As we approach this year’s upfront television buying season, many marketers are seeking a quite different approach to their buying investment versus a year ago.
Within this tightened and extremely competitive marketplace, marketers are in the spotlight. This spotlight is heightened scrutiny from their senior management demanding proof of performance and corresponding efficiencies in marketing/advertising investments. Much of this discussion surrounds cross-platform (multiple points of contact) audience buying and measurement models to effectively reach audiences regardless of the channel strategies deployed.
Digital advertising’s arrival ushered in an age of accessing attribution-based measurements quickly as well as custom targeting of audiences. It also allowed seamless integration of big data to layer in other behavioral attributions such as purchase history. It stands to reason why there is this push within the marketing industry to have similar capabilities, cross-platform and measurement, for television.
Down the road, we expect that television planning using household-level targeting and data via over-the-top boxes (OTT) such as Roku and Amazon Fire offer enhanced targeting capabilities to maximize buying efficiencies against desired audiences. It is expected that addressable TV and OTT may be solutions for television planning at household-level targeting. The goal is cross-platform planning (inclusive of linear television) with measurement that can be quantified to truly derive return on investment.
As we move into this next upfront television cycle of purchasing inventory from the networks, openly ask about and discuss each network’s advanced targeting capabilities. Also, be cognizant of the fact that the most premium inventory on networks may not be scalable and will still be sold at a national level. Of course, this fact has prevented many larger businesses from going all-in and instead deployed test and learn scenarios in this current 2016 television cycle. Hence, there is nothing wrong with testing with a smaller budget. This allows you to consider the optimizations that work best and redefine your goals and execution options.
As you gear up for deciding your advanced (upfront) purchases, be sure you have clearly defined the roles of each media and set your KPIs. Your competitors are checking their list twice, too! So, the plan you put in place for 2017 is not “one and done.” It will need to be continually evolved through-out the year in order to stay ahead of your competitors, maintain/grow your customer base and meet your revenue goals.
Adele Lassere is a marketing/advertising consultant with 20+ years experience, freelance writer and author of “Elements of Buying” (a self-help advertising guide), available at Amazon.com. Adele was listed as Black Enterprise’s 2016 Women of Power in Advertising & Marketing and 2013 Top Women Executives in Advertising & Marketing. Contact: [email protected]
