Among the sudden changes brought on by the global pandemic, hundreds of companies, from Coca-Cola to Ford to Unilever, pulled millions of dollars in Facebook advertisements within just three days. Here’s the importance of innovation and creativity in advertising during this time.
Explore the advantages of each media channel
Each media channel engages users differently and has app features that introduce brand content to their users. Consider how your brand and content fits into that ecosystem.
- Integrated App features: TikTok recently launched ‘TikTok for Business’ allowing for marketers to take advantage of TopView, which is the ad that appears when you first launch the app, or other products such as Brand Takeovers, In-Feed Videos, Hashtag Challenges and Branded Effects. All of these are examples of how a media channel can seamlessly integrate brand content into their users’ browsing and engagement experience.
- Purchase Suggestion Algorithms: Consumers are also turning to Pinterest as a shopping destination where they seek to get inspired and discover new ideas. And because Pinterest is so focused on ideas, themes and inspiration, 78% of Pinners report that content from brands, even ads, are useful. Pinterest now has an integrated shopping platform that suggests items for purchase in every Pin, creating a seamless experience for Pinners to go from browsing to buying.
- Augmented Reality: Snapchat is engaging audiences in various capacities as well. On the augmented reality social network, you can create an interactive ‘filter’ which 180 million users toy with everyday, among other ad products.
Produce high-end creative in content utilizing other formats
- Community building videos: With a shift away from Facebook and Instagram, there will be an increase in spend on video creation, whether or not it’s through YouTube and Google. YouTube offers various advertising products, with their preferred ads increased ad recall by 112% and average increase in purchase intent by 53%. But beyond this, brands can establish and monetize their own channel, creating engaging content that encourages community development, which has become of utmost importance during the pandemic.
- Meaningful editorial content: Another meaningful alternative to divesting advertising budgets from Facebook is to reinvest in journalism and editorial content. Journalistic enterprises have kept us educated, entertained and more connected with the world around us during the pandemic and there is a real value proposition for brands in that to create public social good.
Developing an elevated digital marketing portfolio
So what does this mean for the future of online advertising? This shift in media mix allocation presents an opportunity for marketing teams to explore innovative new tools and develop meaningful new content. It is also highlighting the importance of not being reliant on a single platform or a couple channels.
Whether you use Google AdWords or TikTok or Twitter, you will always be constrained by the rules and restrictions of each platform and the data available to you. Owning your first party data is the most effective way to understand how consumers behave in each channel, and how to optimize your media mix accordingly.
