When times are tough, marketers face a double challenge – trying to respond appropriately to customers navigating the economic uncertainty while at the same time trying to help their company maintain profitability and lay the foundations for future growth.
Operating at this point of connection between the company and customers can make it difficult to maintain the right levels of activity and strike the right tone.
Creating value for both the company and customers is a thread that runs through the five trends the Strategy team and I have highlighted in this month’s report – download the full report below.
Your digital shop sign
As marketing budgets come under additional scrutiny, it’s important that we continually look at how we’re measuring results. Attributing a lead or a sale to the marketing activity that’s come before it is one of the trickiest parts to get right, but it’s worth the effort to test new approaches to ensure you’re investing in the right places.
Online advertising can be used to generate future demand (brand building) and capture existing demand (sales activation). But it can also help people who are already on their way to your website to arrive without getting distracted – acting like the sign above your shop that signals they’re heading in the right direction. Understanding how much of your activity falls into this category and experimenting with how much you should be spending on it is a useful exercise to make the most of your budgets.
Thinking about value creation in the metaverse
While the metaverse is still in its infancy, now is the right time for marketers and brand managers to be asking themselves a series of questions about their business, their customers and the technology available to them so they can find their place in it.
The most important question of all is how can you show up in a way that is authentic to your brand while also creating something valuable for consumers?
We look at a few of the brands who are experimenting in this space and provide a few thought-starters to explore with your team over your next coffee break.
An alternative to third-party cookies
While Google is delaying their phase out of third-party cookies yet again, other groups are busy working on alternatives. The Trade Desk is spearheading an open-source industry initiative called Unified ID 2.0.
Our Advertising and Consulting Director, Ben Wood, takes a closer look at what it is, how it works and what the impact is going to be for advertisers. Well worth a read as the shift to a privacy-first internet is going to change the media landscape dramatically in the coming years.
Just text me
For many of us, our phones have become an extension of our bodies. One of the first things we reach for in the morning and one of the last things we put down at night.
Strategist, Sara Galbiati, explores changing customer preferences around using messaging apps for marketing and customer service. She shares four reasons why WhatsApp could be an important channel to add to your toolkit – especially in a customer-facing industry.
Communicating price rises
Although most businesses have tried to absorb the impact of the higher cost of goods, shipping and labour, there comes a time when you have to raise the price of your products or services. But there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it: Sara looks at three actions brands can take.
Finally, we’ve covered a few updates to Google search results, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that you may want to review as you plan your activity for autumn.
Download the full report below and get in touch if you want to discuss any of the trends we’ve highlighted this month.
