward. 

However, don’t be too timid. If you only dip your toe in the water, you will not have enough information to know if your campaign is making an impact. Do the upfront research to create a strategic plan and then put mechanisms in place to test and track media success and pivot quickly as needed. 

How to Run a Test Campaign in a New Market

Look at the population of the country and the specific audience you are targeting. The goal is to reach a percentage of the audience at a high enough frequency so they know your brand. Typically this is around 6-12 exposures, depending on creative strength. Once you’ve reached this threshold, use a measurement framework or consumer study to understand the effectiveness of your campaign. Did it create strong brand recall? Was there a lift in brand affinity? 

Some brands will also need to consider non-paid media ways your brand has been exposed to audiences in a given country. Have you had any positive or negative press? Are there any Google trends to inform changes in interest level? 

Flexibly Adjust Media Placements

Another benefit of digital marketing for international brands is the ability to quickly pull media out of market. In today’s climate, certain contexts can quickly become problematic due to changes in current events or world news. Even if there aren’t major world events impacting your marketing ecosystem, be sure you’re staying nimble in your approach to culturally relevant messaging, swapping out creatives based on what is and is not resonating. 

Track Real-Time Results

Comparing marketing metrics across various countries will never be apples to apples. However, digital ads will give you quicker results and show clearer signals of success. Real-time platform data can give you a baseline understanding of what’s working, rather than waiting for post-campaign result readouts. This is especially critical during the testing phase.

To see a more holistic view of your advertising results, aim to have a unified measurement strategy in place to benchmark long-term success. Start by understanding what you can and can’t track in various countries. Then, consider filling in any gaps with these methods for gathering meaningful insights: 

  • Do your own commissioned survey research (ie. brand lift study)
  • Use global market research providers (ie. Harris Poll)
  • Create a cross-country scoring model to normalize data across different geographies

As you plan your international market launch, start with a digital approach to be more nimble, timely and informed.  But, achieving maximum scale across a full country profile will require you to eventually incorporate traditional channels into the marketing mix. 

Ready to Launch?

For help preparing your international marketing launch, contact Coegi today to get started. 

To read more, view Ryan’s second article on The Drum: The Key to Breaking Into International Markets

 

Cookieless Targeting and Identity Solutions

Posted on by Savannah Westbrock

An audience-first approach or 1:1 marketing is something brands often strive for. As a digital marketing partner, it’s at the core of our mission. 

However, the ‘cookieless world’, the meanest curveball Google has thrown at the industry yet, is approaching – even if its arrival has been further delayed. With cookieless targeting, being ‘audience-first’ takes on a new definition. 

Targeting will no longer be as simple as building an audience persona and pressing “go” on pre-made data sets. Instead, it’s about really diving into the ethos of who your core consumer is and using that intel to guide your audience strategy.

We sat down with Coegi’s Account Strategy Director, Savannah Westbrock, to get her perspective and tips on how she’s helping clients prepare for cookieless targeting. The following article is an edited transcript of that interview.

It’s Time to Improve Your Audience Research

How should audience research change in light of the cookieless future?

There are three changes in audience research most marketers need to make to ensure the data tells an accurate story: 

  1. Understand the methodology: We rely on research every day to inform our media plans and marketing decision making. However, we often don’t peel back the curtain to understand how that data was collected and consider potential biases. In the cookieless future, it will be even more important to think critically and be selective with our data sourcing. 
  2. Exit the platform: Don’t rely solely on demand side platform information and forecasting for your planning. This data will be most affected by cookie deprecation. Instead, combine platform insights with external research that never relied on cookies. 
  3. Diversify your data sources: It’s time to get creative. Platform data and syndicated research will still hold value. But, you’ll need to layer it with non-syndicated data and first party data. Combine these tools to see a full picture. Even consider non-media data, such as macro-environmental trends, which may impact your audience’s behaviors and the industry at large. 

What types of cookieless data should brands be gathering to understand their audiences?

Pixel-based retargeting is essentially out of the picture. The best pivot brands can make is mining their own first-party data. But you don’t have to rely solely on your own data. Combine ‘hard’ data such as your website and platform analytics with ‘soft’ data such as social listening. Taking a more journalistic approach with these softer data sources can actually provide more meaningful insights and make your brand more authentic and trustworthy. 

Tip: Balance quantitative and qualitative data. Trust your instincts and use research to back up or refute as needed. 

How can marketers collect and expand their first-party data? 

First, you need to have systems in place to generate leads. Then, it’s all about what you do with that customer data to maximize results and become more strategic. 

Lead generation campaigns: Keep first-party data and zero-party data collection top of mind when planning campaigns. For example, promoting a useful downloadable with a lead form. This will help drive consideration and give you an opportunity to learn about your audience in exchange for shared value. 

Data enrichment: Once you collect and understand your first-party data, you can upload it to enrichment tools, such as consumer survey platforms. This helps you learn more about your audience’s interests, media consumption and day-to-day behaviors. 

Cookieless Audience Targeting Alternatives

Is contextual targeting an effective cookieless targeting strategy? 

If your audience research is thorough, you will know the channels your audience frequents, their preferred devices, favorite shows, and where they are most engaged. Pair this insight with contextual placements that make sense for your ads. 

Contextual strategies fell by the wayside in the late 2010s. Many brands focused on only reaching the “perfect” deterministic, addressable audience with cookie-based data. So some marketers may fear for impression waste by comparison. However, there are now many sophisticated contextual solutions that allow for hyper-customization and reach niche interest groups. 

For instance, Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms are beginning to better understand the actual context of ad placements using artificial intelligence. This allows marketers to implement positive sentiment targeting and smarter keyword targeting. Smart contextual offerings can optimize to real-time content trends, going beyond standard display. 

Are new user identity solutions direct replacements for cookies? 

Cookieless identity solutions such as Unified ID 2.0 and Liveramp’s IdentityLink will help reach high-value segments without wasting media dollars on the wrong audiences. But, there will still be gaps. Pre-made audiences and 1:1 third party targeting will not be the same. As cookie-based information is no longer shared across the web, we’ll need to tap a few different buying strategies. I also expect walled gardens will center in on themselves more, protecting their high value audience data. 

To overcome these challenges, marketers use all the data at your disposal to understand customers better, from channel-based information, survey data, CRM analysis, Google Analytics, and more. 

Cookieless Targeting Tips

What’s your best advice to brands preparing for a cookieless future?

There’s a lot to consider, but the two simple things brands should prioritize are: 

  1. Invest in first-party data collection
  2. Start testing now 

The most important thing you can do now is establish a baseline. Then you can conduct a true study comparing your performance with and without cookies. Cover these two bases and you will be ahead of many brands. From there, you can continue to refine and adjust your research, targeting and measurement strategies as the industry evolves. 

Our team at Coegi is actively testing cookieless solutions and brainstorming innovative cookieless media plans for our clients. For more strategic insights and tips on how to prepare your digital advertising for this change, listen to our full podcast episode on cookieless targeting here. 

2023 Video Advertising Trends and Best Practices

Posted on by Coegi

In our Social Media Trends Report, we highlighted that video content is king. Well, that trend is not just across social media, but across most digital channels: programmatic video, Connected TV, YouTube, programmatic out of home, etc. To capitalize on this, brands must approach video marketing with a strategic, omnichannel approach to reach target audiences wherever they are most engaged.

How Have Trends In Video Consumption And Ad Spend Changed?

Social Media Is An Untapped Market For Video Advertising

As a consumer, it feels like videos are everywhere. But as a marketer, video continues to be underutilized. In fact, across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, video content comprises only 14%, 11%, and 5% of each network’s content, respectively. This is largely due to creative costs and misunderstanding about the ROI video offers. 

Social Media Video Marketing Trends For 2023

Social media video advertising spend is continuing to increase. Video ads are expected to account for nearly 35% of social ad spend in 2023. 

Digital channels overall are set to exceed 60% of global ad spend. Since half of social media users prefer video over other types of content and 85% of social media users want more videos from brands, the use of video in social media has never been more important. 

Ready to tap into the opportune video advertising market? Here are four tips for high-performing social video content marketing. 

1) Understand How Social Platforms Are Used

It’s important to keep in mind that social sites are used for different purposes. For example, Instagram is the top platform for viewing photos, Facebook is used most for sharing content, and LinkedIn is used mostly for professional networking. Consider how your brand and your creative messaging fits into the user experience on each platform. 

2) Lean Into Platform Prioritizations

Understanding which formats different platforms prioritize to optimize your ad types for maximum visibility. For example, Instagram stated they are going to “double-down on [their] focus on video and consolidate all video formats around Reels” as they try to keep pace with TikTok. Knowing this, Instagram Reels and Facebook overlay ads in Reels should be utilized for paid media marketing. 

3) Keep It Short And Simple

Videos must be short and to the point as consumers’ attention spans are ever-shortening. According to Vidyard, 60% of all online videos in 2020 were under two minutes long. In 2022, 58% of users indicated that they will watch the entirety of a business’s video if it’s less than 60 seconds long. Even six second advertisements that quickly showcase the brand’s value drive consumer consideration.

4) Always Use Captions

Videos with captions receive 40% more views and make viewers 80% more likely to watch until the end. We should never exclude audiences who are deaf or hard of hearing. Accessibility is key for video across all channels. 

So, Why Is Digital Video Advertising So Effective?

Video is an impactful medium in the art of storytelling, but there’s a deeper neurological reason that compels us to consume. According to research, the brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. When you consider we can only process five words per second, and our attention span is roughly eight seconds long, it’s easy to understand the science behind video’s growing popularity. 

In fact, four times as many consumers would prefer to watch a video, rather than read about the same subject. And yes, it’s ironic that I’m writing about this topic.

 

Why You Should Incorporate Social Media Video Into An Agnostic Video Strategy

Despite social media’s massive popularity, putting all your efforts into Facebook video may cause your brand to miss out. Not everyone is active on social media and audiences are fragmented across many disparate social platforms. This is why we encourage our brands to incorporate both programmatic and social channels into an agnostic video advertising strategy. This ensures they are delivering this high-impact creative to their audiences regardless of where they are spending time. 

What Are The Benefits Of An Agnostic Video Marketing Strategy?

  • Ability to repurpose video advertising content across channels
  • Greater audience reach by not excluding certain channels 
  • Improve frequency by retargeting across channels
  • More accurate tracking and measurement capabilities 

Written by Julia Wold, Director of Operations and Anissa Reko, Senior Social Media Specialist

Additional Reading

3 Key Elements for Better Performing Video Content

Why Short Form Video is Critical For Your Brand’s Success

Creating Strategic Opportunities With Connected TV Advertising

Gain Finance Consumer Trust with Thought Leadership

Posted on by Maggie Gotszling

You’re often asking your finance consumers to make major decisions – getting a mortgage, opening a child’s college fund, investing in their future… the list goes on. While the majority of financial consumer touchpoints have moved to digital formats to create convenience, it can also create more confusion. Less human interaction with financial advisors and customer representatives means the online content has to work even harder to gain finance consumer trust and influence decision making. 

That’s where thought leadership comes in. 

Thought leadership is any form of content shared by a subject expert with their audience to build credibility, trust, and loyalty. Some of the core benefits of thought leadership for finance brands are: 

  • Greater online visibility – For example, SEO ranking for long form content addressing top consumer banking questions and concerns
  • Competitive differentiation – Providing new insights, opinions, or research to stand out from other finance brands
  • Increased customer lifetime value – High value content establishes relationship building that keeps your brand top of mind

Build a reputation

Having a well-crafted and regularly updated blog on your website is a fantastic place to start building an organic reputation. To further increase your thought leadership efforts, establish publisher content partnerships to create a name for yourself in the industry. Look at high value placements your audience over indexes for, such as Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, etc.

Then, use these three factors to evaluate publishers: 

  1. Audience: Does the demographic match your core audience? Will your content be relevant to these readers?  
  2. Content Quality: Is this a highly reputable and trusted source? 
  3. Distribution: Does the readership number align with your target reach as well as budget? 

Find a sweet spot of high reach and high composition to drive the best results.

Think outside the box

Premium placements do come with price tags for the brand value and readership volume. However, there are other lesser utilized channels brands can find success in. Some great examples are Reddit and Quora. Both of these channels are informal, but trusted resources for people searching for answers to specific questions. You can show up in a more casual way on these channels, but still provide high quality information and build rapport with niche finance audiences. 

To really hone in on thought leadership at your financial organization, consider video and audio. Visual and audio content formats are supreme when it comes to engagement, recall, and retention. Consider alternative forms of content such as: 

  • Podcasts – starting your own, or appearing on others 
  • Informational videos on YouTube 
  • Live-streamed videos on LinkedIn

Humanize your finance brand

Thought leadership content humanizes brands in an industry that can seem cold and impersonal. Through content, you can guide your customers through their finance journey. 

That said, you must not lose focus of what’s most important: the customer, not highlighting your brand. Relay empathy – show an authentic understanding of your customer. Let them know you understand the topics they need more information on and the hurdles they are facing when it comes to financial decision making and planning. 

Walk in your customer’s shoes

Before you start touting what you think are the most important benefits your brand offers, stop to listen and learn about what your customer really desires. Is it financial freedom? Business success? Peace of mind? Security in their child’s future? 

Think about where your customer is now and where they want to be. Then, use your thought leadership and creative messaging to facilitate that transformation. 

Support your customers’ needs and concerns

As a financial brand, you undoubtedly have a large range of consumers with an even larger range of needs. From commercial and retail banking to financial services and advising to retirement planning and investing – there are ample opportunities to share information and gain finance consumer trust, ultimately growing your business. 

To understand these needs, make sure you stay on top of trends. Understand what is likely top of mind for your core consumers:

  • Is there an impending recession making older adults rethink retirement? 
  • Is there a housing market boom driving a demand for mortgages? 
  • Are there global crises affecting the stock market and investment decisions? 

Whatever is going on externally, use challenges as a way to serve as a trusted resource and help them navigate what can be overwhelming financial decisions. 

This is not a sales pitch

Wherever you are posting thought leadership, share your knowledge and expertise, not your sales sheet. The content you create should be relevant to a specific consumer issue that is tangential to the solutions or services you provide. Once you’ve established credibility and authority, you no longer have to sell yourself. The consumer will be convinced already – and if not, they were unlikely to ever convert. 

So whether your goal is to improve industry recognition, differentiate from competitors, or enhance customer lifetime value, give thought leadership a try. And remember these keys to gain finance consumer trust through your content: 

  • Use publishers with the right reach and audience composition
  • Be creative with your content formats
  • Keep your content authentic and readable
  • Understand customer needs and concerns 
  • Avoid giving a sales pitch

For more strategic insights to improve your financial marketing strategy, view our Ultimate Guide to Financial Marketing.

Coegi’s Ultimate Guide to Finance Marketing

Boost Customer Lifetime Value with Awareness Marketing

Posted on by Maggie Gotszling

Brands, especially those in the ecommerce space, often feel tempted to skip over building awareness and consideration with their marketing efforts and jump straight to conversion-based advertising campaigns. However, brand awareness is a key marketing component to fill the sales funnel that should not be ignored. Keep reading to learn how to optimize awareness campaigns to establish customer lifetime value.  

Start At The Beginning

If your core business goal is to drive sales, you still have to do the work to introduce your brand to new customers and convince them why your offering is worth their money. 

Even on commerce channels like Amazon, Instacart or Shopify storefronts, you must establish baseline awareness before a consumer will be receptive to your product. 

Forrester’s 2021 CPG Digital Go-To Market Review found, “35% of surveyed global CPG marketing decision-makers cite brand awareness as an important metric…brand metrics rank high because CPG/FMCG products are typically low consideration, making it critical for the brand to be top of mind in a category.” So before you begin investing all of your marketing dollars into ROAS focused tactics, put yourself in the consumers’ shoes and consider the information you would want from a brand to take the next steps.

Understand The Customer Journey

To understand how much of your efforts should be allocated across awareness vs consideration vs conversion tactics, look to the purchase journey for guidance. 

  • What is the average timespan from initial awareness to purchase? 
  • How many touchpoints are needed to reach the point of consideration? 
  • How much time does the average consumer spend in the consideration phase? 

If your consumers move from consideration to conversion very quickly while in store or on digital retail platforms, the greatest chance to reach them is within the awareness phase. The media objective in this case is to ensure a consumer recognizes your brand when searching for products in your category.

If they spend longer in the consideration phase, you can nurture leads longer with educational content and community building.  But it all comes down to understanding how your product or service fits in with their behaviors and routines. 

Establish Awareness With An Omni-Channel Media Strategy

Ensure your awareness campaign has broad reach by strategically combining various digital and physical channels. If done right, this will also create a seamless user experience across channels, even with the fragmented media landscape.

How do you know which channel mix will reach your ideal audience? 

  • Leverage syndicated research to understand their media consumption habits
  • Use channels whose userbases broadly match your target demographic
  • Select channels where the typical user behavior aligns with the desired action

Use Branding Campaigns To Create Lifetime Value

Once you’ve established awareness, the value of brand campaigns does not end. Awareness marketing aids in fostering an ongoing relationship that we fondly refer to as the loyalty loop. It initially introduces your product to new users, but then continues to establish lifetime customer value after a purchase is made.  

To establish this loyalty loop, develop a clear path for your customer. Put yourself in their shoes and understand the timing they need before making a repeat or complementary purchase. 

  • Is your product a one-time purchase that typically lasts a lifetime? 
  • Is your product a weekly or monthly staple that is consumed and repurchased? 
  • What products make sense to recommend based on previous purchases? 

Don’t waste money promoting the same product a user has already purchased and is unlikely to purchase again for several years. Instead, remarket them with ads and experiences that reinforce their positive experience with the brand and keep them interested in future purchases. For example: 

  • Personalized ads and email marketing with recommended products 
  • Branding campaigns to reinforce brand loyalty and affinity
  • Special discount codes and alerts about new product drops or sales

Set Clear Expectations With Measurement

We know advertising works, but success doesn’t typically happen over night. Instead, there is a gradual impact on business results that can be tied to marketing initiatives.. It can be especially difficult to see clear and instantaneous results from awareness campaigns. However, there are strategic ways to understand your progress and ensure you’re moving the needle.  

Tracking Short Term Brand Awareness

The primary goal for short-term awareness campaigns is to reach the highest volume of unique users at an effective frequency. Our general understanding is that 2-12 exposures are needed to drive action, which varies depending on effectiveness of creative and the relevancy of the brand. Balance this exposure while being mindful of over saturation. 

Metrics to track that indicate brand awareness results: 

  • Reach: The number of unique users reached, reported by channel and by campaign. 
  • Frequency: The amount of times a user is exposed to an ad, commonly reported as impressions/reach. 
  • CPM: The cost of serving ads.

Measuring Long Term Brand Awareness

When media metrics do not answer your business questions, the next step is to incorporate third party studies that show media impact on business results and consumers’ perceptions. These studies show the true incremental impact of awareness campaigns on business goals – whether in driving brand affinity, site traffic or sales. 

These are not attribution tools, but rather studies that show correlation. The two most impactful studies for e-commerce based brands are: 

  • Brand Lift: Difference between control vs exposed survey responses
  • Sales Lift: Post campaign analysis comparing media activity to sales data sets

Use both short and long term measurement tactics to craft a story using a mix of KPIs that show media efficiency and channel effectiveness in combination with monitoring sales overtime.

Key Takeaways

  • Awareness must come first 
  • Let the consumer inform your strategy 
  • Build your brand to increase customer loyalty
  • Establish a clear measurement plan to create accountability with branding campaigns

Social Commerce 101: What Marketers Need to Know

Posted on by Allie Haupt

During your leisurely afternoon scroll through social media, you may have come across a post with a shopping feature prompting you to purchase a product within the app. This is social commerce at play – the ability to buy and sell a good or service within a social media platform. 

Why Is Social Commerce Important?

The pandemic permanently changed consumer shopping behaviors. 62% of US consumers are shopping more online now and 48% of US social media users have bought something on a social platform. 

Brands, now more than ever, should explore social commerce to meet the consumers where they are. Let’s explore ways you can leverage social commerce by platform to meet campaign objectives and business goals.

Meta: Facebook and Instagram

Meta makes it easy for brands and consumers to engage in social commerce. In Facebook Business Manager, a business can upload and manage their inventory and even provide customer support via Commerce Manager. To get started, create a Commerce Manager account where you’ll be prompted to link your business account, set shipping options, create a return policy, and assign a bank account for payouts. You can upload as much inventory as you desire to the Facebook catalog because there is no limit on product uploads.

Facebook also introduced in-app shopping features in 2021 including: Shops in Groups and Product Recommendations in Group. 

Likewise, Instagram added Shopping from Creators which allows users to purchase products that influencers tag in their posts. Users can also research and purchase products on the Shop Tab which is located on the Search and Explore Page in the Instagram app. Instagram is really driving the user experience and optimizing the algorithm to become the go-to hub for product discovery. 

Twitter

Twitter recently introduced a new shopping feature, Twitter Shops, that allows brands to create an inventory list of up to 50 products that can be displayed on their profile. Users can then peruse the brand’s products and click a “View Shop” button that will direct them to the brands website to complete the transaction. 

It is important to note that the transactions do not directly take place in the Twitter platform. This means users will be driven to your external site and your brand does not need to develop a new transaction process for payouts.

Pinterest

Pinterest was one of the trailblazers for social commerce, introducing shoppable pins in 2019. Within the platform, there are a plethora of ways a consumer can engage with a brand and purchase products. This includes the Shopping List feature, which automatically saves all of the product pins a user has pinned in one location so they can easily come back and shop. It also notifies a user when a product price has decreased to entice them to purchase. 

Additionally, Pinterest has an AR shopping experience that allows users to virtually try out products, such as placing furniture in their home, before purchasing. Check out this article for more Pinterest advertising tips. 

Snapchat

Snapchat may not be the first platform that comes to mind when thinking about social commerce, but it is helping brands drive efficient sales. Through Snapchat’s AR lens product, Try On, brands’ product catalogs are pulled into the platform to allow for user interaction. 

Major makeup retailer, Ulta, has seen significant success using the AR lens feature. They generated $6 million in sales by allowing users to virtually try on makeup in the app.

TikTok

TikTok is also beginning to enter the social commerce space. Brands can promote their products in the app by adding a Shopping Tab to their profiles. This allows users to look at products and prices, and then redirects the user to the website once ready for checkout. Two prominent brands successfully utilizing the Shopping Tab are Kylie Cosmetics and Sephora. 

If you’re unsure how to adapt your marketing to fit on TikTok, follow these Do’s and Don’ts of TikTok Advertising. 

Which Social Commerce Platforms Should You Use?

When planning a social commerce strategy, first define who your target audience is and identify which social platform(s) can help you reach them efficiently. Also consider the different social commerce offerings and capabilities each platform provides and how they can best meet your brand needs. Use this information to choose the platform(s) that can most effectively promote your brand’s products and create a positive user shopping experience.

Social commerce is a great way to align with shifting consumer shopping behaviors and meet the next generation of shoppers where they are active online. The volume of new shopping tools we’ve seen roll out in the first half of 2022 alone indicate this is only the beginning. Now is the time to get familiar with and start testing different social commerce applications to find what sparks the greatest results for your brand. 

For more on social commerce and other emerging topics, view our top 5 Social Media Trends for 2022. 

How to Drive In-Store Sales With Digital Advertising

Posted on by Coegi

CPG brands operate in a highly competitive industry which requires marketing efforts across various media channels to ultimately drive in-store sales. While in-store activations are important in driving purchases, digital touchpoints ahead of store visits are critical in the customer journey. In the article, you’ll learn how to use digital advertising to directly impact sales revenue by answering three key questions:

  1. How can CPG brands use digital advertising to stand out?
  2. How can brands prime audiences to make in-store purchases? 
  3. How can you measure the impact of digital media on in-store sales?

How Can CPG Brands Use Digital Advertising To Stand Out?

Consumers are inundated with ads every day. It’s important to be strategic with your creative messaging and media placements to ensure your ads are impactful and not disruptive. By carefully curating a strategy focused on the consumer experience, you have the ability to drive meaningful moments rather than creating noise.

  • Be discovered. Get in front of potential customers early in the discovery phase. Use search and commerce channels to show up where consumers are actively looking for products.
  • Be memorable. Create intriguing story lines of what the product or brand can do for users beyond basic utility.
  • Be different. Showcase your unique value proposition to stand out among competitor products. 
  • Be loyal. Re-engage your current customers and nurture them to, in turn, stay loyal to your brand. Use follow up offers, new product suggestions, and special promotions to show your appreciation and build up that relationship. 

How Can Brands Prime Audiences To Make In-Store Purchases?

To drive in-store sales, you need to establish awareness and consideration before that shopping trip. However, crossing the boundary from ad impression to ‘add to cart’ can be challenging. Use targeted messaging and effective frequency exposure across channels to make sure your product is included on the shopping list. 

  • Reach users across various media touch points from social to display to CTV with an omnichannel strategy.
  • Use loyalty card data to understand frequency and cadence of purchase to serve your ads in the right place at the right time. 
  • Understand how many interactions are needed before a new customer will remember and purchase once in store. 
  • Keep previous customers engaged with relevant messaging and offers to maintain brand loyalty. 

How Can You Measure The Impact Of Digital Media On In-Store Sales?

It can be complicated measuring online and offline channels and tying media spend back to brick and mortar purchases. Thankfully, there are measurement tactics and tools we can use to showcase ROI. 

Here’s how we approach measurement at Coegi:

  • Use advanced measurement tactics to uncover sales lift from your media.
    • Measurement partners like Catalina, IRI or Ibotta help connect the dots of ad exposure to in-store sales.
  • Look at success through the lens of incrementality. Test how product sales change year over year when an ad is in market versus out of market. 
  • Consider external factors like seasonality to make decisions based on non-media data.

In essence, shift the conversation from vanity metrics and click through rates because those don’t equal sales. 

Want to learn more about how to create a best-in-class media strategy for your CPG brand?

We’ve got you covered. View the complete CPG Digital Marketing Playbook here.

 

4 Ways to Drive Greater Impact with Your Media Investment

Posted on by Coegi

Brands, now more than ever, are seeing the benefits of digital marketing: flexibility, addressability, and scalability. This is resulting in continuous growth in media investment, especially as more consumers are increasing their time spent on digital channels. 

However, the more amateur marketers who fail to drill into the details of digital buying, yielding ad fraud, poor brand safety, and ineffective placements are undoubtedly wasting dollars and, in some cases, causing harm to their brand. These issues range from blatant criminal activity to troublesome contextual environments to sky-high ad frequency. 

At Coegi, we have strict standards in place to ensure that we are treating our clients’ media investment as if it is our own. Here are the key factors to make your dollars work harder when setting up digital campaigns:

1) Reflect On The Past And Plan For The Future

It’s time for digital advertisers to take a look in the mirror. The last decade of explosive growth needs to be peeled back and examined. In its infancy, digital advertising was a marketer’s dream world. Everything was measurable and targetable – in other words, it felt easy. Marketers were able to reach anyone, anywhere. 

Then entered increased regulation and walled gardens. Regulation, although needed for consumer protection, broke the original execution method. Programmatic is no longer the wild, wild west. Many have tried to continue operating as if nothing has changed, which has left massive vulnerabilities in the industry for ad fraud to enter the picture, often undetected. With this came wasted dollars, brand safety implications, and fear for the future of digital advertising.

2) Diversify Your Marketing Dollars

Marketers need to have a high degree of inventory accountability and transparency. Direct and private marketplace placements will help, as you know exactly where your ad is being placed. However, it’s important to diversify in order to expand reach against your target audience. 

Open exchange placements can be equally effective when carefully curated whitelists and blacklists are applied. Aggregate all media metrics within one dashboard to avoid siloed analysis, and ensure brand dollars are being used efficiently across your marketing tactics. 

3) Invest In High Value, High Visibility Inventory

In today’s environment, inventory quality is the key driver of media success. If you want to be seen in a high impact medium – whether it’s a high traffic billboard, premium CTV spot, or something else – you have to invest the dollars. 

No, I’m not here to tell you to just increase your media budget and everything will be great. You can also improve performance by leaning into channels which provide rich data and reliable, compliant targeting. Retail media, for example, is an excellent source of cookieless second party data and provides directional metrics to track down-funnel results. Direct publisher buys can provide access to contextual placements and premium audiences as well. 

4) Go Back To The Basics Of Measurement

It’s not just the cookie that’s dying, it’s last click attribution, IP tracking, and more. It’s time to substitute antiquated attribution models for more tried and true incremental measurement tactics to showcase actual marketing ROI, such as media mix modeling. 

This will allow you to better define optimal budget allocation by stitching together sales-related data and media metrics – and also keep you focused on the data so fraudulent activity does not go unnoticed.

Paving The Way For A Stronger Future In Digital Marketing

The digital world has changed in drastic and permanent ways over the past decade. We can still benefit from the gains in automation and efficiency the industry has made.  We will not go back to writing dozens or hundreds of IOs for a single campaign and trafficking ad tags to each publisher directly.   

But, it’s due time to put more guardrails on the media buying process in terms of the publishers we leverage and the way we measure results.   

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