Performance Marketing Strategy
Performance marketing has rapidly evolved over the past decade, with the digital landscape undergoing significant transformation. Today’s brands and advertisers have a plethora of channels and strategies at their fingertips. But is it enough to focus solely on search and social for driving performance?
Understanding Performance Marketing
At its core, performance marketing is a digital strategy driven by results. Whether it’s branding, retention, personalization, or conversion, the key is measurability and data-driven decisions. Gone are the days when performance was just about search, social, and online display. The modern marketer also has channels like CTV, streaming audio, and digital out-of-home to leverage.
The Digital Consumption Shift
While search and social media play a pivotal role in digital marketing, it’s essential to realize they are just a subset of where audiences spend their time. A significant 76% of daily digital consumption occurs outside of social media, with audiences indulging in streaming music, gaming, OTT/CTV content, online press, and podcasts.
Interestingly, while search engines are a significant source for brand discovery, over half the population discovers brands through TV and video, illustrating the multi-channel nature of the modern consumer’s journey.
The Rise of Programmatic Advertising
Programmatic advertising has witnessed consistent growth, outpacing both search and social in terms of ad spend. With its impressive YoY growth of about 24%, programmatic stands as a formidable player in the digital advertising landscape.
This robust growth signals that programmatic isn’t just a fleeting trend but a critical component for brands aiming to reach audiences across various touchpoints in their digital journey.
Why Relying Solely on Search & Social Isn’t Enough
Think about a consumer’s typical day. They might start with social media, listen to music while commuting, read news during lunch, search for dinner options, see a digital ad on their way home, and end the day with some TV. If your brand’s strategy revolves only around the touchpoints of social media and search, you’re missing out on multiple opportunities to connect.
Programmatic allows you to complete this journey, ensuring your brand message reaches audiences across premium omnichannel scales. From Facebook and Twitter to Spotify, HBO Max, and even digital out-of-home platforms like Vistar Media and Clear Channel, programmatic offers a holistic reach.
Data-Driven Advantages of Programmatic
Harnessing the power of data is pivotal in modern marketing. Programmatic offers the advantage of combining your own data with high-quality external data sources, ensuring you target the most relevant audiences. Platforms like Facebook might have billions of active users, but with programmatic, you can tap into an even larger targetable audience.
Brands like BIC and Halo Top have leveraged data-driven programmatic strategies to achieve impressive ROAS, showcasing the potential of this approach.
Beyond Search & Social: Crafting Personalized Conversations
Personalization is at the heart of successful marketing today. While search and social platforms offer their own customization capabilities, programmatic takes this a notch higher. Whether it’s introducing a new product via a CTV ad or offering a special discount through a mobile display ad, programmatic ensures brands have a sequential and tailored conversation with their audiences.
Moreover, with transparent insights provided by programmatic, brands can continually refine their holistic strategy, optimizing for the best performance.
The Holistic Measurement Framework
To understand the collective impact of search, social, and programmatic, it’s essential to use tools like UTM parameters. This enables brands to map unique identifiers from search and social trackers through a universal pixel, providing a comprehensive understanding of each channel’s influence. The goal is to create a measurement framework that analyzes all marketing activations, from social and search performance to branding metrics and CTV results.
Programmatic’s Role in Assisting Conversions
Evidence suggests that programmatic plays a vital role in assisted conversions. For instance, a significant number of users are more likely to make a purchase when exposed to programmatic media. Such “assisted conversions” make up a considerable portion of total conversions, further highlighting programmatic’s critical role.
In Conclusion
Performance marketing today is far more intricate and dynamic than it was a decade ago. As brands seek to connect with their audience at every possible touchpoint, integrating programmatic into the performance strategy isn’t just recommended – it’s essential. By doing so, brands can ensure they are not only present across all digital channels but are also harnessing the full potential of their data to drive impressive results.
