Advertising Week NYC is in full effect, and I’m on the ground taking it all in as we publish. Going into this week I couldn’t miss Digiday’s “Guide to What’s In and Out” at the event, especially this proclamation:
In
Resurgence of brand building
Out
Focus on performance marketing
That’s music to my ears, and prompts me to share some of the trends I’m seeing and hearing that support Digiday’s assertion.
1. DTCs Minding their Brands
I have nothing but respect for performance marketing. I’ve had the privilege of working with some astonishingly effective marketers in this field, and overseen attribution on hundreds of podcast campaigns.
Performance is a natural place for emerging consumer brands to start, and an area that podcasts, in particular, have excelled at. But as brands mature, having an exclusive focus on performance, without minding the brand itself, risks leaving longer term growth on the table.
That’s why I’m glad to report we’re getting more inquiries from, and doing brand lift studies for direct-to-consumer and direct response marketers and brands that typically have a performance focus. They’re looking to shine a light on the upper funnel, to get a grip on metrics like awareness and favorability, and really understand how their messaging is resonating with audiences. This isn’t to replace performance metrics, but rather to identify creative tweaks or targeting opportunities that grow customer bases and help move them closer to a conversion or sale.
By consolidating brand lift execution across their entire spend, DTC brands are obtaining holistic insights that allow them optimize for publisher, content vertical, audience, consumer behavior and preferences, and more.
2. Taking Advantage of Niche
Niche is another growing trend. It’s long been a strength for podcasts, a positive aspect of the medium’s wide diversity and long tail of content. While it’s been no secret for niche advertisers, we’re seeing more large brands catch on. For instance, B2B advertisers may need to reach the self-employed, side-hustlers, small business owners, or powerful executives, but narrowing the target even further to specific demographics, industries or sectors. There are similar objectives for consumer brands selling into high-value but tightly segmented markets.
In pursuing such pinpoint accuracy, the need to find just the right fit and alignment with show, content, audience and message is critical. Brand lift is ideal for measuring that fit, and there are other reasons pushing advertisers in this direction.
Niche products and services can have a longer funnel than typical DTC ones, making it important to track the consumer journey from the very top of the funnel. Sometimes, the target is so niche and their reach so narrow that the clearest signals come from a comprehensive brand study.
3. Deeper Integrations Highlight Podcasters as Creators
Finally, at Signal Hill we’re measuring more campaigns that go beyond the typical 30s pre-roll or 60s mid-roll, into custom brand integrations. These include branded segments, sponsored bonus episodes and mini-series, as well as fully branded podcasts.
Interestingly, we’re also tackling more multi-channel campaigns. With the rise of video podcasting, it should be no surprise that campaigns are leveraging it alongside audio, sometimes differentiating the ad creative to leverage each medium’s particular strengths. Social integrations also are being included, demonstrating how podcasters and hosts are serious participants in the creator economy. Brand lift is a superpower for gauging that cross-channel brand impact.
What are the podcast advertising trends you see? Let us know how we can help you measure your most innovative and challenging strategies, and prove their ROI.
