Ratan Tata backed company Earnkaro is a website that offers users an opportunity to earn an income via affiliate marketing. With the third party cookie crumbling, Earnkaro is adopting local storage, a technology that stores data directly in the user’s browser. Local storage uses the capabilities of a user’s browser, to establish tracking mechanisms. This technique involves storing data on the user’s device to track interactions and transactions, operating independently from traditional cookie-based systems. It enables Earnkaro to accurately track when a transaction leads to cash flow to a partner site, by storing information about the transaction directly on the user’s device. Essentially in a browser, there are three types of storage – localStorage, sessionStorage and cookies. This is where first party, second party and third party data come from. Earnkaro also uses a technology called server to server integration – which it already has in place with its partner sites like Myntra, Nykaa and Flipkart.
“As we transition away from using cookies, we’re adopting a method known as server-to-server integration. Instead of relying on cookies to track purchases and activity, we monitor these transactions through a session that’s saved on the retailer’s server. Once a purchase is made, the transaction details are tracked and shared directly with the affiliates from the server, eliminating the need for third-party data sources,” says Rohan Bhargava, co-founder of Earnkaro and Cashkaro.
Earnkaro is 60% into implementing these technologies to prepare for a world where the third party cookie has crumbled. The main reason a cookie was needed is to solve for the challenge of marketing attribution challenge. Everytime someone visits a web link from a certain source, the cookie captures the source of traffic.
Addressing the attribution challenges in the absence of third-party cookies, Pradeep Kumaar, the CEO of NP Digital India, mentions the viability of contextual advertising and new tools like Google Fledge as potential alternatives for tracking engagement and behavior. “Contextual advertising and technologies like Google Fledge represent a new frontier for tracking user engagement in a privacy-conscious world,” he says.
What needs to happen at a technology level, for affiliate marketing to carry on smoothly is that the cookie needs to be replaced. “If anybody carries out a transaction, when the pixel fires right at the transaction stage, you identify who is the last click attribution – who’s the person with the last cookie. Obviously with the world we’re moving to, you can’t store third party cookies. We’re using local storage instead of the cookie for last click attribution,” says Bhargava.
Bhargava explains that another alternative is using a Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP), such as Branch or AppsFlyer, which is used to determine where a user’s last interaction came from before making a transaction, whether it’s Google, Facebook, or another source. MMPs are crucial for advertising in an in-app environment where cookies aren’t used. As we move towards a world without cookies, brands are incorporating MMPs’ software tools, known as SDKs (Software Development Kits), into their websites. SDKs provide the necessary tools to integrate with these MMPs, offering a unified view of where traffic is coming from. This approach ensures a consistent source of information, avoiding discrepancies between different data sources. According to Bhargava, using these technologies, the affiliate industry can smoothly transition to operating without cookies.
The world of affiliate marketing is bracing for a significant shift as Google prepares to phase out third-party cookies from its Chrome web browser by the third quarter of 2024. On January 04 2024, Google Chrome began its phase out of third party cookies from its browser to 1% of its users. With the removal of these cookies, marketers will need to find alternative ways to gather user data for targeted advertising and personalisation. For affiliates, who generally work on a ‘pay per performance basis’ – the challenge lies in tracking user journeys from an affiliate link to a purchase, which could potentially affect the accuracy of attributing sales to the correct affiliate.
The phase out of the third party cookie is largely driven by growing user concerns around privacy as well as regulations passed by other countries such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). GDPR was passed in the European Union in May 2018. Under this regulation, websites cannot store third party cookies without user consent. CCPA was passed in the same year and it mandates that websites must offer an opt-out option for users regarding cookies that sell personal information.
30% of Paisabazaar’s business comes from its affiliate marketing efforts, but Sachin Vashishtha, the chief marketing officer at Paisabazaar is not worried. “Affiliate marketing makes up a small part of our media mix spending. However, it’s worth noting that affiliates that rely on third party tools to capture convergence would be in trouble, with the demise of third party cookies, these tools would face challenges and so would affiliate marketers who use these tools,” he says.
Paisabazaar relies on first party cookies and data and does not encourage the use of third party tools. Vashishtha also mentions that Paisabazaar has server side attribution in place. Affiliate marketing campaigns for the brand are only limited to a few channels like email marketing.
“We are anyway advertising on platforms like Google and Facebook and that’s why we discourage affiliate campaigns on those platforms,” he says. He emphasises that in general, the brand’s reduced dependence on third party cookies and data means it will not be affected overall by the cookie phase out. He also stresses the importance of investing in robust data architecture and having a good CDP in place to try and capture as much data as possible using first party cookies. These platforms help create unified customer profiles from direct interactions, significantly reducing the dependency on third-party data.
In a world moving away from third-party cookies, affiliate marketers must explore fresh avenues for partnership with influencers and content creators. With influencers also dabbling in affiliate marketin, adapting strategies to maintain these collaborations becomes essential. “Most social media users are creators and influencers who focus on first party data. They can directly present to their audiences about a brand and can share the link and affiliates and marketers can make use of the data from that link,” says Kumaar.
Publishers will also have to figure out ways of diversifying traffic sources in the new cookie-less environment and according to Kumaar, the only way to do this is by creating more interactive and engaging content. Consent based marketing which builds trust between the consumer and the brand is the way forward as the third party cookie crumbles.
Kumaar also underscores the potential of deep learning and AI in maintaining hyper-personalised targeting capabilities through contextual advertising, similar to the precision previously enabled by third-party cookies. This advancement is beneficial for advertisers by facilitating more accurate campaign planning and audience targeting based on consumer behavior insights. “The integration of deep learning and AI with contextual advertising brings us closer to achieving the level of personalisation we had with third-party cookies,” Kumaar remarks.
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As the market gets crowded, getting consumers to try one product gets increasingly difficult due to a plethora of choices. Additionally, the technology revolution in India has witnessed OTT players bundling with telcos in order to reach more users. With players like Netflix and Disney+ Hotstar present in English entertainment, Lionsgate India claims to have carved its niche with its OTT platform, Lionsgate Play. As per market intelligence platform, Statista, the OTT market in India is valued at Rs 33,823 crore and is expected to grow to is expected to reach Rs 48,403 crore at a compound annual growth rate of 7.43% by 2029. As per a FICCI-EY report, paid video subscriptions reached 99 million in 2022, across almost 45 million households in India, with a total viewership of around 135 to 180 million users. The report further suggests video subscription revenues grew 27% in 2022 to Rs 6800 crore.
Lionsgate India recorded a total income of Rs 79.09 crore in FY23, an increase of 0.3% from Rs 78.85 crore in FY22. However, the net profit narrowed 48% to Rs 2.34 crore in FY23 to Rs 4.5 crore in FY22, as per regulatory filings accessed by business intelligence platform, Tofler. In a conversation with BrandWagon Online, Anushree Bhardwaj, director-marketing, Lionsgate India, talks about the company’s marketing strategies, its focus on licensing and theatricals, and the future roadmap.
Lionsgate Play is competing against the likes of Netflix, Hotstar, and JioCinema, among others. What is the strategy adopted by Lionsgate India to compete against these players?
We have been clear from day one on our target group, the content and the brand’s identity. The OTT (over-the-top) industry is a competitive space and there are big players of the world, investing millions of dollars to build these businesses. Our character from the first day has been to serve the underserved. In India, we are not speaking to the mass but to the global urban customers. As a platform, we try to give the consumers reminders of what is new and we try to get them on our platforms. The consumer would not usually come to the platform and watch something every week but if even one or two pieces of content have struck a chord, the consumer usually buys the subscription. We focus on the right content strategy which is premium Hollywood-scale content that we make available to our consumers.
We’ve experimented with the pricing models in an attempt to figure out how to sample our content. There are free episodes available on the app. For our Indian original, we released a free episode on YouTube and if the episode interests them enough, the consumers could come on the platform and subscribe to watch the remaining part.
While content strategy to the right pricing strategy are important, one of the most important focuses is on our distribution where we have collaborated with like-minded brands and ensure that we are available with them. Our partnership with Amazon Prime Video or JioCinema has helped Lionsgate Play get the visibility that we need with our consumers.
It is these three core things for us. Firstly, getting the right content and ensuring that you are reaching out with the right content pieces to your target audience, telling them periodically what you have for them. Secondly, it is important to have the right pricing strategy in place while understanding how is it comfortable to pay for the consumers, making all those options available. Lastly, it is important to keep working on a large distribution to pipelines which is partnerships.
What are Lionsgate India’s marketing strategies for the next fiscal year?
I don’t see many changes when it comes to marketing strategies. We want to deep dive and ensure that people know the kind of content that we have on the platform. We still want to ensure that the top 10-15 metros know about us and have sampled us in some form or the other. We will try and bring at least 50-60 premieres in a year. Our proposition is one premiere a week and we will try and bring those many premieres on the platform. Of late we have witnessed that there is a slight preference for movies as compared to series so we are trying to double down on that.
At the beginning of every year, we sampled the English premium community and we heard chatter around awards. This year, we built the House of Global Awards. We’ve been having all the awards with us for the last three to four years. We plan to take that ahead in a big way and it is a part of our content strategy because that’s important for our consumers.
When it comes to media, we are looking at investing in long-term gains. Digital is an important piece for us. We have two deals with the Mumbai and Delhi airports and we have recently partnered with publications in terms of print for better visibility. We also need to build a brand out and work on our awareness because that’s not as high.
We’re also personalising our marketing for next year. The passionate area for next year is WhatsApp marketing because we can segment dice and slice our audience base and land that piece of content to your consumer in their WhatsApp. The biggest consumer problem that my user is facing is confusion in deciding what to watch which is ultimately leading them to go back to their comfort watching. We are trying to solve that problem by simplifying our user experience (UX).
How has Lionsgate Play been able to personalise its marketing strategies?
We work on understanding user behaviour. We try and understand everything from the first time the consumer continues on the app, what they consumed and ultimately, did they ended up consuming the content piece that led them to the platform. There are periodic nudges to the consumer, the more personalised it is and more readable for them, the better our click-through rates are.
We have been sending emails and notifications. However, I feel that people turn a blind eye to it. WhatsApp is a medium that is versatile and is on our radar this year. We are very particular about a consumer’s content consumption and recommendations outside the platform.
The company in 2023 focussed more on licensing and theatricals and less on the production business. Why so and how has it impacted the revenue of the company? What strategies are you using for customer acquisition?
Production is a global call that we’ve taken. We have produced three large pieces of content with popular movie stars. Our ethos is very clear and is very similar to what we do in the US. We are a content company first so we build the right content, which will lead to the audience. During the pandemic, we saw different platforms ousting each other by consumers but there was no stickiness. People come, they sample a piece and then they move on to the next platform wherever their favourite content is playing. Hence, we’ve been particular about profitability. You will not see us indulging in fancy marketing campaigns or content pieces but we do our bit when it comes to experiences or the right content which we know will have takers.
Our consumer acquisition strategies are simple. We can’t be everything to everyone. We identify the consumer and we rope them in using communication that resonates with them. We try and showcase multiple content pieces through advertisements. We have multiple landing pages so we use a lot of technology and data science in our marketing initiatives. Secondly, the platform needs to have a strong brand identity to get customers to stick. We are constantly building social communities, whether it be Instagram, X, or YouTube. We are trying to connect with people and connect with them snackable content. Thirdly, it is important to use multi-marketing channels. It has to be a mix of account-based marketing (ABM), personalised marketing, and digital marketing. We have to be in multiple places like the music app the consumers are on, and the news platform they are on. We are also working on free trials and demos because not all consumers are affluent enough to buy the subscription at one go.
How has Lionsgate Play’s collaboration with Amazon Prime Video worked out for the company?
Prime Video, specifically, we’ve been able to leverage their reach and that’s been a game changer for us. Prime Video has been an important discovery channel for us. While we are available on the Play Store or the Apple Store, we are also available on the Prime Video Store. Prime Video does very well in terms of marketing the overall product, and they have the most engaged set of audiences who love OTT on their platform. We have worked together many times with their marketing teams. When two brands are promoting something together with all their might, it makes it more powerful.
Secondly, our partnership team is constantly working on ensuring that we have discoverability on their page because they have so much content stored that people can discover. Prime Video also has many partners so they work around the clock to ensure that the landscape and the titles are always visible on the Prime Video platform. The partnership has paid off very well for us and them and we plan to continue it in the times to come.
Is the company planning to expand its library? Is the company planning to expand into other language content?
We’ve done that with one part of it being local production. While we are an English-speaking nation, we are not an English-consuming nation. Dubs have played a huge role there. We’ve dubbed our content in four to five languages Kannada to Tamil Hindi to Marathi, and at times even Bhojpuri.
Our consumer wants access to premium global content at their fingertips, and that’s what we are here to provide. Local production is not off the charts because we at some point would look at pouring into it when we are clear about the content strategy. However, we are trying to go deeper with our dubbed content. We have local programming available on the platform. Our maximum consumption comes from our famous box sets and English content.
How do you intend to expand into other geographies?
OTT still is an urban phenomenon, but sports are making it wider and the convenience of a particular screen that people have available to themselves unlike a family viewing is interesting. When it comes to other geographies, we are already present in South Asia, we present in the Philippines, and Indonesia. We recently launched in Bangladesh with a partner called Grameenphone. The building of the pipeline for South Asia will continue. However, India remains a key player and, India acts as a blueprint for all other markets in the way we have launched India and the way we’ve grown India is the blueprint for other markets. We want to replicate the success of India in other markets.
What are the ambitions of the company?
We want to be the definition of thrilling, fast and something that people can access quickly. We want our consumers to watch content and be on the edge of their seats and the content that you will see on the platform is going to be that.
Our strategy of bringing different types of live events or awards on the platform is also in line because the audience can’t wait for the weekend or two days later to read about it. The moment these awards are announced, our teams work around the clock to ensure that our consumers have that information. We will double down on fast, exciting content and fast, exciting marketing.
Secondly, we want to reach more people and a wider audience in India. We are going to focus a lot more on subtitles and dubs so that language is not a barrier. We are also trying to see if there are any other languages that we need to get into in India. We will continue to invest in community building on different social media and YouTube is playing a huge role in fueling the next level of growth in online discovery. We are doubling down on our presence there. We are here for the long haul so we are going to be experimenting with different kinds of revenue models, but currently we are only SVOD (subscription video-on-demand) model we also want to understand how is it that sampling can be done.
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The digitisation of the business ecosystem has revolutionised consumer insights, reducing the timeline from months and days to real-time. Despite abundant data, marketers encounter significant challenges in distinguishing between noise and powerful actionable insights that drive business outcomes.
At the fifth edition of the Brand World Summit, organised by ETBrandEquity.com, marketers addressed the importance of tapping into real-time consumer insights for modern marketing strategies. The discussion was chaired by Devesh Gupta, content lead – product and community, ETBrandEquity, who was joined by Mayank Jain, head of product marketing, Swiggy; Pooja Baid, head of marketing, Versuni; Ayaaz Khan, vice president, marketing, Max Life Insurance; Esha Nagar, MD, Nepa APAC and Pankaj Bhatnagar- SVP, channel partner business, Altudo.
When dealing with real-time insights, marketers face a crucial decision. Will they be willing to adapt their strategy promptly based on these insights, or would they prefer to take the time to learn and adjust gradually?
It’s a balancing act between the pressure to adapt and the desire to remain consistent with the brand strategy and purpose, remarked Khan. The digital landscape is ever-changing for consumers, with no constant consumer journey. In this dynamic environment, consumers explore numerous options for brands, products, and services.
Khan said “To succeed, marketers must gather and utilise data effectively, transforming it into actionable and compelling stories that prompt consumer action. By doing so quickly and effectively, products, services, and brands will emerge as winners. The key lies in providing relevant insights, crafting compelling propositions, and offering solutions that solve consumer problems in both real-time and the long term.”
“The advantage of any consumer tech business is that we can experiment with strategies in real-time,” noted Jain. He went on to explain that by presenting various options to consumers and gauging their preferences, real-time adjustments can be made, allowing for strategic tweaks in campaigns.
According to Jain, this approach, involving consumers in the decision-making process, has proved to be a blessing for marketers, as it replaces the old approach of committing entirely to an idea without the advantage of real-time testing. Unlike before, where biases influenced decisions and forced consumers to choose, real-time testing offers the best possible solution for refining strategies and making data-driven choices.
While every marketer understands the importance of leveraging tools for social listening, brand sentiment analysis, and keyword tracking, Baid stressed the importance of monitoring the channel partners.
Baid said, “In the vast e-commerce industry, we collaborate closely with various portals, not only for growth but also to observe consumer behaviour patterns. Surprisingly, brands that seemed unrelated were interacting and drawing consumers together, and previously unnoticed categories garnered tremendous response on e-commerce platforms.” Amidst the abundance of data, the challenge lies in discerning valuable insights from mere noise, Baid concluded.
Research methodologies are undergoing significant changes in the current landscape, observed Nagar. She said, “Previously, big segmentations had years of shelf life, but now, agile research is taking over, incorporating insights from brand tracks, ongoing campaigns, active listening, and evaluations that extend beyond just the primary consumers to the second level of consumers.”
According to Nagar, listening to communities has become a crucial part of consumer insights. While the traditional forms of research involve asking questions, with the advent of social media, consumers are more vocal and share their opinions freely. She concluded that community-based qualitative research approaches are on the rise.
Based on use cases, marketers are primarily utilising data in these areas, highlighted Bhatnagar. He said, “In marketing, cost optimization is crucial due to budget constraints, and data is instrumental in achieving this goal. Analysing which platforms provide the best returns allows marketers to invest wisely.”
He further added that competitive analysis helps benchmark against rivals to identify areas for improvement. Understanding consumer behaviour in real-time is vital for staying relevant, as relying solely on NPS data may be too late to adapt strategies.
Bhatnagar stressed that it was not only imperative to stitch together first-party, second-party, and primary research to have a coherent view of the customer but also to empower last-mile owners like the sales team with this data to guide their energy and efforts effectively.
In a session at the Brand World Summit 2023, Ananth Narayanan, founder and chief executive officer, Mensa Brands highlighted what it takes for a digital-first brand to build itself online.
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By Aakrit Vaish
In the dynamic world of marketing, understanding your customers and tailoring your strategies accordingly is the cornerstone to achieving success. Traditional approaches to customer segmentation have their limitations, but with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), businesses can now take their customer understanding to new heights. AI-driven customer segmentation has emerged as a game-changer, empowering businesses to extract deep insights from vast amounts of data and optimise their marketing efforts like never before.
Today, AI is revolutionising brand marketing strategies by enabling businesses to gather and analyse vast amounts of data, extract actionable insights, and deliver personalised experiences to their target audiences. The impact can be seen across various areas of marketing. Let’s explore some compelling use cases that demonstrate how AI is transforming brand marketing:
- Personalised Recommendations: One of the most significant advancements in brand marketing is the ability to provide personalised recommendations to customers. Companies like Amazon and Netflix use AI algorithms to analyse customer preferences, browsing behaviour, and purchase history to offer tailored product or content recommendations. This level of personalisation enhances customer satisfaction, increases sales, and fosters customer loyalty.
- Targeted Advertising: AI-driven customer segmentation allows brands to precisely target their advertisements to the right audience. Platforms like Facebook and Google use AI algorithms to analyse user data and behaviour, enabling brands to deliver ads to users who are most likely to be interested in their products or services. This targeted approach maximises ad spend efficiency, improves conversion rates, and enhances overall marketing effectiveness.
- Content Creation and Optimisation: AI technologies are streamlining content creation and optimisation processes for brands. For instance, tools like Wordsmith and Articoolo use AI algorithms to generate written content, such as news articles or product descriptions, based on predefined templates and data inputs. AI-powered tools also help optimise content by analysing user engagement metrics, recommending improvements, and automating A/B testing to identify the most effective content variations.
- Social Media Analysis: AI plays a crucial role in analysing social media data to understand customer sentiment and brand perception. Brands can use AI-powered tools to monitor social media platforms and identify trends, sentiments, and conversations related to their products or services. By gaining real-time insights, brands can proactively engage with customers, address concerns, and manage their online reputation effectively.
- Voice-activated Assistants: Voice-activated assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google Assistant have become increasingly popular, providing brands with new marketing opportunities. Brands can develop voice-activated skills or actions that offer personalised recommendations, make purchases, or provide valuable information to users. These AI-driven voice assistants enable brands to engage with customers in a hands-free, intuitive manner.
- Predictive Analytics: AI-powered predictive analytics helps brands forecast customer behaviour and make data-driven marketing decisions. For instance, retailers can use AI algorithms to analyse historical sales data, customer preferences, and external factors to predict demand and optimise inventory management. This ensures products are available when and where customers need them, reducing costs and enhancing customer satisfaction.
These use cases demonstrate how AI is revolutionising brand marketing strategies, allowing businesses to deliver personalised experiences, optimise advertising efforts, streamline content creation, enhance customer service, and make data-driven decisions. By leveraging AI technologies effectively, brands can stay ahead of the competition, drive customer engagement, and achieve marketing success in the digital age.
Now let us delve on the various facets revolving around the use of AI for carving effective marketing strategies.
The Importance of Customer Segmentation
Customer segmentation lies at the heart of effective marketing. By dividing your customer base into distinct groups based on shared characteristics, behaviours, and preferences, you can target your marketing efforts with precision. It allows you to create personalised experiences and deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time. Traditional segmentation approaches, however, often fall short in providing the level of granularity and accuracy required in today’s competitive landscape.
The Rise of AI in Customer Segmentation
Enter AI, armed with machine learning and data analytics capabilities. AI has transformed the way businesses approach customer segmentation, enabling them to analyse vast amounts of data and extract valuable insights. This advanced technology can uncover hidden patterns, identify trends, and reveal behavioural nuances that were once beyond human comprehension. The power of AI lies in its ability to process data at scale and continuously learn from it, making it an invaluable tool for marketers.
Benefits of AI-Driven Customer Segmentation
The advantages of AI-driven customer segmentation are manifold. Firstly, it offers increased accuracy by leveraging advanced algorithms that can detect intricate patterns and relationships within data. Secondly, AI-driven segmentation is highly scalable, allowing businesses to process and analyse massive datasets efficiently. Moreover, AI eliminates manual effort, enabling marketers to focus on strategic decision-making rather than time-consuming data analysis. Real-world examples abound, showcasing how companies across various industries have achieved remarkable results through AI-driven customer segmentation.
Advanced Techniques in AI-Driven Customer Segmentation
AI-powered customer segmentation employs a range of advanced techniques that push the boundaries of traditional segmentation. These techniques include clustering algorithms, predictive modelling, and natural language processing. Clustering algorithms identify distinct customer groups based on similarities, enabling businesses to create targeted marketing campaigns. Predictive modelling utilises historical data to forecast customer behaviour, helping businesses make data-driven decisions. Natural language processing allows companies to analyse customer feedback and sentiments, gaining valuable insights into preferences and satisfaction levels.
Leveraging AI-Driven Insights for Effective Marketing Strategies
The insights derived from AI-driven customer segmentation hold immense potential for crafting effective marketing strategies. Armed with a deep understanding of customer preferences, businesses can tailor their messaging, offers, and recommendations to resonate with each segment. This level of personalisation fosters stronger customer engagement, boosts conversion rates, and drives business growth. Targeted marketing campaigns based on AI-driven insights have proven to be highly effective, leading to increased customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Addressing Ethical and Privacy Concerns
As with any technological advancement, AI-driven customer segmentation raises ethical and privacy considerations. Businesses must handle customer data responsibly, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations and maintaining transparency in data usage. Ethical considerations include avoiding discriminatory practices and using customer data for the benefit of both the customer and the business. Striking the right balance between personalisation and privacy is paramount.
Best Practices for Implementing AI-Driven Customer Segmentation
Implementing AI-driven customer segmentation requires a strategic approach. Businesses should prioritise data quality and invest in data integration to ensure accurate insights. Additionally, cross-functional collaboration is crucial, involving teams from marketing, data analytics, and IT to maximise the value of AI-driven segmentation. Continuous monitoring and evaluation are essential to refine and optimise segmentation models over time.
Success Stories of AI-Driven Customer Segmentation
Several companies have already reaped the rewards of AI-driven customer segmentation. For instance, a leading e-commerce retailer utilised AI algorithms to identify distinct customer groups and tailor their marketing messages accordingly. This resulted in a significant increase in customer engagement and conversion rates. Similarly, a global telecommunications provider used predictive modelling to identify customers with a higher propensity to churn, allowing them to implement proactive retention strategies and reduce churn rates.
AI-driven customer segmentation has revolutionised the way businesses understand and engage with their customers. The benefits of AI, such as enhanced personalization, targeted marketing, and improved customer retention, are invaluable in today’s competitive landscape. However, businesses must navigate ethical considerations and prioritise data privacy. By adopting best practices and constantly learning from successful case studies, companies can unlock the full potential of AI-driven customer segmentation and gain a competitive edge in the market.
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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In the midst of economic turmoil, CEOs and entrepreneurs are focusing on a bright future. Nearly 75% of leaders surveyed during a joint Hello Alice-Mastercard initiative said they planned to grow in 2023. This means business owners nationwide aren’t allowing the heat of inflation to squelch their optimism. However, they can only generate good results with equally good data-driven digital marketing strategies.
Fortunately, this isn’t a revelation to most leaders. Everyone has heard about the importance of data. Yet, many companies spend less time mapping out a successful, data-backed, growth-centered plan than the average family does when preparing for a vacation. It’s just not enough to choose some data points to measure.
To see growth — and scalability when your team is ready for it — your business needs to know where it wants to go. When you have a destination in mind, you can reverse-engineer your process to determine which data you need to make your growth dreams a reality. You’re bound to wander off course when you don’t have a destination set in stone. That’s costly but fortunately avoidable.
To start, you need to do a deep dive to understand what “growth” looks like for your company. Instead of picking metrics based on what you think you should measure or setting up data reports, answer four questions. First, where do you want your business to go in the coming 12 months? Pinpoint specific goals. Second, do you have assets in place that are helping you reach those goals? These could be anything from audiences and offers to channels.
With these questions answered, evaluate how your existing assets are working. In other words, where are the gaps? Be very honest with what you see, or else you won’t be able to respond to the last question: Is your current plan helping you reach those goals?
Once you’ve taken this deep dive into your overall sales and marketing objectives and strategies, you can employ data-focused, successful digital marketing measures. Each of these measures will nudge you closer to the growth you want and protect you from preventable roadblocks.
Related: 3 Steps to Assemble the Right Infrastructure Building Blocks to Successfully Scale Your Business
1. Set up metrics that are personalized to your stated goals
You’ll never be confident that you’re moving in the right direction unless you measure the right metrics. One of the biggest errors many leaders make is not testing their metrics or KPIs against their overall growth strategy objectives. Your metrics must have an impact and not just be chosen at random.
A 2021 Adverity announcement indicated that around one-third of all CMOs don’t trust their marketing data. That is, they’re reluctant to believe the metrics their dashboards show. You can’t afford to be in this position because it hinders your ability to make informed decisions. This is why you need to be choosy and particular when it comes to metrics.
Run each possible metric that you might measure through an assessment. How will you use the metric? Why will it show whether you’re on or off track? Are there other corresponding metrics that could shed light on the metric?
Spending time on this kind of upfront evaluation will pay off later. Just be sure that you examine your metrics every few months. You may want to decrease or add data points as you move closer to your goals.
2. Take a “big picture” approach to your data
With your metrics in hand, you can start getting data insights. The insights may or may not be valuable, though. Plus, they might not say what you think they’re saying. Believe it or not, sometimes you have to interpret the numbers. This is where stepping back and being able to look at everything from a 35,000-foot view makes sense.
Our company works with many leaders who, in their eagerness to examine the data, haven’t skimmed it beyond the surface. As a result, they’ve sometimes been surprised when they discover that their data is showing red flags — and that they’ve ignored those red flags.
For instance, one of our clients was showing high-profit margins via the metrics and assumed the company was on a serious growth trajectory. Just in case, we poked around a few additional data points. What was really happening was that two or three of the client’s customers were very profitable, but about 10 other customers were dropping in profitability.
The company realized that it had to get to the bottom of why such a high percentage of customers were unprofitable. If their leaders hadn’t been open to the big picture, they could have found themselves without the growth they sought.
Related: How to Collect Digital Marketing Data in 5 Easy Steps
3. Include catastrophe management in your data-driven digital marketing strategy
Catastrophic things can happen to any company. Just ask the countless companies that reported a collective total of 1,802 data breaches or compromises in 2022 per Identity Theft Resource Center. Every time you add a new data entry or endpoint to your workflows, such as a cloud-based software tool, you’re opening the door to being hacked. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t allow fear to shut down your data-driven digital marketing campaigns. Instead, leverage the experience of vendors and partners who’ve seen it all and want to help you avoid being a worst-case scenario.
You can use certain metrics to help you shed light on the unknown and be proactive. Being able to get real-time data on internal and external security protocols, subscription sign-ons and more can help you avoid heartache and headache. Remember, not all catastrophes come from nefarious places.
Another client of ours said their product turnover was 90 days. They built a thriving, data-driven digital marketing strategy around that belief. Orders started coming in, and their metrics, including SEO-created online authority, looked amazing. All except one: fulfillment. They were wrong about the 90-day prediction and couldn’t fulfill orders. Their business tanked because they couldn’t support the growth they sought and we achieved.
Essentially, your job is to unveil buried information so you can grow without faltering. Let others pay the “school of hard knocks” tuition. You have better places to spend your money, like consistently tweaking and honing your digital marketing plan throughout the year.
Getting bigger and better requires that you identify your baseline objectives and then construct data-driven strategies around them. It’s the healthiest way to keep your business ticking and humming straight toward your goals.
Related: A Practical Guide to Increasing Startup Success Through Data Analytics
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The subscription economy has been on the rise and will only continue to grow. With the global subscription eCommerce market expected to exhibit a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 65.5% between 2023 and 2028, it’s not a surprise that so many businesses are looking to pivot to the subscription model.
But in addition to creating opportunities, the subscription economy spike is also causing some challenges for DTC founders — namely, in one area: competitor differentiation. That’s why effective marketing is so important for the growth of subscription brands. And while there isn’t a one-size-fits-all subscription marketing strategy, there are a few common mistakes that ecommerce brands would be wise to avoid.
Related: How to Identify and Launch a Subscription Model in Your Existing Business
1. Taking a set-and-forget approach to subscriptions
One of the biggest errors subscription brands make is jumping to marketing techniques before considering exactly how you want to go to market with your subscriptions. In other words, a set-and-forget subscription model will sabotage any effective marketing strategies. So strengthening your subscriptions is a wise place to start to lay the foundation for impactful marketing.
There are so many options for brands to tailor their subscription programs directly to their customers’ lifestyles and their products’ intended use. This could be a build-a-box, giftable, sequential or prepaid subscription, to name a few.
Assess the needs of your subscribers and how your product is typically used to choose the strongest subscription offering that adds the most value for your customers.
2. Not designing a subscription-optimized PDP
Your PDP (Product Detail Page) is a highly important part of your eCommerce website, as this is where consumers can directly engage with your product and decide if they want to buy it. The PDP is also where consumers can opt to subscribe — making it a stellar (and logical) spot to promote your subscription program. A costly mistake DTC brands make is creating a PDP that doesn’t effectively display the subscription offering or its related benefits.
There are myriad ways that brands can optimize their PDP — whether it’s by strategically setting subscriptions as the default, clearly displaying savings with a strikethrough, or illustrating the many perks that consumers can access by subscribing. It should be blatantly obvious to consumers why they would benefit from a subscription.
Related: More Restaurants Embrace Subscription Model to Drive Revenue and Retain Customers
3. Underestimating the post-purchase journey
An essential component of subscription marketing is knowing when and how to promote your subscription offering — and it’s a common mistake for newer brands to miss out on optimal chances, particularly after a consumer has made a purchase.
Two obvious cohorts to target are one-time and repeat buyers who have yet to subscribe. Leaning into this subgroup by sending an informative email that outlines the many perks of subscribing can work wonders for growing your subscriber base.
However, communicating with current subscribers — not just one-time buyers — is where the real post-purchase journey can happen. This is a significantly unique component of subscription marketing; it’s equally crucial (if not more so) to advertise to your current subscribers rather than just focusing on acquiring new ones. Forgetting about your most loyal audience is extremely costly; after all, returning customers spend about 67% more than new customers.
Building out a robust customer account portal complete with referrals, loyalty rewards, trending upsells, and exclusive discounts is only step one in maximizing engagement, as you have to ensure that your subscribers are aware of and participating in these engaging touchpoints. Once you have your account portal set up with the LTV-driven features you want, it’s important to lean into messaging that brings subscribers into the portal as much as possible.
One strategy is to invite subscribers via email and SMS messaging to visit their account portals by sending a direct link. Then, in conjunction with this, many brands also choose to send an educational email to inform their audience of the many ways to engage after they’ve subscribed.
4. Keeping Email/SMS marketing impersonal
Your email/SMS strategy is a chance to get highly creative and lean into personalization; it’s not just an outlet for promotions, which is a trap many brands fall into. Some founders are wary of playing up personalization for fear of invading privacy — but most consumers are actually seeking and expecting this kind of individualized treatment from their brands.
83% of consumers reported that they were willing to share information in exchange for a more personalized experience, and 88% of organizations that implemented a personalized approach saw a meaningful increase in sales. In other words, eCommerce businesses that fail to capitalize on this dynamic are missing out on a prime opportunity.
Personalized marketing can vary depending on the type of business you run — but here are some general campaign ideas:
For SMS, this might look like:
- Notifying subscribers about new products they may like
- Sending a personalized birthday message with a special perk
- Sending out order-tracking messages and giving subscribers a chance to manage subscriptions directly in the text thread
For Email, this might look like:
- A more casual check-in sent to engaged subscribers to encourage reviews
- An interactive survey or quiz to collect zero-party data (which can be used to further personalize future messaging)
- An informative newsletter with recent brand updates, including a “you may like” product recommendation section
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Digital identity verification is a critical step in customer onboarding, especially for businesses operating in highly regulated industries such as financial services or payments.
However, the traditional methods of identity verification, such as a person reviewing government-issued IDs or conducting manual background checks, can be time-consuming and expensive. Onboarding is an opportunity for businesses to make a strong first impression, but those methods can lead to poor user experiences and customer abandonment. Yet if onboarding processes are not well-designed, they can open the door for fraudsters and lead to significant financial losses.
In the current economic environment, companies are striving to onboard the right customers at the right costs. That requires help from all areas of the business, and it’s where marketing can play a role.
Marketing is all about understanding customer needs and behaviors and using that information to create strategies that help businesses achieve their goals. By applying marketing principles to identity verification at user onboarding, businesses can make the process more efficient and create positive customer experiences that build trust, enhance the brand reputation and reduce abandonment.
When responsible, ethical marketing intersects with identity verification at onboarding, customers and businesses can reap the benefits. Here are four ways that can happen.
Related: 7 Strategies to Revamp Your Customer Onboarding
1. Simplifies the verification process
The marketing team can help its colleagues simplify identity verification by providing clear, concise instructions to users so they know exactly what to do and are more at ease during onboarding. That can be especially helpful for those who may not be familiar with the verification process or who may have limited access to technology. The right tone and voice from marketing can help a user through a daunting process while leaving a positive association with the brand.
Recent research from Trulioo, for instance, found that 53% of payment service providers consider empathy — showing an understanding of customer needs, concerns and values — a top factor in building trust through identity verification. The same research showed that 92% of consumers consider empathy to be as important or more important during onboarding, compared with how they felt two to three years ago.
Marketing also can support product design teams as they create intuitive user interfaces that guide customers through the verification process step by step. For example, businesses can use visual cues, such as progress bars or check marks, to indicate to customers their progress in the verification process. Those cues can create positive experiences that encourage customers to complete onboarding. When the cues use a visual system that aligns with a company’s brand promise, yet another strong positive association is made between the company and customer.
2. Creates a sense of urgency
Marketing can help create a sense of urgency around the verification process. For example, businesses can use messaging that emphasizes the importance of verifying identity, such as highlighting how it helps prevent fraud.
When it’s appropriate, businesses can use techniques such as countdown timers or limited-time offers to give customers a stronger sense of engagement with the onboarding journey. Offering incentives for completing the verification process can encourage users to continue through the onboarding steps. This may not make sense in all industries, but it can help reduce the number of people who abandon the onboarding process.
Related: 7 Common Customer Onboarding Mistakes to Avoid at All Costs
3. Builds trust
Identity verification is a critical element in building trust between a business and its customers. By verifying digital identities, businesses create a safer environment for customers.
Marketing can convey that message clearly throughout onboarding to enhance the brand reputation and ensure customers understand exactly why they’re providing information for verification. The messaging can emphasize the security benefits or leverage social proof, such as customer reviews or testimonials, to demonstrate the process is secure and efficient.
That type of communication can pave the way for positive user experiences and customers who believe the company is taking steps to ensure their security and data privacy. When companies showcase their commitment to a secure digital environment, customers are more likely to trust the process and provide the necessary onboarding information.
Businesses also can use branding elements such as logos or color schemes to create a consistent and recognizable user experience. That can help reinforce the business’s brand identity and create trust with customers.
4. Builds personalized and customized experiences
Businesses can leverage marketing tactics to personalize and customize identity verification workflows. When a company understands its customers’ needs and behaviors, it can tailor onboarding steps to each person, striking the balance between security and meeting consumer expectations for speed and convenience.
Personalization can also give people the feeling that a business really knows them, such as when it greets them by name or uses messaging specific to their industry or interests. Those nuanced techniques can create more engaging experiences that encourage users to complete the verification process.
Related: How to Turn Strangers into Loyal Customers With User Onboarding
Marketing forms the foundation of long-lasting relationships
Harnessing best-in-class marketing techniques for the identity verification process can create a more positive onboarding experience and strengthen the relationship between businesses and their customers.
When businesses truly leverage this type of holistic approach, they can realize the benefits of increased customer satisfaction, retention and trust. Clear communication, an engaging process and personalized experiences help ensure businesses onboard the customers they want while building trust and confidence in the brand.
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Tired of reading the same old marketing advice for your startup? When I started my journey as an entrepreneur, I knew how to build things, but marketing them was a different ball game. Every corner of the internet seemed to echo the same advice — paid ads, email campaigns, blog posts and SEO.
It felt like an oversaturated market, and I began to wonder if any marketing strategies could make a difference until I implemented these nine lesser-known yet powerful marketing strategies that will breathe new life into your startup and help you stand out in the crowd.
1. Guerrilla marketing
Guerrilla marketing is an innovative and unconventional approach to promoting your brand, enabling you to leave a unique impression by steering clear of traditional marketing methods. It’s a really broad term, but this strategy essentially focuses on high-impact, low-cost tactics that capture the attention of your target audience in unexpected ways. For instance, organizing a human-typography event where volunteers spell out the name of your brand and have photos taken, given their consent.
Here are some examples of famous Guerrilla Marketing campaigns:
- Airbnb’s “Van Gogh’s Bedrooms” Campaign: Airbnb transformed a replica of Van Gogh’s bedroom into an Airbnb rental. The company marketed the experience on social media, and it went viral, leading to a significant boost in brand awareness.
- Burger King’s “Whopper Detour” Campaign: Burger King offered customers a Whopper for only one cent if they ordered it from close proximity to a McDonald’s location. The campaign generated buzz on social media, and the company’s mobile app saw a surge in downloads.
- Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” Campaign: Coca-Cola replaced its logo on bottles with popular names, encouraging customers to share a Coke with friends or family members. The campaign was a huge success, generating millions of social media mentions and a significant boost in sales.
- Metro Trains’s “Dumb Ways to Die” Campaign: Metro Trains created a catchy song and video that showed cartoon characters engaging in dangerous behavior around trains, in an effort to promote railway safety. The video went viral and led to a significant decrease in train-related accidents.
- Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” Campaign: Old Spice created a series of humorous ads featuring a shirtless man showing off the benefits of Old Spice. The ads went viral and led to a significant increase in sales.
Related: 7 Guerrilla Marketing Tactics That Will Grow Your Business When Money Gets Tight
2. Promotional Merchandise
At first, it may sound cliché, but get creative with your promotional merchandise. Instead of printing t-shirts for sale on your website, think outside the box. For instance, at Discovery Dose, we print beer coasters with intriguing facts about alcohol and distribute them for free to bars throughout Europe. Quite creative, wouldn’t you agree?
3. Online directories
Listing your startup in online directories can help you reach new customers and improve your search engine rankings. Search for directories that serve a relevant audience, such as Wellfound (formerly AngelList Talent), Product Hunt and CrunchBase.
Related: Struggling in Local Search? Here’s What Your Local SEO Strategy Needs to Compete in 2022.
4. Answering questions on forums
Quora, Reddit and Stack Exchange are all popular question-and-answer platforms where people can ask and answer questions about a wide range of topics. Find questions about the problem you’re solving and provide a genuinely valuable response that also promotes your startup.
5. Leveraging your personal brand
Nearly 20% of the leads for my startup originate from my personal social media accounts and my online articles. To achieve the same effect, work on establishing yourself as an industry expert, cultivate an audience and contribute articles to a variety of publications.
It can even be as simple as posting updates on your personal Facebook account — after all, Facebook moms are the most loyal supporters you’ll ever come across!
6. Public speaking
Public speaking is a powerful way to develop your personal brand and promote your startup. By sharing your insights and experiences, you can build credibility and attract new customers, especially if you stand out.
Consider exploring the following speaking opportunities:
- Podcasts
- TEDx talks in your region
- Guest lectures at colleges and universities
- Webinars and conferences
- Networking events and meetups
Related: The Complete, 20-Step Guide to Ace Public Speaking
7. Street marketing
Go out in public and speak to anyone who would listen. You can even organize public contests that involve people answering questions related to your line of work, then record the experience and use it as promotional material, given the participants do consent. Hit two targets with one shot!
8. Hashtag marketing
Hashtag marketing is a powerful strategy that leverages the potential of social media to generate organic engagement and build brand awareness. A well-crafted and catchy hashtag can inspire people to use it, effectively turning them into word-of-mouth promoters for your business.
For instance, Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke campaign brilliantly tapped into the power of hashtag marketing by creating a sense of connection and encouraging users to share their experiences.
9. Marketing subsidiaries
A marketing subsidiary is essentially a separate company with its own objectives that, through its operations, complements its parent company’s marketing efforts. Although this takes more effort and is more long-term oriented, a marketing subsidiary can be an excellent asset for boosting your startup’s marketing operations.
For instance, if you run a FinTech startup, launching a newsletter or publication that offers valuable insights about trading and investing could build an engaged audience with a genuine interest in your field. This audience can then be leveraged to generate returns and attract new customers to your startup, ultimately benefiting your primary business objectives.
Ready to leave your competition in the dust?
As you venture into the world of marketing strategies that actually work, you have the potential to take your brand to new heights. It’s time to make a lasting impact and become the pioneer your startup deserves. The future of your brand’s success starts now.
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If you’re a business owner, a lot has happened already this year to make you stop and consider the state of your (and your business’s) money.
Inflation has every dollar shrinking in value, federal rate hikes have made it more costly to borrow, and while recent bank failures may not have impacted your business outright, it certainly caused a justifiable stir.
With all of this going on, my husband and I decided to meet with a mentor and financial consultant who has managed hundreds of millions of dollars in capital over the last 25 years to review our investments.
He pointed out that, while we both have various investments, we’ve primarily been putting our money into something that has paid off many times over standard stock market returns — and that something is our respective businesses.
After that meeting, I concluded it was wisest to invest more into my most reliable asset — my business. Sure, we have a lot of “safe” investments as well, but truly, in the long run, nothing has compared to our businesses in terms of return on investment (ROI).
The biggest investment I’m making is in my marketing: I’m increasing our annual marketing budget by more than 20% this year to over $7 million.
I made this decision based on some hard-won experience I gained surviving two economic recessions. The first (2008), I cut my marketing and we barely survived. The second (2020), I refused to cut our marketing and, as a result, growth in the last three years has averaged 20% after averaging only 5% in the decade previous. I learned that marketing is crucial to not only growing a business when times are good, but essential to survival when times get tough.
If you’re like me and know that your business is your greatest asset, I want to share three marketing principles I have followed and applied in order to strengthen my business and grow revenue despite recessions and economic turbulence.
Related: Why a Recession Is the Worst Time to Skimp on Brand Marketing
1. Use the current economic conditions to your advantage to increase market share
Recessions come and go, and some businesses leave legacies behind that we can learn from. Kellogg is a perfect example of that. In the late 1920s, Kellogg and Post dominated the breakfast cereal market.
When the Great Depression hit, Post responded in fear, reducing expenses and cutting back on advertising while Kellogg did the opposite. Kellogg moved into radio advertising and heavily promoted a new cereal called Rice Krispies.
By 1933, the economy was the worst it had ever been, but Kellogg’s profits increased 33%. Kellogg not only survived the economic crisis but became the leading cereal brand afterward — and has remained in that spot more than 80 years later. In 2017, Kellogg had a 30% market share, with General Mills following at 29% and Post at 18%.
I experienced a similar phenomenon with my business, PostcardMania. In 2008, the recession devastated many businesses. We were heavily affected by the real estate market plummeting since mortgage brokers made up 46% of our clientele. In 2009, an advisor at the time saw how much I spent on marketing every week and said something to the effect of, “We could save a lot of money if we cut back.”
Against my better judgment, I listened and cut my marketing in hope that we could conserve our resources and increase profits, but that made the situation worse. What was a small revenue decline in 2008 (around $150,000) ballooned into a much bigger loss in 2009 — as much as 15% of revenue and well over $1 million.
I made a sharp U-turn and brought my marketing back up to speed as soon as possible, and we recovered by 2010. I vowed to never cut my marketing budget again.
Then in 2020, when the pandemic disabled the economy, I knew exactly which moves to make and maintained my marketing regardless of how rough it got — and it did get rough to the tune of sales being down over 40%.
But guess what my competitors did? Exactly as I did in 2008 — they froze or reduced their marketing. The difference between 2008 and 2020 was obvious; we grew PostcardMania in 2020, and then business got even better in 2021 and 2022. Since 2019, our revenue has been up 60% (an average of 20% growth per year) after 10 years of averaging 5% growth.
I know it sounds counterintuitive to invest more in marketing when the economy is poor, but history doesn’t lie, and my own experience backs this up. Keep your marketing strong, and your leads and sales will remain strong as well.
Related: 6 Recession-Proof Business Marketing Strategies
2. Choose the marketing channels with the highest ROI to make the most of your budget
So, which marketing channels should you invest in? The answer is simple — the ones that work.
If you aren’t already tracking your marketing closely, commit to starting right now. It’s critical that you track what you’re spending and where leads and new customers are coming from so that you know what’s working and what needs improvement.
Once you know which channels yield the highest ROI, you can invest more there to grow your leads, which in turn yields more sales and revenue (and you can tinker with the lower-performing tactics until they’re in a good range or pare them back to suit your budget needs).
One of the marketing tactics I find to have a super high return on investment is retargeted mailings. Triggered mail makes the most of every lead by specifically targeting the people who have already shown some kind of interest in your products or services by visiting your website.
Depending on who you want to target, a postcard is automatically printed, addressed and sent within 24 hours of their website visit. Targeting can be based on the length of time a visitor spends on your site, the web pages they visit, the items they put in their shopping cart or a number of other factors.
Because you’re only targeting warm prospects and sending a few postcards a day (rather than thousands at a time like traditional direct mail), the upfront cost of a triggered campaign is relatively low — and that means your ROI potential is much higher.
One of our real estate investment clients, Mark Buys Houses, added retargeted direct mail to their follow-up. They spent $647 to mail just over 100 postcards to his website visitors. As a result, he converted one lead into a sale and made $70,000 in revenue. That’s an ROI of 10,710%!
If you decide to increase your marketing investment like I did, I suggest starting with tactics focused on improving website conversion or follow-up. You’ve already spent money on the hardest part — taking someone from unaware of your business to actually interested — so take the time to find out if investing a few more dollars per lead will translate into more sales. Just don’t forget to track closely!
Related: How to Adjust Your Marketing to Survive a Recession
3. Take advantage of free communication tools to stay in touch with prospects and customers
Not every marketing tactic costs money; some are 100% free. Leveraging free marketing platforms during tough times not only helps your budget, it also helps you communicate better.
First, I suggest perfecting and increasing your email marketing. Tools like Constant Contact and Mailchimp let you send emails for free up to a certain amount. Send out promotional emails that include catchy subject lines and enticing deals to increase clicks. Consider creating an email newsletter that your audience would enjoy reading. It could include valuable information about your industry, tips and tricks, recently completed projects or features about your company to keep your customers connected to your brand.
Second, I recommend freshening up your website with new, SEO-rich content. You can write the content yourself or find a willing team member to help — or even give the latest craze, artificial intelligence (AI), a go. Just provide a prompt, and let AI do the heavy lifting (a.k.a. writing) for you, then go over it afterward and put your own stamp on it using expertise that only you could provide. Blog posts, web pages and other types of articles will not only boost your website in the search engine results on Google, but it will also increase engagement on your website.
Lastly, get more active on social media. Post creative, informative content that draws people in and fosters engagement, like polls or questions. Facebook and Instagram also allow you to list your products and services for free on a shop page. Even though it takes a bit more time and energy to make posts every day, communicating consistently with customers and prospects is invaluable and could lead to increased revenue and positive brand image in your area of expertise.
At the end of this economic downturn, at least you can say that you gave it your all and worked hard to build up your business to the best it can be. Invest in the right areas, and you’ll enjoy benefits that last far beyond the most recent crisis.
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As the economy slows, B2B marketers are being challenged with longer sales cycles, lower deal amounts and churning customers. If that isn’t enough, many companies are slashing marketing spend.
With that being said, CMOs can see significant short-term improvements that will help them power through the forecasted downturn by focusing on these areas of their business:
Related: 5 Mistakes To Avoid in Your Digital Marketing
1. Optimizing campaigns for offline conversion events
Your most important priority should be to integrate your advertising platforms with your CRM or demand-gen platform. This will allow you to optimize your ad campaigns for bottom-funnel conversion events. This is especially important when using Google since you can use Google’s algorithm to optimize your campaigns for bottom-of-funnel events. If you have a sales team that takes inbound calls, make sure to get third-party call analytics software that can track calls by channel and down to the most granular source. Having phone tracking will let you identify which marketing channel is contributing to sales and help you make budget allocation decisions.
2. Marketing channels with short-term CAC payback periods
Privacy changes have made marketing attribution tools less reliable in the last two years and makes finding winning campaigns more complex. To overcome this, you can ask users on form sign-ups or post-purchase surveys how they found your business. While also not 100% reliable, these self-reported attribution workflows can help you see which channel is driving the most sales. Based on what customers are telling you and what your other attribution tools show, you can then allocate budget by channel based on their relative performance and pause what’s not working.
3. Your best customer cohorts
When sales performance starts to drop, investigate your data to see which customer cohorts are underperforming or churning, and exclude them from your ad targeting. This could be unprofitable business verticals, job titles, geographic regions, age or other demographic cohorts. If you have a revenue intelligence platform to listen to and/or transcribe call recordings, analyze the calls that resulted in demos and sales.
For example, if calls show a spike in Fintech startups that are purchasing your product, test new ad creative with what they say they like about your product and test landing pages with matching messaging. On the media buying front, see if you can improve targeting for this cohort and get more ads to serve it.
It’s also important to keep track of buyer personas. You can figure out which persona to focus on by running a report on all your customers and their respective job title, and then focus your marketing on the personas with the highest lead count. Make sure to arm your prospects with the metrics they look for — that is, you’ll need to show that the service or solution is an investment, not a cost.
Related: Digital Marketing 101 for Entrepreneurs
4. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Focus on the segments that are driving the most revenue for your business — such as landing pages, product pages and pricing pages. Use a qualitative analytics tool that can view what users are clicking on as they interact with your site. If you are running paid advertising campaigns, it’s important to not run the tests on all your campaigns. Carve out at least 80% of your budget for the campaigns that are carrying your quota and the rest for testing out new ideas.
Next on your list is improving page loading speed. For every additional second it takes the page to load, conversion rates drop by up to 20%. A good benchmark is a loading time below three seconds. Another time-sensitive indicator to optimize for is lead response times. Ideally, you should attempt to phone, text or email a prospective lead within five minutes. Just doing this will help increase conversion rates by double digits.
Of course, it takes resources to do these things. But making these changes during a downturn, if done right, will help you improve performance and build a data-driven and winning business.
Related: How to Adjust Your Marketing to Survive a Recession
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