advertising

Advertising During COVID-19: What the Stats Show Us

an ad on a phone during covid-19 pandemic

Globally, and throughout every aspect of daily life, the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has had a dramatic and tragic impact. As the coronavirus pandemic continues, there’s much uncertainty about the future of businesses of all sizes, from the largest movie theater chain to the smallest corner coffee shop. As large parts of society shut down, and individuals and families attempt to deal with the catastrophic loss of life, stability and normalcy begin to seem like foreign concepts. 

As we stand at the precipice of economic disaster, business owners, marketers, and everyone else find themselves wondering just how they’re supposed to conduct their business and make it through. Advertising during the coronavirus pandemic has become a tricky prospect, as businesses want to minimize expenditures while simultaneously holding onto as much revenue as possible. 

Only by looking at the ways that the coronavirus has affected media consumption and consumer behavior in the United States can advertisers hope to make informed, beneficial decisions that will enable their businesses to survive this disaster. To that end, we’ve collected data and statistics meant to provide a directional insight and up-to-date information regarding media habits during the pandemic. 

Television

At the start of the pandemic, governors and mayors around the country issued stay at home orders designed to slow the spread of the virus. Naturally, as many people adjusted to staying at home, the amount of television they watched increased significantly. In fact, 39% of consumers report watching an increased amount of TV since the start of the outbreak (1). Cable TV has increased 11% while broadcast TV has increased 18%. Of those who are currently watching an increased amount of broadcast TV, 63% say they will continue to do so after the outbreak (2). 

Outside of cable and broadcast TV, streaming services are seeing significant increases as well. Binge-watching behavior has increased by 20%. CBS Interactive reports a 19% lift in streams and an 18% increase in minutes streamed, meaning that more people are watching and, on average, they’re watching for longer periods of time. In fact, Americans are streaming an average of 8 hours of content a day during the safer-at-home mandate (3). These increases present an opportunity for companies that advertise on TV or on streaming services to maintain awareness.

Social Media

Much like television, social media sites are seeing significant increases in activity and engagement as more people are staying at home. 

According to Facebook, 63% of users say they are more active since the outbreak of COVID-19 (4). For businesses making difficult decisions about where to invest their budgets, advertising during coronavirus on Facebook is a great way to stay engaged with their target audiences. However, Facebook isn’t the only social media platform that’s seeing increases. The neighborhood/community social media platform Nextdoor reports user engagement up 80% (5). In response, Nextdoor is introducing new features to keep users engaged and active, including Help Maps and Groups.

On Pinterest, people are breaking usage records and have increased their searches for things like lesson plans, kids’ crafts, new recipes, and gardening ideas (6.) Some social media companies are using increases in use and engagement to raise awareness. For example, Snap partnered with the World Health Organization to introduce a special filter with COVID-19 safety tips and guidelines to their 218 million active daily users (7). 

Advertising during coronavirus on social media presents an opportunity to stay top-of-mind with customers that may pay dividends down the line. A reported 86% of consumers say they feel better about a company’s commitment to products and services when they advertise in a recession. (8)

The increase in social media use can also be attributed, at least partly, to the Black Lives Matter protests and demonstrations. Organizers and attendees alike rely on social media to organize events and spread the word. Brands should be especially thoughtful in their approach and message when advertising in this climate, as COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protests are top of mind for most social media users. 

Search

The coronavirus pandemic has also changed the way people are using search. In both paid and natural search, search volume is increasing with less intent to convert. In other words, there are more searches taking place, but they’re not leading directly to revenue. This can be explained in part by the way people are using search. Without the ability to window shop, and the inclination to take unnecessary trips out of the house, people are turning to search to gather information more than ever before. For example, grocery stores are seeing a big increase in search volume, with the biggest increases in online grocery delivery and curbside pickup. Unfortunately, for many brick-and-mortar businesses, this increase in search volume and online traffic hasn’t completely offset the losses caused by stores being closed. 

The largest search volume increases have been for essential items such as hand sanitizer, toilet paper, etc. As people turn to search to learn how they can get their needs met, there is a lot of opportunity for businesses to connect in ways they haven’t before. Google is trying to facilitate these changes, as well, by introducing organic shopping ads so businesses can directly sell their products to customers without paying to advertise. Still, many advertisers are noting between a 10-25% decrease in conversion rates while advertising during coronavirus.

Pay Attention to Changes 

The international health pandemic caused by the spread of COVID-19 is ushering in many changes for businesses around the world. How you respond to these changes is crucial to ensuring not only long-term survival but long-term success. Hopefully, by focusing on changes in media consumption in areas like television, social media, and search, you will be able to shepherd your business through these trying times. We’re here to help. 

 

 

  1.  Global Index Coronavirus Research (April 2020); Spectrum Reach (April 2020)
  2.  Nielsen March 2020; Global Index Coronavirus Research (April 2020)
  3.  Hulu April 2020; CBS Interactive Adobe Internal Data; CBS Interactive Ad Data; OnePoll (April 2020)
  4. Facebook.com Ap
  5. Nextdoor March 2020
  6. Pinterest Category Usage Study March 2020
  7. AdWeek; Snapchat (March 2020)
  8. The Number That Matters

     

Tips for Measuring Your Advertising Results

Reaping the best ROI on your ads means monitoring their success (or failure).

Measuring advertising results from media campaigns can be challenging. Fortunately, there are a few ways to go about measuring advertising results to determine your return on investment. In this article, we will list a few tips that will help ease the challenges of running an effective marketing campaign. Let’s get started!

Analyzing Campaign Performance  

Some variables are harder to control than others. However, collecting sales data before, during, and after the campaign can go a long way with regard to determining return on investment.

Timing is everything! Target a specific date range to see if there was any lift during the time period in which an ad campaign was running.

For a basic formula, ROI = gain from investment – cost of investment divided by the cost of investment.

Tone of voice is also an important variable to consider. If you know you ran a variety of ads, examine the results of each to determine which ones resonated the most with a target audience. Did messaging and tone change from one ad to the other? Was music played? What did the imagery look like when you ran the ad? In TV or radio broadcasts, for example, tone of voice can vary greatly depending on the time of day and audience segment.

Measuring Digital Advertising  

Measuring digital advertising is more straightforward so long as you have access to reliable data. For example, if your brand has an online presence, you can measure the amount of website traffic during a campaign period to determine the effectiveness of an ad.

Taking it a step further, one can specify unique URL parameters to identify the traffic source of a campaign to tie results back to specific copy, CTAs, imagery, and layout.

The key to success with digital measurement is having access to reliable analytics, so it’s best to sync with other members on your marketing team who may have access to better data.

Business Outcomes and Customer Experience    

A recent study conducted by the CMO Council found that marketers are now shifting their focus away from ad metrics towards measuring business outcomes. Ad personalization, for example, has become a great variable when measuring advertising results using the following metrics:

  • Retention rate
  • Lifetime value
  • Acquisition rate
  • Upsell/Cross-sell engagement
  • Revenue Per Transaction

Examining broader metrics allows marketers to zoom out and better understand the buyer journey, which can be a more effective marketing approach to tailoring messaging to the right time and place.

Defining Objectives, and Measurement

Defining objectives and measurement is of the utmost importance. Is your end goal to drive sales? Brand awareness? Retention? Having a clear set of objectives mapped out will pave the way to more measurable and actionable ad campaigns. The goal of this process is to drill down to the truth. What about a user’s behavior are we examining? Are key performance indicators (KPIs) actually representative of campaign success?

If the answer is yes, then you are on the right track. From there, you can begin to audit, analyze and tweak ad campaigns accordingly. The bottom line: Without a north star, it’s hard to determine a path to your specific goals. You can use data all day long, but reaching new or potential customers requires a more holistic approach. Measuring advertising results begins with defining your objectives and KPIs beforehand.

It’s important to remember never to settle. Continually analyze which platforms, publishers, or partners are performing best to identify gaps as well as what needs to be done in order to improve return on investment. As long as you work towards improving the value proposition of the brand, the easier it will be to measure the impact of your work.

Bloom Ads is Here to Help

Is your team looking to outsource its media buying and planning? Bloom Ads has a team of professionals standing by to help your brand create, administer, and measure effective media campaigns that truly deliver! Give us a call today at (818) 703-0218.

Advertising vs. Sponsorship: Which is Right for You?

Advertising and sponsorship have some important differences.

When it comes to advertising, there are many different avenues to explore. However, it is important to understand the differences of each as well as the pros and cons before deciding which is right for you.

In discussions of advertising, the distinction between advertising and sponsorships is not always made clear, yet they are in fact different from one another. Advertising implies that a payment has been made to place an ad with specific messaging in place. A sponsorship, on the other hand, implies a much deeper, often ongoing relationship between two parties. Beyond that, even the term “sponsorship” can have different meanings depending on the context. For example, not everyone knows the difference between sponsorships and endorsements.

Still confused about the difference between advertising and sponsorships, or the difference between endorsements and sponsorships?  Don’t worry. Allow us to further explain.

What is Sponsorship Advertising?

Sponsorship advertising occurs when one party agrees to support the other in exchange for a predetermined amount of exposure. Let’s suppose Brand A offers to sponsor Brand B’s upcoming event. In exchange for support, Brand B would then allow Brand A to run advertisements about their products or services during the event implying a much stronger relationship.

Common Types of Sponsorship Events

Typical sponsorship arrangements guarantee that a specific number of ad placements or mentions will occur during an event. Brands will typically sponsor the following types of events:

  • Sporting Events
  • Cultural Events
  • Fine Arts Events

What is Endorsement Advertising?

The Difference Between Endorsements and Sponsorships

Sponsorships and endorsements are similar in that they both describe relationships between brands and other brands or brands and high profile figures. The brand seeking to advertise its services takes advantage of the reach of the event it’s sponsoring or the celebrity endorsing it. However, there are some important differences between endorsements and sponsorships.

A sponsorship reflects a marketing relationship between two entities or brands. In finding the right sponsorship, the sponsoring brand – that is, the brand paying for the event in exchange for running its ads at the event – needs to consider its target audience. That’s because there’s no point in sponsoring an event that won’t be attended by people who would be interested in your brand.

Similarly, brands looking for endorsements should also carefully consider their target audience. The celebrity or high profile figure who endorses your brand needs to be someone your target audience likes and trusts. The goal of an endorsement is to turn fans of the endorser into fans of your brand.

The main difference, then, is that a sponsorship brings customers to your door by putting your brand front and center at a community event, while endorsements convert customers by connecting with them on a personal level via the popularity of the endorser.

Given the limited number of relevant sponsorships and endorsements, one may start to wonder which opportunity is best for them – traditional or sponsorship advertising. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of traditional advertising as it compares to sponsorships and endorsements.

Advertising Pros

Traditional advertising offers specific advantages that allow a brand to reach as many people as possible whenever they want or need to. Obviously, this allows for more control over the form of advertising, tone of voice and ad cadence. But, more importantly, advertising educates your audience, so they have the information they need to make a buying decision.

Advertising is also a great way to get ahead of your competitors. If you buy ads in places your competitors are not present, you essentially intercept an opportunity to convert listeners into customers.

Advertising Cons

Of course, advertising is not without its cons. The downsides to traditional advertising are that it’s pay-to-play. Neither performance nor ROI is guaranteed, and things can go south very quickly if brand messaging is ill-received. As Business Insider wrote, the worst ads of 2018 were inadvertently offensive, causing an uncomfortable amount of fallout for clients and agencies.

It doesn’t matter the form of advertising – a miss is a miss, and negative impacts can be monetary, brand-tarnishing, or both.

The bottom line: Make sure your brand’s creative is not only strong, authentic, and sincere, but grounded in sensitivity. The last thing you want is to offend an audience with the wrong ad.

Which is Better?

The reality is that it’s easy to avoid the pitfalls of advertising through popular platforms. You just need the proper direction to get there safely. Sponsorship advertising is less risky if the events you choose to work with are carefully aligned with your business objectives or values. For example, a sporting event sponsored by a sport drink like Gatorade makes sense from a brand and messaging perspective, allowing for mutual value to be captured from the relationship. Sponsorships also imply a longer, on-going relationship that will continually help to share your brand’s messaging with a relevant audience.

On the flip side, traditional advertising results can be more immediate, while rate, time, and duration of served ads can more closely be monitored to positively impact performance.

Whether it’s event or corporate sponsorship, celebrity endorsement, or anything in between, the opportunities to build brand awareness through sponsorship may be limited. In that case, it might make sense to wait for the right sponsorship opportunity. In the meantime, launching ad campaigns can help improve a brand’s positioning sooner rather than later.

Got a question about advertising or sponsorships/endorsements? Bloom Ads can help. Give our experts a call today at (818) 703-0218.

 

Tips for a Creative Marketing & Advertising Strategy

A creative marketing plan and advertising strategy is the key to a successful campaign. Even while using tried-and-true methods like television, radio, and print advertising, thinking outside the box can help your brand stand out and make a memorable, longer-lasting impression on your audience. Then there are all the ways you can branch out of those traditional avenues, such as social media and digital marketing.

Of course, creativity in marketing is often easier said than done. So how can you make sure your marketing strategy puts you ahead of the curve while meshing well with your unique product/service and message? We’ve got you covered with these tips for creative marketing.

Join Trending Hashtags

Social media is beyond valuable as a digital advertising platform. Social media marketing helps you reach vast yet targeted audiences, meet consumers where they are (i.e. on their mobile devices), and distribute brand awareness and conversions across multiple channels. One of our favorite tips for creative marketing on social media is to label your content with trending hashtags.

Well-written hashtags help contextualize your content so that users can find it more easily. By using trending hashtags, you can involve your local business in something that is happening nationwide.  Just remember to look into the trend before you post about it to make sure that it’s appropriate.

Tell a Story

Storytelling is effective on almost every advertising platform. Whether you are creating a new TV advertisement, developing a print ad, or crafting digital content, telling a story has always been the most effective way to grab an audience’s attention and transmit information in a meaningful way.

In today’s fragmented media climate, storytelling in marketing is more important than ever. By crafting a unique, specific brand narrative, you can cut through the noise and reach the consumers who need you most. A well-delivered story helps you connect with audiences on a deeper level, allowing your brand to speak to their specific identities and values. We can’t stress how important this tip for creative marketing truly is.

Hold a Contest

Contests can help generate engagement with your audience. In a marketing climate increasingly dependent on multichannel engagement, you’ll want your consumers to have as many opportunities to interact with your brand as possible. Contests specifically tailored to your product or service can help establish a community around your brand, through which customers can then express their unique selves and values.

Have your social media followers share photos or videos with you in order to win something relevant to your business. If you’re an activewear brand, for example, you may want to ask for skate or surf videos. There are as many kinds of contests as there are businesses. Find the right one for your company, and don’t forget to include a snappy, succinct custom hashtag!

Make an Infographic

People have different learning styles, and presenting the same message in a variety of ways – visually, verbally, in written form – tends to help it sink in best. But in today’s mobile, social-media-dominated climate, the power of imagery is stronger than ever. Just look at the popularity of Instagram if you need hard evidence.

Images can usually grab your audience’s attention more quickly than text. A picture is worth a thousand words, after all. And since some reports show that the average person takes no longer than 50 milliseconds to form a first impression, the speed with which you can get your message across is crucial.

Take advantage of visual marketing with a sleek infographic about your product or service. Whether in a print advertisement or shared as part of your digital strategy, an infographic can not only catch your audience’s eye, but it can also help them retain the information you are sharing in a deeper, more lasting way.

 

Still having a hard time putting these tips for creative marketing to use? Our digital marketing experts are here to help you develop unique content and an effective plan that works for your business’s needs.

Learn more about our media planning and media buying services directly on our website. You can also give our digital marketing experts a call at 818-703-0218 to learn more about the services our digital advertising agency can offer your business.

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