Remember the good old days? When advertising was just about who could get the best brand story out to the widest audience?
People still love story-based advertising, but it’s no longer enough to compete in the modern world.
These days, you not only have to create stories but personalize them to each unique lead. But of course, not all leads; just the ones that are most likely to convert — ideally the ones that are already looking at your competitor’s offers, who have particular buying habits, etc.
Long story short — it’s complicated!
But it boils down to one fundamental challenge: how do you efficiently combine old-school storytelling with modern, data-led strategies?
Oliver Maletz is the head of international communications and media planning at Volkswagen, and his entire job pretty much is to answer that one question.
Turns out, he's found a couple hacks that have boosted VW’s ad efficiency and effectiveness between 50% and 130%.
Want to know what they are?
HOW TO: Streamline and succeed at data-led advertising in the modern age
1. Slim down your tech stack to maximize efficiency & ROI of each tool
On average, $0.58 of every dollar invested goes into tech. You can probably drive the same results with fewer tools — analyze your stack for inefficiencies. If you have multiple markets, homogenize your tech across all hubs.
If you have to choose between 2-3 similar tools, you can compare them directly before deciding (and yes, I see the irony in recommending a tool to help you eliminate tools) →
Stackshare.io
2. Only pay for ads your consumers can see — negotiate for viewability guarantees measured by “Opportunity To See”
97% of senior marketers disagree with the IAB’s viewability definition. Mandate that your ads be 100% viewable for X seconds. (VW’s “X” is 2-3 seconds — analyze your conversion data to find yours).
Think about it, no other marketing channel expects you to pay for 100% of an ad space, then only shows consumers 50%. You’re paying for the online equivalent of this billboard →
Analyze your current ad viewability and make sure publishers are making good on your agreement →
DoubleVerify
3. Collect user data from every touchpoint and use it to personalize your funnel top-to-bottom
92% of user research is done online, meaning your messaging needs to be personalized across the entire buyer’s journey. VW’s average customer goes through 24 digital touchpoints, and they collect data from every single one.
Turn that data inwards as well — identify what your customers want and create new product offerings to match →
Amplitude
4. Stay vigilant for fraud across every single element of your marketing
By 2022, advertisers worldwide will lose an estimated $45 billion to fraud. Track every market, campaign, ad, and publisher.
It’s expensive, but not as expensive as what you could lose to fraud→
Forensiq
5. Ensure that you have a top-performing team, even if that means outsourcing some of the work
It can be expensive and time-consuming to build an in-house team of data specialists. Or maybe you have one, but there’s still one part of the process they’re not performing well at.
VW uses the same team of companies across all 4 of their global hubs:
For audience understanding & creation →
Annalect
For dynamic creatives →
Adylic
For tags & DMP management →
PHD
Full Presentation: https://youtu.be/xrmbb8JoR4o
