5-Step Guide to Transforming Omnichannel Marketing Strategy. Should businesses cut marketing budgets? Decreased visibility risks sales, brand awareness, competition overshadowing, and customer loyalty. Learn the steps on how to build a full-funnel marketing campaign.
Is reducing marketing budgets really the right thing to do for businesses? Decreased visibility puts sales at risk, lowers brand awareness, increases the chances of being overshadowed by competitors, and jeopardizes customer loyalty.
Read this article on how to build a robust, full-funnel marketing campaign during an economic downturn, including:
- The importance of omnichannel marketing
- The power of first-party data
- Two marketing channels delivering instant impact
- How to get the campaign performance insight you need
It’s still up in the air about whether the American economy is in a recession, trending toward one, or just experiencing a growth scare. That may be a topic best left for commentators and pundits to endlessly debate.
What we do know is the stress and anxiety of economic uncertainty is real. Businesses across every industry are cutting marketing costs in order to build cash reserves to offset interest rate hikes, negative growth, stubbornly high inflation, and to prepare for the next emergency.
1 in 5 marketers have trimmed their marketing budget, and budgets dropped by 16% on average. – Source: Adams, Peter, “CTV, digital video fall victim to inflation’s toll on marketing budgets,” Marketing Dive, July 13, 2022
Is reducing marketing budgets really the right thing to do for businesses? Decreased visibility puts sales at risk, lowers brand awareness, increases the chances of being overshadowed by competitors, and jeopardizes customer loyalty.
It’s better to create than destroy. Here are FIVE STEPS to building a robust, full-funnel marketing campaign during an economic downturn.
Table of Contents
Step 1: Invest: BUY INTO THE OMNICHANNEL PHILOSOPHY
Omnichannel marketing enables marketers to engage consumers where they are, with the right offer at the right time. Through omnichannel marketing, businesses deliver a full and unified brand experience that connects every touchpoint along the customer journey.
For marketers, there are multiple paths in the drive to survive. As people interact with brands and technology differently, marketing evolves. Having an omnichannel strategy that addresses the different ways consumers engage different channels, process information, and make tough purchasing decisions will be critical to successful campaigns.
The Proof Is In the Results:
- 30% SALES LOST WITHOUT SELLING THROUGH MULTIPLE CHANNELS
- 9.5% YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE IN ANNUAL REVENUE WITH OMNICHANNELS
Step 2: Improve: LEVERAGE FIRST-PARTY DATA FOR CONNECTING WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
The best advertising has always been targeted, relevant and personalized. The new year will see brands showing renewed focus and energy on this front. A keen emphasis on first-party data will help marketers understand, message, target and reach the right customers in the right channels with personalized communications that keep them engaged and loyal.
80% of frequent shoppers only shop with brands that personalize the experience. – Source: “The SmarterHQ Offering is Now Wunderkind Audiences,” Wunderkind, March 31, 2022
46% of consumers surveyed believe retailers need to provide more personalized promotions based on their purchase habits and interests. – Source: Vericast Awarenessto-Action Study, April 2022 (n = 1,909) of consumers
First-party data offers powerful insight into your audience. It’s yours and only yours. It’s reliable. It’s accurate. And with an increase in consumer data privacy laws (i.e., cookies are off the menu), it’s more valuable than ever to businesses.
Failure to effectively use first-party data is a missed opportunity to address multiple critical business needs: delivering a personalized experience, improving your strategy, identifying behavioral changes, and predicting consumer trends.
Step 3: Optimize: USE THE TWO MARKETING CHANNELS DELIVERING IMPACT
Not all channels are created equal. And despite inflation, consumers are still consuming. Be sure to plan your marketing spend to include two channels getting a lot of attention from today’s consumers: print and digital.
Data strongly suggests that print (direct mail, printed coupons, custom inserts) and digital (connected TV [CTV], digital coupons, display ads, email, video, social) provide the visibility and brand awareness needed to give businesses the best opportunity for success during tough economic periods.
The Power of Print
- 84% OF MARKETERS say direct mail improves campaign performance. – Source: “34+ Multichannel Marketing Statistics 2022,” Gurus Coach
- 66% OF CONSUMERS agree that, with the current economy, coupons and discounts are more important than ever.
Digital Is a Proven Way to Keep Your Strategy Tuned In and Clicking
- 49% OF CONSUMERS surveyed perceive CTV ads as more relevant than traditional TV, and 36% made a purchase from a CTV ad. 49 – Source: Vericast 2022 Financial Services TrendWatch report
And Both Channels Complement Each Other Beautifully
- 47% OF CONSUMERS surveyed want both paper and digital coupons and discounts.
- 70% surveyed go online after seeing a print ad. – Source: Vericast Awareness-to-Action Study, February 2022 (n = 1,841)
Why Print And Digital? Why Now?
Unfortunately, many businesses are pausing channels for short-term cash gains.
- 47% of marketers are pausing connected TV (CTV); 44% digital video. – Adams, Peter, “CTV, digital video fall victim to inflation’s toll on marketing budgets,” Marketing Dive, July 13, 2022
There’s more room — and visibility — at the top of the funnel. Less competition and activity are not only a valuable opportunity for bold, forward-thinking brands to stand out but also a chance for marketers to take advantage of friendly ad budget pricing.
Step 4: Measure: TRACK RESULTS AND CHANGE THE GAME
Everything costs more these days, including marketing. That’s why performance insight is a game changer. It lets marketers know which touchpoints are contributing to conversions and which aren’t, providing the keys to improve campaigns, lower costs, plan and allocate budget, customize messaging, and increase ROI.
If you’re not using marketing attribution, don’t wait too long …
- 75% OF COMPANIES are using multi-touch attribution to measure marketing performance. – Source: Holmes, Katie, “24+ Marketing Attribution Statistics You Need to Know in 2021,” Ruler Analytics, July 15, 2021
- SUPPORTED BY RELIABLE DATA, CTV AND OTHER DIGITAL CHANNELS ENABLE MARKETERS TO ACHIEVE AS MUCH AS 80% AUDIENCE COVERAGE
Performance data drives informed decision-making and creates strong partnerships. When you’re carefully vetting marketing partners, be sure to choose one with advanced attribution technology to correctly identify what’s working and what’s not to ensure your campaigns come out on top.
Worried about quantifying digital’s impact on sales? Don’t be. The answer is transparency. Digital generally struggles to bridge three major attribution gaps: identity resolution, data sources and data stability. However, digital models that target the right leads, use data better, and transform that data into actionable insight provide a clear and reliable picture of what drives consumer engagement to deliver better results.
Step 5: Execute: DON’T WEATHER THE STORM, BE THE STORM
Don’t give up! Attacking your marketing goals more aggressively and maintaining brand awareness is essential during tough economic times. Businesses that increase their marketing during a recession do better in the long term.
Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time. — Henry Ford
This is the New Age of Transformation. Combining a targeted omnichannel strategy with innovation and technology can quickly propel your business beyond the competition and into the hearts, minds and wallets of consumers.
Smart businesses focus on winning the decade. That means increasing your presence starting now.