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BNQ Digital

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The business case for marketing balance

The business case for marketing balance

In late May, the U.S. military airlifted 70,000 pounds of baby formula from Europe to the U.S. to help with the national shortage. 

It was another troubling development in what has become a national supply-chain crisis that’s still affecting everything from cars to semiconductors to lumber. And that’s a problem for marketers focused on lower-funnel initiatives when products may not be available anytime soon. Should they continue executing conversion-oriented tactics when supply is low, they risk losing trust when consumers realize the brand can’t deliver on what’s been advertised. 

This current issue will eventually settle down. However, it offers a lesson that’s applicable no matter what the global supply chain looks like: Focusing on long-term brand building is just as important as short-term sales.

In tough economic times, it can be tempting to double down on immediate revenue wins. Even though it may seem counter-intuitive, now is exactly when you should be investing in your top-of-funnel marketing. 

Just as the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute has long argued, awareness (or “mental availability”) is the best path to customer acquisition. After all, who’s going to purchase your product when they’ve never heard about it in the first place? And with more people shopping online, and with the virtual shelf being infinitely longer than the one at your local grocery store, there’s more competition to beat out. 

Brand awareness is critical. On average, a 1-point gain in brand metrics such as awareness and consideration drives a 1% increase in future sales, according to Nielsen’s research. 

Plus, Americans these days are especially open to trying new products. U.S. consumers say that 12.1% of their online purchases involve a brand they hadn’t purchased before. And, even if you don’t have any inventory to sell at the moment, you can slightly tweak your lower-funnel activities to further strengthen your brand awareness and consideration.

For example, consider replacing a “Buy Now” call to action button with one that says “Sign Up for the Waitlist.” By adding customers to an email database, marketers can automatically provide updates when sought-after products are back in stock, as well as target them with other brand-building messages or even pique their interest in another set of products. 

In this way, you shouldn’t see the two parts of your funnel as at odds. Even when you’re focusing on the long-term health of your brand, both approaches work together to ultimately drive revenue.

Of course, building a strategy that effectively tackles both objectives isn’t always straightforward. Channels that are great for promoting brand equity may not be ideal for driving sales, and vice versa. Marketers need to measure the impacts of both objectives to ensure their full-funnel efforts strike just the right balance.

Of course, building a strategy that effectively tackles both objectives isn’t always straightforward. Channels that are great for promoting brand equity may not be ideal for driving sales, and vice versa. Marketers need to measure the impacts of both objectives to ensure their full-funnel efforts strike just the right balance.

For more insights on how to grow brand and sales together, visit Nielsen’s Full Funnel Hub.

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Brands are tracking hashtags to find engaged audiences

Brands are tracking hashtags to find engaged audiences

Social media platforms have experienced impressive user and engagement growth the past few years, and many brands are spending big on social, turning to influencers to make more personal (and profitable) connections with consumers. In fact, global marketers say they plan to increase their spend on social media by 53% in the next year, more than any other channel.

While social media influencers are engaging audiences across all platforms, their presence has gained traction relatively quickly on relative newcomer TikTok. According to Nielsen InfluenceScope, which measures social media influencers, the video-sharing platform has overtaken social media veteran Instagram in popularity for Micro (10K-50K followers), Mid (50K-100K), Macro (100K-1M) and Mega (>1M) influencer representation. 

And, given the shift toward shorter videos and vertical formats, TikTok influencers have an enviable engagement rate: 10.25% of the platform’s creators have an engagement rate of more than 20%, compared with 6.15% for Instagram and 3% for YouTube.

All of this engagement can mean big opportunities for brands that choose the right influencer. According to the Q1 2022 norms data from Nielsen’s Brand Impact research, influencer ads in the U.S. drove a nine-point increase in both brand affinity and purchase intent relative to consumers who did not see the influencer ads. And to find the perfect audience for their influencer ads, marketers are tracking hashtags.

The hashtag #BookTok, for instance, is one of the more popular hashtags on TikTok, garnering 59 billion views. BookTok features a variety of content for readers and writers, but its most popular—and influential—videos are book reviews. Popular BookTok reviewer @thecalvinbooks, for example, has over 500,000 followers and an engagement rate of 10%—three times higher than the average influencers with a similar follower base on TikTok. 

Readers are flocking to BookTok to get recommendations from their favorite influencers, and these influencers can have a big impact on book sales for brands who tap into their highly-engaged—and younger—followers. BookTok audiences are overwhelmingly Gen Z, with nearly two-thirds (65%) of the audience aged 18-24 years old. 

And when it comes to maximizing the impact of influencers, age isn’t just a number for these young readers. Finding an influencer that appeals to Gen Z audiences is key for brands wanting meaningful interactions.

In April, Disney partnered with TikTok creators to promote “Bravely,” a written sequel to its hit movie Brave. To engage with its target audience of Gen Z readers, Disney collaborated with influencers who appeal to younger readers. Melissa Becraft, for example, has a follower count over 1.1 million, making her one of the most influential creators in the campaign. Her video promoting the novel garnered approximately 18K views and more than 1.5K interactions, with 55% of views reaching the target Gen Z audience. 

With the abundance of influencers crowding the social media landscape, it can be difficult for marketers to connect their brand with a personality that resonates with their specific audience. But, by combining platform data, influencer insights and audience behavior, marketers can take a data-driven approach to their influencer marketing strategies that drives engagement—and ROI. 

For additional insights, download Building better connections: Using influencers to grow your brand

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