Does brand advertising offer a reliable return on investment? How do marketing teams justify C-suite spend for content creators based on the bottom line? How do brands meet the right designers?
The key issues of marketing in the 21st century were explored and discussed during the Campaign360 Roundtable on Getting the Most from Your Ad Spend, organized by Campaign Asia-Pacific and TikTok. The panel, which brought together marketers from diverse categories such as consumer goods, alcoholic beverages, online platforms and fintech companies, was moderated by Camilla Martins, Head of Measurement, TikTok SEA, and Robert Sawatsky, Editorial Director, Campaign APAC. .
Why is brand marketing still important?
According to many marketers, building a brand is now more scrutinized than ever as executing effective marketing campaigns in the short term becomes easier for management. This view is supported by the Warc Marketer's Toolkit Survey 2023, which found that 46% of marketers want to increase their ad spend and 31% want to increase their brand investments.
Monika Mikushova, Marketing Director for Asia Pacific at Foodpanda, said: "One of the biggest challenges is protecting brand costs and the importance of a consistent long-term investment approach, looking for investors or short-term results." Vaughan Kumansing, former Brand Director of Mill Street (Canada), said: “It's not just about the health of the brand. It's important for marketers to effectively communicate to key decision makers the direct impact of brand investments and marketing efforts on key business outcomes such as revenue and market share.
Acknowledging the conflict between brand performance and advertising, Camilla Martins, CEO of TikTok, said, "We have relied too heavily on short-term KPIs, but we are now seeing a shift toward building a sustainable business." This requires marketers to embrace the Are aware of "brand building", the value of comprehensive campaigns that combine brand and performance-based communications.
To highlight the effectiveness of this approach, TikTok has partnered with Flip, the leading payment processor in Indonesia. A control group of users who only saw flip performance ads was compared to an experimental group who saw the brand and performance campaigns. When combined with a holistic strategy and upper and lower funnel campaigns, the latter group saw a 9.9% increase in conversions and a 10.9% increase in cost per action.
While 42% of advertising revenue is accounted for in the short term through attribution models and econometrics, 58% remains hidden in the short term. Martins said: “We examined previous campaigns to measure the synergy between branding and effective advertising. In Southeast Asia, advertisers using a combination of lower, middle, and upper funnels saw twice as many conversions at a 36% higher cost. with action and a 33% increase in conversions.
Target Marketing Code Hack by Creator
Another concern of the participants was collaborating with content creators on social media platforms and making the most of those relationships. While collaborating with creators on platforms like TikTok is optional, online consumers are often more receptive to marketing messages from traditional thought leaders than brands. Therefore, the use of fairness and rigor by content creators leads to better interactions. However, large traditional retailers such as financial institutions are often unable to go down this route due to brand safety concerns.
Even when it comes to creative content, marketers must choose between quantity and credibility. A metrics-only strategy directs brands to influencers with the most followers and engagement, while a more nuanced approach favors people who align with brand values.
Priyadharshini Sevaratnam, Regional Marketing Manager for Convenience Stores at Carousell Singapore said, "We only select influencers whose lifestyles and people are based on the principles of sustainability or who understand the opportunities to have a positive impact on the world in this way." the market was able to address the common complaint that influencer marketing is inorganic and easy to ignore.
purchasing development
However, finding the perfect recruiter on social media is just the beginning. Desktop marketers continued to struggle with content creators' brand messages, the advertising they presented or produced, and generally higher quality but more general brand advertising.
Another topic of discussion was whether consumers on social media platforms are more receptive to self-made or well-edited organic images. The group advocated a meaningful combination of both, with an emphasis on content created by creators. Jean Leong, Regional Marketing and Brand Manager at Goodrich Furniture Company, explains, "We want to introduce our brand to potential TikTok customers." It showcases our product offering with a touch of imagination. Our subscribers can simply enjoy our wall coverings and productions. They like to watch conflicting videos.
The power of shopping action was evident in Maybelline's TikTok campaign in the Australian market, which embedded product creatives in fun real-life scenarios to engage with audiences. This mix of content, culture, and community resulted in a 12% increase in product awareness, or nine times the benchmark. Employing creative best practices resulted in a 4.9% increase in in-store sales, a 75% increase over Nielsen's figures for FMCG brands, showing how online campaigns can influence offline behavior.
For marketers, the ROI of paid advertising is double that of a purely paid campaign. A great shopping platform has increased TikTok's appeal, says Wark, and 76% of marketers expect to increase their investment in the platform.
Get a full overview of attribution
Marketers have tried for decades to create reliable attribution models, a task made more difficult by social media and digital marketing. The overall challenge is knowing exactly whether a particular content creator's reach has resulted in actual consumer traffic.
Many marketers continue to over-index the pre-purchase endpoint of the consumer journey. This is an assumption that needs to be challenged. Research from TikTok and AppsFlyer shows that 58% of users delay visiting branded websites and apps because they don't want to interrupt their browsing. Therefore, on a views-based platform like TikTok, traditional click-based attribution cannot capture the entire customer journey. Brands measure clicks and views better than clicks because they typically drive product awareness and interest.
To better understand attribution, other solutions should be developed. Lars Bjorge, Managing Partner of The Scale Factory, said during the roundtable: “Even if the search is a link to a numeric attribute, it attracts too much attention. They may have heard from you elsewhere, such as on podcasts, Linkedin, or other content. One solution is to use the first contact with consumers to ask them where and how they found out about the brand.
The growing number of ways to reach consumers has compounded this complexity. Those who want to make the most of these new channels must learn to ask the right questions, be clear about their goals and anticipate changes in user behavior. Relying on tactical communication and adding the finishing touches is unlikely to bring long-term benefits to the brand. Martins said: "To use the analogy of a football team, you have a defence, a midfield and forwards, it's teamwork. That is why we prefer an integrated approach.”
