With Google and Facebook’s single-walled gardens making it difficult to measure marketing strategy effectiveness, following a media funnel from beginning to end is more important than ever. In part one of a two-part series, five LA growth marketing professionals explained exactly how they track their spend and why doing so matters.
“A 15-second ad now needs to do the same amount of heavy lifting as a 60-second ad,” said MeUndies Growth Strategy Manager Meagan Yip.
Yip uses data to inform her decision-making. She recommended enabling event tracking so that machine learning algorithms can learn user behavior to optimize growth.
John Liu, director of growth at GreenPark Sports, believes that growth marketing will lean more heavily on creative execution in years to come. Luckily for these brands, that’s already a big focus. Other trends they’re watching closely? Full-funnel approaches and the resurgence of SMS marketing.
FabFitFun’s Vanessa Landivar is very aware of the small window all brands have to make an impression. The senior manager of acquisition marketing recommends taking a full-funnel approach to any media-buying strategy.
What growth marketing trends are you watching in the year ahead and why do you think these trends will be important?
There is no one-size-fits-all recipe for success. The landscape is constantly shifting and requires us to consistently put innovation ahead of reactivity. From the emergence of niche social platforms like Reddit, Quora and TikTok to streaming wars among the entertainment studios and increased demand for CTV or OTT players like Roku, Hulu and beyond, the bid for a user’s attention transcends any vanity cost per mille. Once we win the impression, we have a small but mighty window to win the conversion, so content is king.
Make sure your media-buying strategy measures incremental lift.’’
What are some simple steps product and marketing pros can take to start leveraging these trends in their work?
Our mission is to deliver happiness and well-being to everyone, everywhere. We do that by starting with a personalized shopping experience. In an age where consumption is evolving more rapidly than ever before, employing a tailored creative strategy that leans on quenching a thirst for knowledge, discovery and entertainment is key.
Make sure your media-buying strategy measures incremental lift. By focusing on a full-funnel approach across our media mix, we are able to increase reach and conversions, ultimately leading toward brand affinity, loyalty and retention.
At MeUndies, the entire team takes a consumer mindset before launching creative marketing initiatives. This exercise begins with employees imagining a customer initially seeing an ad and ends as they consider them opening their shipped product. Growth Strategy Manager Meagan Yip recommends other product and marketing professionals incorporate creative thinking into the sales funnel as soon as possible.
What growth marketing trends are you watching in the year ahead?
Two trends come to mind: machine learning and incorporating creativity throughout the sales funnel. Many advertising platforms are integrating machine learning into every part of marketing. Whether machine learning is integrated for more accurate targeting, smarter bidding or better recommendation engines, technology-empowered decision-making will give brands an advantage over their competition.
Additionally, the digital and mobile revolution continues to alter consumers’ purchase journey. Brands must communicate cohesive messaging and compelling “reasons to believe” in a short period of time. A 15-second ad now needs to do the same amount of heavy lifting as a 60-second ad.
A 15-second ad now needs to do the same amount of heavy lifting as a 60-second ad.’’
What are some simple steps product and marketing pros can take to start leveraging these trends in their work?
Collect quality data to inform decision-making. Invest in solid data infrastructure and event tracking. If your site events are not tracking or not sending proper signals for the machine learning algorithms to learn user behavior, you won’t be able to optimize your growth goals.
At MeUndies, the marketing, analytics and digital product teams work collaboratively to ensure proper set up, QA and tracking to the best of our ability. Additionally, we collaborate closely with our brand and creative teams for cohesive, full-funnel campaigns.
Fandango CMO Lori Pantel recommends growth marketers refine the one-on-one relationship established with a consumer as part of their performance marketing approach to advertising. Prior to Fandango, Pantel spent over a decade at Mattel, where she led branding efforts and digital strategy execution across the entire portfolio.
What growth marketing trends are you watching in the year ahead?
Continuing to refine and watch all elements of performance marketing will be even more important as we continue with KPI-driven activities. It’s a challenge for many brands to measure true effectiveness past the walled gardens of platforms like Google and Facebook. More and more companies are jumping at the chance to build direct-to-consumer opportunities. Beware; this is harder than it looks. Brands must be authentic and nurture the consumer relationship.
Companies must be acutely aware of the competitive landscape. Don’t assume that someone who was once a loyal customer will always be a loyal customer. Consumers are looking for more from businesses. Switching costs are not as high as they once were. Focus not only on new consumer acquisition, but also on retention.
Don’t assume that someone who was once a loyal customer will always be a loyal customer.’’
What are some simple steps product and marketing pros can take to start leveraging these trends in their work?
I think this is a continually evolving space and continuous learning is key. Ask questions and never be afraid to admit you don’t understand. Surround yourself with smart talent and lean on partners. Find peers from other industries and learn about what they are doing and facing.
In terms of loyalty/retention, it’s important for marketers to really understand what motivates their customer base. Ensure you are delivering on the elements that are most meaningful while balancing economics.
John Liu, director of growth at GreenPark Sports, takes a scientific approach to marketing. Liu tries to understand his customer base as clearly as possible before making any final strategy decisions. Another differentiator that’s worked for him? Doubling down on what works best.
What growth marketing trends are you watching in the year ahead?
Ad networks continue to take control away from advertisers as more and more is driven by automated, machine learning-based systems powered by data within a single-walled garden. Combined with ever-mounting scrutiny on data privacy, growth marketing will lean more heavily on creative execution and the ability to understand and manipulate these ad network algorithms. Retention will also continue to become ever more important to growth as net new users become more difficult to acquire.
The secret to successful marketing continues to be a scientific approach to testing and experimentation.’’
What are some simple steps product and marketing pros can take to start leveraging these trends in their work?
The secret to successful marketing continues to be a scientific approach to testing and experimentation. Make sure you have a strong theory of who your customers are, their segmented needs and how your product serves those needs. Develop marketing messages and hypotheses based on that understanding and test your hypotheses in the market. Take those learnings and double down on what’s been successful and resonant and update your hypotheses accordingly. Continually refine your understanding of your business while driving your bottom-line growth and acquisition goals, leading to ongoing growth.
In 2019 the average person spent just over three hours a day on their phone, according to productivity software company RescueTime. Conversmart Managing Director Arri Bagah keeps this in mind when helping clients reach potential customers. And he has a few tips for other growth marketers looking to do the same.
What growth marketing trends are you watching in the year ahead?
The resurgence of SMS marketing. For over 15 years, brands had the ability to text their customers. And most did not because they were either afraid of the regulations around SMS or of annoying their customers. Historically, brands have to be where the consumer is. If the average consumer is spending most of their time inside messaging apps, brands should reach them there. Because SMS marketing is regulated, it’s a much better experience for the end consumer. Brands now have the ability to reach their customers directly using text messaging. And many of our clients at Conversmart are generating six to seven figures in incremental revenue through SMS alone.
Send content that is relevant and timely.’’
What are some simple steps product and marketing pros can take to start leveraging these trends in their work?
If you are collecting emails on your e-commerce site, offer your customers the ability to subscribe using a phone number as well. Make sure to check with a lawyer to ensure opt-in compliance. From there, send content that is relevant and timely. Keep it short, causal and use GIFs to keep the user’s attention and increase conversions. Lastly, if you have promotions, send them to your subscribers.
