ICYMI: Digital Breakfast 2021 Highlights and Insights

Last Wednesday, Collective Measures hosted its annual Digital Breakfast event to discuss and reflect on the state of the marketing world and considerations to prepare marketers for what the future may have in store.

The past two years have shifted expectations and values, media consumption habits, and rewired consumers. The pandemic disrupted nearly every facet of our lives. Together, we navigated the unknown, stumbled, and got right back up. And most importantly, we learned as marketers and as consumers. Now we’re ready to navigate these shifts. As we head into 2022, marketers must prepare for another year of agility and evolution. We’ve boiled it down to five key takeaways as we move forward, together.

1. Cast a wider net through the funnel

As data privacy continues to gain traction among big tech and in legislative bodies around the world, platforms and data availability have been drastically impacted, traditional targeting tactics have been rendered outdated and ineffective. Marketers must reframe their approach to targeting to an action-first approach:

• Focus on what people are doing, rather than who they are
• Target audiences most willing to take an action at a cost that’s affordable to the business
• Let the data inform a marketing mix and optimizations that allow your brand to show up where it matters and drive maximum performance

2. Get to know your audience through data

Once your brand has shifted its approach to targeting, let the data guide you to ensure your media efforts are efficiently driving results for your brand.

• Use data to learn about what your new audience segments are doing, thinking, and feeling to understand media consumption, the information they seek, and how they experience and engage with your brand.
• Apply those insights to craft and optimize targeting, your media mix, content, and positive user experience throughout their user journey to ultimately driver performance.

3. Prioritize a value exchange

With data privacy measures on the rise and third-party cookies on their way out, first-party data will be necessary to effectively market in the future. And now that users have more awareness, choices, and control over how they share their data and who they share it with, it is essential to create a value exchange in order to collect audience data, both in-app and on-site:

• Offer an incentive or unique benefit for users to provide first-party data.
• Deliver on user expectations by creating and delivering experiences equivalent to the effort and value of the data users provide.

4. Create an authentic culture of belonging

Following two years of ups and downs, consumers’ values and expectations have evolved. To foster connection and establish loyalty, brands must seek to understand audience perception, emotion, and intent. Throughout the consumer journey:

• Create messaging and experiences that authentically and accurately reflect your audience’s feelings.
• Welcome, celebrate, and cherish your audiences to foster a sense of belonging through connection.

5. Lean into automation

Data is disappearing. And in the future, automation will be required in order to succeed in a privacy-first ecosystem. Test and learn new, automated optimization strategies to drive performance:

• Leverage machine learning and marketing automation tools to future-proof your marketing strategies, fill measurement gaps, accelerate testing, and inform audience targeting while maintaining efficiency.
• Technology is still better with the human touch: use automation to boost efficiency and give more time for human-led optimization.

Have additional questions or ideas you’d like to discuss with Collective Measures? Connect with your Account Manager or email us at info@collectivemeasures.com.