With digital advertising spend estimated to reach $333 billion this year, the marketing climate is oversaturated, and it’s becoming harder than ever for companies to compete. Spending power is no longer enough to drive engagement, and media currents are fluctuating, driving consumers in many different directions.
It has become standard marketing practice to utilize search and social media to distribute content; but, to survive within this climate SMBs have been forced to compete against big companies with even bigger budgets. As organic reach has declined, the competition for a consumer’s attention has helped external platforms grow into multi-billion dollar businesses. Yet, how are these platforms helping SMBs grow their brand or reach? This ‘pay to play’ model is flawed and heavily skewed in favor of the video platform. It is also clear from the recent $40 million Facebook settlement that the metrics provided by video platforms including average watch times and “engagement” levels have been grossly exaggerated.
The Evolving Media Climate
Consumers have grown increasingly frustrated with ad saturation. In a survey conducted by Accenture, 84% of respondents agreed with the sentiment ‘I think advertising interruptions while watching video content are too frequent’. As viewers, we have all become frustrated by the mandatory ‘5 seconds then skip’ ad content served up before we can view the cute cat video on YouTube. What may be even more frustrating is being the brand spending money trying to make a valuable impression in 5 seconds or less.
When something isn’t working, it’s time to explore different options. As marketers, we are used to responding to change and adapting to benefit from it. Video platforms have little interest in fixing these issues as the current model is very profitable for them. If SMBs want to compete in this competitive landscape they must embrace what audiences are looking for, and take back control of their content.
Getting Back To Brand Building
There is a clear trend observed in marketing for content that truly engages contemporary audiences. Consumers want to be recognized as individuals, have their niche interests catered to and be entertained with emotive storytelling. With the ‘distraction media’ climate bombarding them with thousands of ads across multiple platforms each day, it is easy to see why more authenticity from brand advertising is appealing.
The right audience will show your brand loyalty if you can tick these boxes. As the popularity of streaming services and branded podcasts have shown, compelling video content is where this loyalty is, and it’s time to start marketing like a media company to engage your audience. This means using social platforms to your businesses’ benefit by enticing audiences with short clips that drive traffic back to your website. Once you have your audience’s undistracted attention, you keep them engaged with your brand through binge-worthy, long-form video content. Brand growth can then be achieved through brand affinity and a community of dedicated subscribers willing to advocate the value of what you’re offering of their own volition.
The current social platform ad model is based on the theory that reach = engagement, but how engaged can we expect the consumer to be with an ad that is interrupting their ability to watch their chosen content? It is time to stop interrupting the consumer and start giving them the engaging content they truly want to watch.
Brand Affinity Marketing
Innovative companies such as MailChimp, Patagonia, and Redbull are already pioneering this new media landscape, not only by creating their own binge-worthy content but also providing a new, branded destination to view it. With innovations in video technology, any brand can follow the Netflix model and take back control of their content.
At Wistia we provide that technology through our Channels product, placing the software to cultivate audience affinity by creating original binge-worthy shows in the hands of any company’s marketing team. We have identified this growing trend in digital marketing as ‘brand affinity marketing’.
This term describes the style of content being produced, the need for it in the evolving media climate, and the difference in metrics of measurement. Brand Affinity Marketing is targeting the niche subculture/demographic that will love your brand by delivering the content they desire, free from distraction. This allows brands to engage audiences in a meaningful way and measure this impact from the time spent viewing, instead of the impressions reached.
This approach levels the field by allowing brands to leave the stadium and set up their own playing field. Brand Affinity Marketing allows SMBs to use social platforms to their advantage by directing viewership back to their own website, where audiences can become immersed without distraction and without the risk of losing them to a competitor. When SMBs fully own their content, they also own their subscriber and viewership data, meaning content strategy can be directly informed by genuine insights. This also allows direct audience communication, community building, and valued content notifications.
This evolution in digital marketing is a chance to regain autonomy over advertising and invest in building loyalty through brand affinity. With a nod to the revolution that was the launch of TV advertising in the past century, brands can now create their own TV.
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