With only so many dollars in the marketing budget, brands must be strategic about where they place their ads for maximum reach. Below we discuss what brands should consider when shifting to a digital-first strategy.
Where is your audience?
TV garners such a high proportion of ad dollars because it has such broad reach; 62 percent of Internet users also have cable or satellite in their homes. However, over the past six years Internet streaming services have eaten into a large portion of TV viewership as more consumers “cut the cord.”
Where is your
audience discovering content? Don’t assume you’ll reach everyone if you focus primarily on TV. There are some broad generalizations you can make: if you’re marketing to Gen Z college kids, prioritize digital; if you’re looking for seniors, TV makes more sense. Conduct market research on your audience to find out where they are.
Who’s on your marketing team?
Transitioning from TV-first to digital-first can be a tough transition for some teams. The marketing landscapes for both require a different knowledge and skillset for maximizing impact. It would be unfair to ask a team that has built their careers on marketing for TV to switch to digital and become experts overnight. Someone without digital marketing expertise could easily track the wrong metrics like views instead of being able to discern meaningful metrics from your campaigns. If you want to make the move to digital-first, consider the expertise on your marketing team and how you can find the right person/people to lead the transition.
Becoming a digital-first brand
Being digital-first doesn’t mean that you completely ignore TV, but it does require a shift in how your think about your content creation, ad dollars and overall marketing strategy. When it’s time to make the shift, consider the following:
· Develop your vision and gain buy-in
: Consider your brand’s overall goals and how they fit with your digital strategy. Where is your audience? Which platforms make the most sense for your brand? What kinds of content are you sharing? Work with your team to create a unified vision.
· Use campaigns as learning opportunities
: If you’re new to digital-first, take time to test your assumptions. Use strategies like A/B testing to learn what resonates with your audience. Let these learning outcomes inform future campaigns.
· Master your data
: Your team needs to fully understand and be able to interpret data about your campaign’s success to make informed decisions for future spends.
· Be flexible
: Transitioning your strategy will be bumpy, but digital offers room to make quick changes to your campaigns based on what you’re learning about your audience.
Is your brand ready to make the transition to a digital-first marketing strategy? If so, Spin Creative is here to help. Say hello
!
About Us
Spin Creative is a video production company and creative agency helping marketers create winning video and creative strategies that engage, inspire and activate targeted audiences. Spin is headquartered in Seattle with offices in San Francisco and London, serving brands around the globe.
