Archive for Google

DTC Marketers: Don’t Ignore TikTok ROI

DTC Marketers: Don’t Ignore TikTok ROI

Hand holding iphone with TikTok opened

Tiktok has been named the fastest-growing social media platform of all time, by Forbes. And no, it’s not just for teens. The app has over 1 billion users of all ages across the globe, making it the most explosive social media app to use and advertise on. 

In fact, according to Backlinko, 31.3 % of TikTok users are over 40.

(Source: Backlinko.com)

Tiktok works using a personalized algorithm, which updates as you view, like, and save content. The app learns your preferences and feeds them directly into your “For You” or home page.

Like Instagram and Facebook, paid content is placed within your feed based on its relevance to you and how the advertisers refine their audience.

TikTok trends can be followed, allowing the potential for advertisers to connect with this massive potential audience in a way that feels authentic to users. Smart use of creative as well as hashtags allow for targeting both behavioral and geographic.

The difference between paid and organic content can be difficult to determine, which is especially great for advertisers. And with less competition than Facebook, clicks can cost up to a third of what they are on other platforms.

This makes TikTok an excellent vehicle for DTC advertisers. Because of Tiktok’s massive reach, ads utilizing lead generation for high ticket items or services allows clients marketing those products or services huge ROI. 

Avalanche CEO Ava Seavey says, “The huge return on TikTok advertising for our clients (one is seeing a 30 to 1 return) are stats I have not seen since 1980’s infomercials. It is the most exciting platform for DTC ROI I’ve seen.”

Here are some helpful tips to consider before utilizing TikTok to advertise:

Don’t only make ads. Make TikToks – This is crucial. If you’re going to make the leap into TikTok, you must be ready to produce content that feels native to the platform. Don’t just use existing content from Facebook and Instagram Stories. Slideshows, static images, and slick content are automatically detected as advertising and decrease viewer interest.

Song/sound selection – The use of songs and sounds matters more on TikTok than on any other platform. Another great benefit as opposed to Facebook/Instagram where most users view with the sound off. TikTok users watch with sound.

(Source: Backlinko.com)

Regarding influencer culture on the app, TikTok has an engagement rate of 5.30% on accounts with over 100,000 followers, compared to 1.10% for Instagram and 0.30% for Twitter. It has quickly become one of the main avenues for influencers and micro-influencers to recommend products through testimonial-style videos, Amazon Marketplace affiliate link programs, as well as trendy, creative, or niche videos of any kind.

(Source: Backlinko.com)

The app’s fast-paced nature keeps its users engaged for relatively long periods. With an average session length of 10.85 minutes, it has become the most engaging social media app out today. (Source: Backlinko.com)

For DTC marketers who may be experiencing declining ROI on Facebook, TV, radio, Amazon or other avenues, TikTok can bring you immediate sales and leads and if you get out there before your competition does, you will have even better results.

Buy Now, Pay Later Levels Playing Field

What BNPL is, and how it affects DRTV and DTC

BNPL Buy now pay later online shopping concept.Hands holding mobile phone

The explosion of e-commerce has not only changed the way we buy but how we pay. When the pandemic hit and millions of users flooded to online retailers, several already-existing businesses and ideas were thrown into full gear as they gained popularity. Buy Now, Pay Later, or BNPL, is an installment loan utilized by many online retailers today. With Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, or simply retailers offering their own plan, BNPL allows consumers to make a purchase and receive it immediately while paying for it over time through a series of installments.

Some plans can come with interest and late fees, but some charge neither. Pricing and plan information varies from company to company.

Allowing a consumer to pay over time can dramatically alter the consumer landscape for marketers. It will give those with poor credit or lack of credit card funds an opportunity to purchase impulse products advertised to them. It also gives marketers a chance to close more sales at minimal risk.

Data shows that consumers buy more when they can pay over time. BNPL gives companies a much wider reach and the ability to expand their target audiences further.

BNPL Buy Now, Pay Later Written on Green Key of Metallic Keyboard. Finger pressing key.

A recent survey found that 1 in 5 U.S. consumers used a BNPL service in the 12 months ended Aug. 20, 2021, and only 1 in 6 of them regretted doing so. 

While this is a boon for marketers with higher price point items, full disclosure of terms is mandatory. In December 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced an inquiry into BNPL, expressing concern about “debt accumulation, lack of regulation, and data harvesting.” The regulator is concerned that borrowers are accumulating too much debt and that consumers’ personal data could be misused.

Last month, the agency demanded information from a handful of the industry’s most prominent players, including Klarna and Afterpay. 

This inquiry notwithstanding, the BNPL option has opened up an excellent opportunity for higher price point items and allows credit-challenged consumers to have an equal playing field for products that otherwise may have been out of reach.

Importance of Omni Channel Marketing for DRTV products

Importance of Omni Channel Marketing for DRTV products

The pandemic and its economic impact have entirely changed the way businesses is done. With many consumers and working professionals working remotely and spending so much time online, it’s clear how important digital channels are becoming and how critical it is for marketers to reach consumers where the eyeballs are.

For DRTV, Direct-Response, Infomercial, and Direct-to-Consumer Marketers, this change proves just as meaningful. It is vital to be mindful of what happens within each platform and utilize as many channels as possible. By using omnichannel marketing and tracking ads, you can successfully create high-converting campaigns, and all can work with the halo effect of reinforcing ads seen on other platforms.

DRTV can bring you excellent results when used as part of an omnichannel strategy and can be among the highest converting platform.  

Creating Ads on Google or Bing that build on your DRTV ads can yield great results and help conversion rates. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok can yield extremely high results as well, especially when geo targeted. Both lead generation and product specific ads can work well on these platforms.  

When considering DRTV, be sure to maximize your results by having all digital tactics in place.

The Amazon Effect

The Amazon Effect

Direct-to-consumer, social media, and DRTV marketers and brands have had their share of challenges driving consumers to purchase, either through a web site or phone number. But with the events of the pandemic, consumers changed their online shopping habits and helped push a massive shift occurring over the past decade. The insight into how the retail experience is different today in 2021 can be expressed in one word: Amazon.

Various studies have demonstrated very strong consumer trust in Amazon. According to a FeedAdvisor study, 89% of consumers are more likely to buy products from Amazon than other e-commerce sites. 78% say that they trust big corporations such as Amazon or Walmart.com over other online retailers.

Customers often look to Amazon first when it comes to quickly purchasing name brand products, as well as unknown brands. They are putting less and less trust into smaller DTC websites and brands, which is why it is critical to also sell on Amazon in today’s world.

Amazon has undergone various investigations into fake products and says it blocked over 10 billion counterfeit listings in 2020. Despite this, Amazon continues to soar in subscriber numbers, with over 150 billion Prime members, and takes its place as #1 in the U.S. e-commerce market with net sales of $386 billion in 2020, followed by Walmart.com.

But direct response, infomercial, social media, digital, and DRTV marketers should not despair, as all media purchases can also drive supplemental Amazon sales in addition to sales on their brand sites and at the call centers. Thus, attribution of Amazon sales should be included when analyzing and reporting on revenue from media spend.

How to Advertise Sustainability

How to Advertise Sustainability

It is becoming increasingly common for companies to have sustainable elements within either their products or services. Sustainability is something that people are considering more and more critical, so it benefits a company to explain and share how they are saving energy, recycling materials, and engaging in green marketing in general. Green marketing refers to advertising products or practices that promote sustainability.

Sustainability is fundamental to younger people looking to make a change by giving money to companies with their interests in mind. Companies need to share this information in a format that will resonate with young people, such as social media.

There are some key elements to creatively advertise how your company or product promotes sustainability to the public.

First, it is always important to understand the audience. According to a Fast Company survey from 2019, 40% of millennials have picked one job over another because of the companies’ dedication to sustainability. Millennials value companies that value sustainability. Once you understand your audience and how to use green marketing, you can begin to explore effective ways to reach them.

In cases where a company is trying to target a younger audience, social media ads specifically should be used more than something like direct response television (DRTV) ads just because of the levels of engagement of each age group. If a company has created an infomercial or something similar, they can post clips of it to social media for more direct advertising to younger audiences.

Second, the explanation should be clear and specific with background information about how the research was gathered. Companies should be environmentally savvy and able to explain precisely how their products or practices go about achieving what they say they are. Nestle did this exceptionally well in this area when they announced a press release in early 2020 that explained how they would begin using recycled plastic for their packaging. Their thorough description of this process gained a lot of attention, and they received about ninety-thousand direct responses to this announcement, according to ListenFirstMedia.com.

Third, it is helpful for companies to explain their plans for achieving a more sustainable way of working in the future so that audiences can understand its goals even if they haven’t quite reached them yet. Conveying this type of information over social media is effective because it serves as direct-to-consumer advertising where people feel directly addressed and, therefore, more engaged with what the company is saying.

If digital marketing is all the rage, why are all the top global digital brands advertising on TV?

Share Button

If digital marketing is all the rage, why are all the top global digital brands advertising on TV?

We’ve all heard the predictions. DRTV is dead. Infomercials are dead. TV advertising in general is dead. It’s all about social media, digital spends and Amazon. So why are advertising spends in traditional TV growing instead of shrinking? And why is Amazon, Google, Netflix, Facebook, and Microsoft growing their spends on TV? In fact, some of them are spending more than 50% of their ad budgets on TV! The answer? TV is engaging, entertaining, and informative. And TV is still mass. Getting your brand out there on TV produces a power like no other. And TV has a halo effect for all other media. Spend away on Amazon, Facebook, Google, but if you are not on TV, you will miss a big opportunity to share your story, and connect with your audience using real emotion, which is hard to beat in other media. Also, good luck slugging it out with those increasing digital spends and the click fraud, bots and crazy attribution mazes. The infomercial and DRTV approach may seem old fashioned to some, but for products or services that require explanation, demonstration or emotion, there is nothing better than television to get that point across. Whether it is a: 30 brand message or a half hour infomercial, the power of television is not going anywhere. Just ask Amazon, who spent more money on TV in 2016 than Wal-Mart.
Share Button