Channel Mix. Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies

Transcription

1 Channel Mix Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies

2 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Digital marketing gets more complicated each year. With more channels, stronger competitors and increasingly fickle customers, figuring out where to push your products and how to allocate your budget can seem like a guessing game. Experimentation ends up being vital to your business s success. The key is establishing a digital marketing infrastructure that gives you the agility to experiment with different mixes of channels and allows you to make informed decisions about where to allocate your next digital advertising dollar. To generate traffic to your website and build brand awareness, a digital marketing strategy is essential. A well-honed strategy should help guide your decisions on budget, reach and goals for your business. In this ebook, we ll walk you through the five stages of building the foundation of your digital marketing strategy: Establish your e-commerce goals. Develop a series of metrics for measuring success. Experiment with your channel mix. Measure, measure and measure again. Repeat. If you re serious about digital marketing and you should be it s worth considering an e-commerce platform provider like ChannelAdvisor to help you find the perfect channel mix, sell more products and maximize your ad budget.

3 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Before You Start: Embrace Diversification Digital marketing is a broad umbrella that encompasses so much more than it used to. Text ads, product ads, comparison shopping engines (CSEs), organic/natural search, social media, retargeting networks, affiliates and display ads are just the broad strokes. You ll need a healthy mix of all these digital marketing channels if you want to stay relevant. Like any financial advisor will tell you, when it comes to your future, it pays to diversify. Digital marketing is driven by consumers. You re constantly searching for them, and their behavior influenced by new technology, devices and other trends is constantly evolving. You don t want to be left scratching your head when, say, all the revenue from your paid search text ads suddenly dries up because the demographic for your set of products has moved to a social media site like Pinterest to shop. It s the same reason you wouldn t want your entire product catalog on a single marketplace you don t want to lose your primary revenue stream if something changes. Luckily, most retailers already understand the importance of multichannel e-commerce. What s harder is figuring out how to best allocate advertising budgets among different channels. The first step in maximizing your digital dollar starts with setting goals for your marketing campaigns and your business.

4 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Set Your Goals It sounds simple, but your digital marketing strategies are directly determined by your business goals financial goals and brand goals. Sure, everyone wants to sell more products and make more money. But that s too broad. And too unfocused. While one primary goal might be to drive sales, you should also have supplementary goals that contribute to it. For example, your goals in order of importance could be to: Drive conversions Build brand awareness Acquire new customers Drive local store visits Chances are, you want all of these things, but you don t have unlimited resources to focus on everything at all times. Be realistic. Set goals that are easy to measure and goals that reflect the short- and long-term strategy of your business. You have a roadmap to digital marketing success, and these goals serve as guideposts or benchmarks. And as you study your conversion metrics along the way, you can update or tweak your goals to help get you where you want to go. Be specific. Make sure all your goals are specific and each one is customized to an individual channel. For example, maybe you want a stronger social media presence. While accurate, this goal is vague and not useful. It should be much more clear-cut and quantifiable, such as: Add X new followers on Twitter this quarter. Be time conscious. Give yourself a timeline to reach each of your goals. That doesn t mean you can t adjust your strategy as you go, because you should. Establishing deadlines simply sets expectations and gives a framework to your strategy. Creating a clear set of realistic, specific goals for each digital channel in a set timeframe is an important initial step. But these goals are merely dreams unless you have a way of measuring and learning from them.

5 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Measure Your Goals There are several common metrics you can use to determine the success of your digital marketing strategies and whether they re helping you achieve your goals. These key performance indicators (KPIs) will help you flesh out, analyze and revise your strategies. Return on ad spend (ROAS) Effective revenue share (ERS) Cost per order (CPO) measure advertising effectiveness. The simple the same numbers ad spend and revenue CPA) is best used when the value of each ROAS is a common method retailers use to ROAS formula tells you how much revenue return you re getting in multiples of ad dollars spent. ERS is a similar measurement as ROAS, using but dividing them inversely. This metric converts them to a percentage that s more in line with how you might measure affiliate commission rates or marketplace take rates. CPO (also known as cost per acquisition or conversion is similar or identical. For instance, if you re measuring conversions for a user completing a form on your website, then each conversion would have the same value. Just as you should have separate budgets for separate digital channels and specific goals for each channel you should use separate metrics for each one as well. Each channel represents a different type of consumer demand or demand state and your KPIs will vary as a result. 5

6 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Determine Where to Advertise You ve embraced a diversified approach, set your goals and decided on your metrics. Now where do you sell? To determine your channels effectively, you need to put yourself in the mindset of the consumer. You spend so much time thinking about the specifics of the channel program terms, tactics, sales numbers but how much time do you spend thinking about how buyers interact with that channel? From their side of the computer screen, tablet or phone? Consumers are obviously not all the same, and their demand state reflects how you should target them. Sometimes they re actively searching for products like yours, and you need to target them while they re interested. But most times, those consumers aren t spending their online time actively shopping for products. During these times, you ll need to target them differently and entice them back into the shopping process. It s the difference between intentional demand and latent demand that helps determine your channel mix. INTENTIONAL DEMAND LATENT DEMAND PAID SEARCH SHOPPING PRODUCT ADS DISPLAY RETARGETING SOCIAL AFFILIATES Intentional demand channels are used to meet the consumer who is explicitly searching for a product. Latent demand channels reach consumers who have shown some previous interest in a product or type of product but aren t actively searching at the moment. You can think of these categories as the difference between a consumer who s in the market for a product and one who s actually in the store shopping for it. Fortunately, ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing has plenty of features that can help you reach consumers, wherever they are in the shopping process.

7 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Intentional Demand 1. Paid Search Paid search targets consumers who are actively looking for something that you re selling. Where else can you advertise to potential buyers who have told you specifically what they re looking for? In addition to experimenting with different keywords, make sure you also bid on long tail keywords these are highly targeted, cheaper and more likely to convert. ChannelAdvisor s Inventory Driven Search feature automates long tail keyword creation based on your existing inventory data. PAID SEARCH 2. Shopping Have great prices and looking to target the bargain hunters out there? Comparison shopping engines (CSEs) are the best place to reach consumers who are actively comparing offers on products you sell. Many CSEs also pay to have their listings show up on the Google search engine results page (SERP) in text ads, so there s a good chance you ll get some additional advertising. 3. Product Ads Like paid search, product ads are an extremely effective channel to reach customers who have a clear idea of what they re looking for and are actively searching for it. The visuals included in product ads are a bonus and can help your products catch the eye of a shopper quickly scanning a screen. Additionally, Google s new Shopping campaigns, fully supported by ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing, give retailers more control over their Product Listing Ad (PLA) bids than ever before. SHOPPING PRODUCT ADS

8 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Latent Demand 1. Retargeting By sending your data feed to retargeting providers, you can direct your ads at the slightly-more-than-casual shoppers who haven t decided to buy from you yet (but who you re hoping will change their minds). Maybe you got a nibble from a consumer who clicked through your site, and you re trying to get their attention again. Sometimes retailers will use promotions to sweeten the deal, as well as targeted ad copy like Come back! or You left something in your bag! RETARGETING 2. Display Purchasing display ads for your company on other websites is a useful way to keep your brand visible and alive in consumers minds while they re between purchases. Determining where to put these ads is key and driven by the customer you re trying to reach and where they usually spend their time online. 3. Affiliates Affiliate sites target consumers with interests related to what you sell. These consumers like to browse and might only need a gentle nudge to step back into the shopping cycle. They may peruse your affiliate s daily deal site on a regular basis looking for something in your product category that catches their eye. When the urge to buy strikes, you need to make sure your products are there. 4. Social Social media is an inexpensive and effective way to start a conversation with people generally interested in what you sell. Not only can you promote sale prices or special events, it s a way to keep directly in touch with consumers. You can use social media to determine which products spark interest and/or conversation and which products people are complaining about. Take the valuable information gleaned through social media and repurpose it throughout your other digital marketing channels. DISPLAY AFFILIATES SOCIAL With ChannelAdvisor s streamlined, feed-based technology, it s easy to adapt your channel mix to focus on any of these channels. Now you can send your product data feed virtually anywhere. Latent demand or intentional demand: It doesn t matter. Wherever the customer is, your products can be there.

9 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Channel Mix Scenarios To give some context as to how a retailer might employ these channel strategies in their digital marketing campaigns, we ve posed some hypothetical scenarios. Keep in mind that these are just examples and shouldn t be taken as the perfect strategy for every business. Each retailer is different and will require a constant recalibration of their digital strategy. The key is continuously measuring, analyzing and adjusting your strategy to find what works best for you and what helps you achieve your goals. Digital Marketing Mix Example 1: Well-Known Apparel Retailer 0% 10% 20% 30% Business Profile Both online and brick-and-mortar stores Strong presence on social media Roughly 40,000 SKUs Strong, recognizable brand name Scenario 1 Goals Generate more sales. Raise awareness of the brand and new product lines. Drive local traffic to stores. Text Ads Product Ads Shopping Organic Search Social Retargeting Affiliates Display First, let s say the retailer, as a primary goal, wants to focus their strategy on driving sales for the foreseeable future. They might concentrate most of their advertising efforts on intentional demand, such as text ads and product ads, targeting those consumers who are actively searching for products like theirs.

10 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Scenario 2 Goals Generate more sales. Raise awareness of the brand and new product lines. Drive local traffic to stores. In the second scenario, this same retailer wants to focus on getting their brand name out there, as well as making consumers aware of their new product lines. They might allocate most of their efforts to a strong social campaign, as well as display ads and even retargeting. Text Ads Product Ads Shopping Organic Search Digital Marketing Mix 0% 10% 20% 30% Social Retargeting Affiliates Display Text Ads Product Ads Shopping Organic Search Social Retargeting Affiliates Display Digital Marketing Mix 0% 10% 20% 30% Scenario 3 Goals Generate more sales. Raise awareness of the brand and new product lines. Drive local traffic to stores. In the third scenario, the same hypothetical retailer wants to focus on driving traffic into their resellers stores. They ll want to frame their strategy around intentional demand with a strong core strategy of text ads and product ads and splitting the budget fairly evenly among the remaining channels.

11 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Example 2: Mid-Size Retailer Business Profile Most sales generated through marketplaces Very little brand awareness or social presence Relatively new website Roughly 80,000 SKUs Goal Drive web sales on a budget. In this scenario, a mid-market retailer wants to drive sales but doesn t have the budget for much else. Strengthening the brand name isn t a concern at the moment, so they might allocate very little to no budget to social media or display ads. Much of the budget is weighted toward channels that reflect intentional demand paid search, product ads, comparison shopping and natural search engine results. Text Ads Product Ads Shopping Organic Search Social Retargeting Affiliates Display Digital Marketing Mix 0% 10% 20% 30%

12 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Example 3: Consumer Brand Manufacturer Going Direct Digital Marketing Mix Business Profile Brand manufacturer selling directly to consumers Strong presence on social media Roughly 4,000 SKUs Strong brand name Scenario 1 Goals Generate direct-to-consumer web sales. Control brand message. Text Ads Product Ads Shopping Organic Search Social Retargeting Affiliates Display 0% 10% 20% 30% For a final example, let s say a consumer brand manufacturer is experimenting with selling directly to consumers. Initially, they ve decided to focus on driving sales on their website. Relying on their strong brand name, they allow most of the traffic to come through organic search results. The rest of their budget is spread pretty evenly across the remaining channels, with the exception of social media and display ads, which don t directly contribute to their primary goal. Digital Marketing Mix Text Ads Product Ads Shopping Organic Search Social Retargeting Affiliates Display 0% 10% 20% 30% Scenario 2 Goals Generate direct-to-consumer web sales. Control brand message. In the final scenario, this consumer brand manufacturer wants to focus on controlling their brand message, while leaving most of their sales to third-party resellers and distributors. This strategy is the inverse of the strategy in Scenario 1, so naturally the budget allocated to each channel has flipped. They ll focus on social media and display ads two areas of latent demand.

13 Channel Mix: Finding the Perfect Blend of Advertising Strategies Find the Right Mix for Your Success Channel mix varies for each business, and you need the capability to do it all with minimal effort. ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing provides the agility you need to execute and measure your digital marketing strategies. We provide the tools, the data and the options for you to keep experimenting with your channel mix until you find what works best for you, your business and your vertical. All you provide is the inventory data feed. ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing is specifically tailored for retailers, offering in-depth automation, mobile optimization, channel synchronization and SKU-level reporting and analysis. Whether it s through Google PLAs, comparison shopping engines, paid search, affiliate marketing, retargeting or other digital marketing channels, we ll help you find the right combination for your products from a single platform. Your business. Our platform. One perfect mix. For more information on ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing and how we can help you achieve your e-commerce goals, info@channeladvisor.com. Trust us. Be Seen. To learn more: Call UK AU Visit info@channeladvisor.com The global standard for e-commerce leaders. Copyright 2014 ChannelAdvisor Corporation. All rights reserved.