For digital marketers, the last couple of years has been unique and important. Access to customer data is slowly becoming more and more limited with IOS14 changes and browsers killing the 3rd party cookie. GDPR and other laws are becoming stricter with no signs of this trend slowing. Turns out this has been for a good reason, as we have come to value our personal data and privacy. One could view these changes as an opportunity to approach their marketing campaign with a fresh set of eyes.
Investing solely in tactics that rely on aggregate data is becoming riskier and more expensive. Focusing only on highly optimized last-touch advertising and tools to maximize CPC is no longer the main focus. Marketers need to look at long-term brand building and connecting with their target audience during each step of the customer journey.
They need to create a marketing campaign that has their customers eager to see what valuable content they will put out next. Not only is this strategy better for the long-term, but it’s also the best way to collect first-party data, making your continued marketing future-proof.
- To start, your organization should have an owned channel with top-notch content, such as a blog, podcast, or newsletter. Companies can’t place their bets solely on ever-changing algorithms tied to only a few marketing platforms (PPC, social media, etc.) These tactic choices are effective and necessary in tandem with premier content, but gone are the days when they’re the only focus. That doesn’t mean that we should stop investing in PPC, social media, or display. These are necessary channels for our customers to find us, and we must create a journey that turns these visitors into fans of our content and brand.
- Marketers should strive to create an audience that they can reach whenever they want. The information they’re sharing needs to resonate with their target audience, so they find it useful and come back for more. These are customers that have followed your podcast, added your YouTube channel to their favorites, and have subscribed to your weekly newsletter. These customers are 10x more important to your bottom line than a few more likes on Instagram or shares on Facebook.
- After creating the customer journey, marketers should focus on first-party data collection. This will help weatherproof your company against government regulations and platform changes. Collecting first-party data allows for marketing automation. You can segment your audience once you collect data about them, send them customized messaging, and identify which will become long-term customers. You can also use this first-party data to create look-a-like audiences in different paid platforms to reach new, highly qualified customers. Collecting first-party data from your audiences is imperative to tailoring your messaging to be both engaging and useful, and moving your customers along each step of the buyers’ journey.
Want to discuss how an effective paid media campaign can complement your content marketing strategy? Reach out. We value conversation –– and we’re all ears.