GUEST COMMENT Summer is Coming – time to get your marketing ready

“Summer is coming”… and although we’re not expecting flaming dragons and vicious battles for the throne, we are entering the time of year where consumers will be spending more time outdoors, occupied with a variety of summer activities – from exciting adrenaline-pumping adventures to relaxing exotic beach vacations. Consumers are generally happier at this time of the year (I’d hope…) and believe it or not, spend just a bit less time buried in their phones.

So, what does this mean for marketers who are looking to maximize on their summer campaigns?

It means that consumers are surrounded by temptations and distractions that shorten the already short-as-it-is attention span. It means that brands will be fighting over consumer attention as they turn to platforms like Instagram to post their summer shenanigans.  

Therefore, it means that marketers must BE RELEVANT, BE EVERYWHERE and STAND OUT in their summer campaigns.

Here are the action items and tips that will maximize the impact of your summer campaigns.

Let’s start with defining what we are trying to achieve. What does “Be Relevant”, “Be Everywhere”, and to “Stand Out” even mean?

“Be Relevant”means to deliver an ad experience with the most appealing and interesting content personalized for each individual consumer. One size does not fit all. Leverage the data- you have to personalize, target, and gain interest. Personalize based on the preferences and interests of each consumer who views the ad – from the products they are interested in, to the best offer that will entice them, their location, and maybe even the current weather and time of day – all to provide a real time and relevant experience that resonates with them. Be warned- if it doesn’t – they move (most likely scroll) on.

“Be Everywhere”means that you should be able to deliver your ad experiences on any channel, platform and device in which your target consumers are. You need an omnichannel solution that can provide  both the creative automation required to be across all channels, with any ad size desired, and at the same time deliver the most personalized experience required to be relevant. In the summer, your focus should be on reaching your consumers on their mobile devices, leveraging social video (especially Instagram Stories), YouTube and Over-the-Top (OTT). In short, be where your consumers are.

“Stand Out” means overcome the constantly growing media clutter (especially on social platforms), and the unavoidable outburst of summer advertisements consumers are about to experience. Your creative execution should grab attention and provide experiences that fit the pace, patience (or lack of) and interests of the consumers. There is no way to figure out the right formula as you launch the campaign, therefore A/B testing plays a crucial role by quickly funneling down and optimizing on what works best.

Now, that have you have the big picture pillars that are critical to follow, how do you tactically put them in place to activate your summer campaigns?  Here are the Top 5 most important tips to achieve the above and maximize the outcome of your summer campaigns:

The first frame is crucial- especially on mobile!

• It is all about stopping that thumb from scrolling. According to a studyby Neurons Inc. for the Mobile Marketing Association, mobile ads trigger consumers’ emotional reactions in less than half a second. For the 67% of mobile ads tested, it only took consumers 400 milliseconds to have an emotional response.

• Audio Matters
  • Viewers are watching Instagram stories with sound on. Ads should be prepared to catch consumers by the “eyes” and “ears.”
  • Make sure the audio, whether a voice over narrative or just music, relates to the story you’re trying to tell. Don’t use the audio element to grab attention – that can only back-fire on the whole experience you’re trying to deliver.
• Stand Out the RIGHT WAY! – Don’t Overproduce, especially with Instagram Stories
  • Instagram Stories blend in with user-generated content. If your spot is overly stylized and produced, it will stick out in all the wrong ways, seem as if it was an interruption, and get skipped!
  • Success can no longer be judged by the money spent on an ad. It is about smart spending on scalable, cross-channel creative that delivers the right message at the right time, the right way.
• Repurpose, do not cut and paste
  • Ads created for TV must be fine-tuned to the channel that they will be shown on – particularly those designed for mobile devices.
• Personalization is crucial! To do it right – You must utilize data!
  • According to a study by Clinch, Sixty-four percent of consumers are comfortable with brands collecting some form of data to have a more relevant personalized ad experience.

Personalization helps generate and establish real connections with consumers –  they more likely to notice, remember, and respond to content that fits within their lifestyle, preferences, and impulses. Make sure your data is organized, accessible, and usable. It is the key to any ad experience execution in order to have a significant impact. Summer shouldn’t be a marketing wasteland. It’s an opportunity to develop stronger customer relationships, taking advantage of the warm weather, sunny attitude and creativity that the season brings.

Author

Oz Etzioni is CEO and Co-Founder of Clinch. Etzioni founded Clinch to take advantage of the explosive growth in programmatic and address the need for data-driven video creative. Etzioni previously helped to form and lead the user experience and innovation department at MRM, part of McCann World Group in NYC.