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In light of recent shakeups at tech companies, a potential looming recession and continued inflation, it has never been more important for companies to redistribute marketing budgets across platforms to maximize return on investment. Collectively, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), and Meta (Facebook/Instagram) have lost more than $3 trillion in market value this year alone, according to Bloomberg.
Frequent mass layoffs and highly volatile technology stock prices have led companies to question whether these companies are stable enough to continue advertising with. And even if so, should the channel priorities change?
Some highlights of the digital media shift in 2022:
- Following Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover of Twitter — including his sudden departure as CEO and both introducing and then terminating subscriptions for Twitter Blue — advertisers have been anxiously raking in paid media spend, fearing brand safety, misinformation, and minimal content moderation.
- Tech layoffs were so common that they quickly became trending hashtags, including #TwitterLayoffs and #MetaLayoffs.
- Meta’s valuation plummeted last February, triggering Wall Street’s worst fall in nearly a year, with Meta shares falling more than 26%, representing a $230 billion drop in market value, according to The New York Times. This dive comes on the heels of Facebook’s re-branding to Meta, including a pivot from driving brand growth through performance-driven advertising to its Metaverse future vision focused on augmented and virtual reality.
Related: “Tweets are read about 100 times more than they are liked,” Musk introduces new view counting feature
So, how can leaders confidently build marketing budgets for 2023 and predict return on ad spend (ROAS) when the tech companies they’ve advertised with — and become so dependent on to drive brand awareness, new leads, and revenue — have seemingly become so unstable become?
My experience managing digital marketing at B2C companies such as Nike, L’Oréal and Meta, and now as vice president of digital media at The Bliss Group (a data-driven marketing communications agency focused on financial services, professional services and healthcare) gives me a unique insight into the future of this and other media platforms.
With that in mind, here are tips for optimizing marketing plans and budgets for 2023:
1. What do the statistics show? Re-evaluate your analytics
Achievements begin and end with a weekly review of stats. The ability to determine why numbers are rising or falling is critical to driving sustainable growth. For example, if Twitter is an important channel for your brand engagement strategy, take a closer look at recent trends. Have your followers increased or decreased significantly, and faster than usual? An unexpected increase may indicate bots, while a sudden decrease may indicate followers are leaving the platform. If you see a significant decrease, it could impact referral traffic from Twitter to your company’s website, potentially resulting in fewer new visits and leads.
Tip: For Twitter, it may be worth pausing ads until the platform stabilizes, and reallocating that budget portion to another channel like TikTok, Instagram, or LinkedIn, depending on where your audience is. And for organic social media, make sure to follow the comments on your business Twitter account. If the mood is more negative than usual, rethink the type of content you promote and/or how often you post. For B2B companies, it may be worth refocusing on other channels, such as LinkedIn.
Related: How to make social media marketing effective for your brand
2. Who are you talking to? Reassess your audience
The way advertisers identify and target audiences is changing, including increased friction between data privacy best practices and delivering personalized content. To provide a true one-to-one user journey, marketers need to have a clear understanding of who they’re talking to. The challenge? There is an increased global focus on data privacy, with government regulation at the forefront (i.e. GDPR in the EU, Google Chrome’s potential elimination of third-party cookies, and Apple’s iOS changes).
These shifts can make it more difficult for companies to identify highly segmented audiences, track their behavior, and assess paid media metrics. This can impact the retargeting, measurement and attribution of digital advertising campaigns. (Source: Meta & Deloitte Digital, Q3 2022).
Make sure your organization clearly understands what audience data is collected and by whom, what technology tools hold that data, and how you plan to use information in marketing communications and reporting. In other words, keep investing in paid media campaigns, but make sure you prioritize proprietary media by capturing proprietary data on your website, rather than relying entirely on third-party data through various advertising platforms.
Tip: To grow an audience base through proprietary media, focus on collecting new email addresses on your website (lead generation) and follow up with a strategic lead nurture campaign where your company sends segmented “Welcome” emails with personalized content to new users. By sharpening your website’s customer relationship management strategy, your company will be prepared if third-party cookies were to disappear in the future, as it has already developed a direct relationship with its audience and has captured information in a reliable manner.
Related: 3 tips to reconnect with isolated consumers
3. What happens after the click? Create a streamlined user experience
More than 80% of smartphone users access email on their devices, but if they aren’t easily readable on mobile devices, consumers delete them within three seconds, according to HubSpot. When subscribers open your email, click the content, and land on your website, what messages do they see? Do they take action, or do they leave immediately? It is critical to use responsive design and prioritize the mobile website journey.
Tip: Create a seamless after-click experience. Tailor your company’s email to your website content. Develop concise, benefit-oriented copy with a clear image, a consistent user experience that ensures all key messages are “above the fold” (at the top of the mobile landing page), and a clear call-to-action, using action-oriented buttons , such as “Download Now”). The simpler the user experience, the higher the engagement.
