During this time of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 crisis, marketing is transforming globally. Going digital is now the primary way of capturing a large chunk of advertising spending around the world. Many marketers have agreed to spend more ad dollars in their digital media plans, given the doubt on global industry growth.
How Marketers can Protect Companies from Fraud
Nielsen has recently released its Annual Marketing Report (Second Edition 2019-2020), titled, “THE AGE OF DISSONANCE: MARKETERS’ TRUST IN DIGITAL DRIVES SPEND DESPITE CHALLENGES”. The company has surveyed more than 350 marketers across the U.S., Canada, and U.K to get a better perspective. It was found that dire data quality issues surrounded the interest in digital and challenges around the measurement of ROI in these areas. Digital channels have made the customer journey more complicated – and with new metrics, tools, platforms, tracking the whole process is not that easy!
Although digital channels are gaining ground now, the uncertainty remains. At times, investments in media channels are driven by a sense of effectiveness that is not based on reality. It often leads to useless spend and a lot of missed opportunities for the business. If market leaders are to stay ahead of the competition, Nielsen suggests, they need to justify how their strategies can enhance the top as well as the bottom line.
As stated in the report, “We studied the psychology of the modern marketer. We asked how they perceive the effectiveness of all of those channels, even when ROI measurement isn’t very clear… Our research shows that marketers today are holding digital channels to a different standard than traditional channels. The novelty factor is strong, and a digital channel that’s perceived to be effective invites more spending even when that effectiveness cannot be readily verified. Traditional channels don’t have that luxury.”
The principal findings from the report:
- The digital media budgets do not follow real measurable ROI, but a perception
- Brands dispel data quality issues
- Digital media will break down the promotion and advertising silos
- The obstacles can hamper OTT advertising
- Many marketers favor the new customer, over old ones
The top marketing objectives, as per the report, are:
- 41% of the marketers reported acquiring new customers,
- 28% of them said increasing brand awareness,
- Only 13% reported retaining customers.
- 8% of the respondents said reducing churn,
- 6% said beating competitors, and
- 5% reported for encouraging advocacy.
Coronavirus – Impacting Ad spend, yet Driving E-commerce
Lately, digital media consumption has increased worldwide – since a large part of the global population is in quarantine, and this could be a golden opportunity for marketers to connect with a captive audience. Social media and digital platforms are the only available link to the outside world. It is allowing people to keep themselves well informed and somewhat entertained. The evolving customer behavior and marketing mix in this critical situation are pushing marketers from all the sectors – to rethink their short-term marketing strategies, and ad spends.
