Do you enjoy receiving ads? When was the last time you received an ad that resonated with you? As a marketer, I tend to think that I’m not influenced by advertising. However, I was listening to my daily tunes on Spotify the other day and was interrupted by an ad. To my surprise, the ad was promoting HeluvaGood! dip and it actually caught my attention and I ended up picking some up for the weekend.
Every day we are inundated with ads whether we are walking down the street, riding the subway or online shopping. However, I realize that if the ad is relevant to me or that it speaks a strong message by a brand that I can connect with, well that’s a different story.
Lay of the Land
Historically, businesses used to be based on personal one to one communication, people bartered and exchanged goods on a personal level. Then mass production became mainstream resulting in manufacturers treating everyone the same to get access to the widest possible market at the lowest cost. Now with advanced technology, we’re able to return to creating customized products but on a mass scale.
It’s Different Now
The transition of advertising from reaching the audience through mass channels to narrowing in on specific targets can be largely explained by the changing behaviour of people. Millennials, in particular, have changed the game for advertising. Millennials are more skeptical to the ads that they are exposed to and are more likely to ignore ads that aren’t authentic. They buy products based on the brand’s values that they can connect with and trust. These values and concerns that millennials have make it harder for businesses to convince them to buy their products.
Start with Data
So what do we do with this information and how do we as marketers adapt to this change? The answer is data. Start off by collecting data from your existing database. You need to know the insides and outs of the industry that you’re working with and to really know your target market and their behaviours. The challenge is no longer not having enough data but rather we have almost too much data at our fingertips. There are many ways you can collect data, but all of these processes follow the general process of determining a goal, collecting the data, analyzing the data, determining a strategy, implementing the strategy, and then evaluating results. By using data to help drive our marketing strategy, we are able to become more knowledgeable about our customers’ needs in order to target them accurately and resonate with them.