Tyler Greer
“Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” Mark Twain wrote in 1897 after rumors of his death. We currently have the same joke about our venerable sales funnel which, depending on your choice of gossip, is either dying, thriving, or both.
Earlier this week, Think News Brands released its latest industry report titled The Strong Force of Strong Sales. The report confirms that Total News is an indispensable tool for building brands and an incredibly reliable channel for increasing sales at the bottom of the funnel.
The sales funnel has been one of the most useful tools for marketers. It not only defines the consumer's journey from awareness to conversion thinking, but also provides media planners with a system for organizing their thinking, helping to easily describe the roles of media channels in relation to this journey. Provides creative information about the letter and the type of formats used (long, short, uppercase, lowercase). This helps implement measurement systems to determine if our campaigns are working. The fact that it has been used since the end of the nineteenth century tells us, firstly, that its structure is stable and correct, and secondly, that people do not really change.
But the media does. And the rise of electronic communications is challenging how we think about the consumer journey, if not the journey, then at least its pace. In an age where every digital touchpoint offers brands the opportunity to transform consumers, going from awareness to conversion thinking can happen in seconds. He sometimes appears drunk in seconds. This has many implications for how we think about the role of channels, creativity, and measurement.
Take, for example, video, the most popular and valuable format on the Internet. Not so long ago, the sole purpose of video content was to raise awareness. Engaging content increases the likelihood of being seen, especially when it's accompanied by good data and context that puts it in front of the right audience. Today we have more multidimensional considerations.
First of all, video now plays a lead generation role. According to Wyzowl's State of Video Marketing 2023 report, 83% of marketers think so. In addition, you will also find web traffic managers, analytics developers, and more. Video on the conversion funnel spans from top to bottom and can be customized to perform whatever function is needed, with a mixture of creative CTAs, subscription engagement, data overlay layout, and purchase templates to make it that way. Do. 87% of video marketers report that video brings them a positive ROI, up significantly from 33% in 2015.
When it comes to electronic communications, purchasable video is the next frontier that will change not only the way we think about content, but possibly the way we think about the sales funnel as well. That's because the combination of inspiration and desirability with instant access to shopping are the hot iron brands that are being hit hardest.
Buyable video is, if you buy hyperbole, the death knell of the sales funnel. By moving from one action to another with an immediate action, the journey is shortened to the point where we cannot comprehend it.
Purchased video helps solve several marketing tasks at once. Video has been shown to capture and command attention to a greater extent than other formats, enabling customer engagement in a way that other formats cannot, by telling a story, evoke emotion, and provide information; Offers a range of formats (short, medium, long, subscription, skippable); Purchasing power integration significantly reduces decision-making and shifts focus towards spot trading; It can provide valuable data on media consumption and audience conversion.
While it is generally accepted that smaller, more agile brands often have an advantage in digital electronic communications (although constrained by large manufacturing and supply chains, agreements with large retail partners, and general resistance of large companies to becoming "Titanic"). is prey by nature), this may not be the case, at least not with regard to suppression. Video purchased is still so small that we can't say with certainty that there are higher numbers of those who buy into established brands in these formats than those who buy brands that have just been launched. That is, how this affected the first stage of the conversion funnel outside the block of in-block trust buy ads. However, despite budgets (if you regret it), purchasable video offers lesser-known brands an opportunity to compete by combining awareness, attention, and conversion at the same time, and thus, with less investment.
Where does it all come from repression? Despite changes brought about by powerful features like shopping videos, none of its features are compromised. Mindfulness is still important and always will be. This is an opportunity to capture your most inspiring moments. Thinking time may have cut it short, but the tools for deeper learning are now available and with a drive to act.
How can brands address this problem? Beyond the underlying sales and supply chain challenges, purchasable video advertising units are asking brands to rethink their media investments. Make sure the first end of the funnel is dedicated to supporting those interested in further exploration, if not conversion. By providing portals to make shopping easier and removing friction in the decision-making process, it is very useful to use video to capture the moment of desire. Given the importance of the data that can be collected by those who live the experiment.
So while reports of his death may have been greatly exaggerated, his current way of being in the world is changing, opening up new opportunities for brands and clients. Brands that use the most powerful tool of media as a way to manage intent will live long and happy lives.
Tyler Greer - CEO, News Corp Australia, General Manager Client Strategy, Solutions and Client Project Management News VIC & SA
