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The consumer journey has changed for the foreseeable future, and it is full of opportunities to connect with customers, especially as audiences spend more time using media.
Gen Z audiences are discovering and curating new content at home and on the go. Office workers are tired of vacillating between screens, so they are switching to screen-less mode and are immersing themselves in sonic experiences. People who lived under restrictions for so many months are shifting priorities between work and family, clearing calendars for leisure activities. Shoppers are ordering new products online, comparing brands at warp speed.
For advertisers bracing for so much change in the eventual post-Covid world, old plans won’t work. Simply pushing the pedal on reach and frequency will miss the mark and lead to waste.
Advertisers need to be present in select moments that matter and in meaningful ways. Reach needs to be deeply seated in trusted channels. And plans need to be optimized based on media that meet consumers where they are today.
Identify the gaps in your plan
What separates a strong plan from a mediocre one is its efficiency and effectiveness. Is the budget allocated effectively across media? Are there any channels that could work harder for your brand? You may need to shift some dollars around and dial things up. Neustar’s meta-analysis of more than 40 media mix models shows that, across industries, advertisers are underinvesting in audio by 15%-51%. And shifting an average 1.2% of media investments to audio would lift return on ad spend as much as 23% or more.
Pair up traditional and digital
Mass media brings critical reach, but repeating the same message over and over through the same platform will fatigue your audience and erode your message. The more effective approach is to pair up traditional and digital channels and modify messaging to suit the strengths of each medium. Studies of plans with TV, audio and digital elements show that advertisers are more likely to convert shoppers to buyers if they take this cross-platform approach. For instance, campaigns that have both over-the-air and digital audio elements drive more sales than digital-only initiatives.
The new primetime is … personal
The typical media consumer splits time across seven different platforms in a given week. How can a brand break through and hold attention in this clutter? By getting invited to “me time.”
For instance, no matter what their favorite genre might be, podcast listeners like to consume content when alone. And according to a study by Alter Agents in August 2020, they pay full attention across audio genres, whether it’s sports, news or talk.
It is a new world order, and consumer behavior is changing. There are clear advantages for advertisers that can respond quickly and effectively to shifting consumer habits. The brands that greet customers into their first experiences stand to increase their share of mind.
As consumers make new choices on what to buy, where to travel and how to entertain themselves, the brands with authentic and correctly placed messages will connect deeply with their audiences. And with optimized plans, brands will enjoy higher returns on ad spend and increase their share of wallet.
