As an advertiser or brand, you’re likely looking to Q4 2023 with apprehension. You likely have questions around the economy. Concerns of consumer spending linger in the air. Businesses are seeing darker clouds on the horizon and as a result, advertising and marketing budgets are getting trimmed. Ultimately, CMOs and marketers will be tasked with achieving revenue growth with less money. While finding opportunity in the uncertainty this holiday season may seem questionable, Ventura Growth has a different outlook for you to consider.
Rather than hunker down for a bleak holiday season, Ventura Growth is here to offer 3 tips that will help your advertising dollars ring in the New Year with cheer.
Tip 1: Cutting Back on Advertising is Not the Answer
Here’s the honest truth: Stopping ad spend all together can put your business at risk. In fact, Millward Brown conducted a study and found that 60% of businesses that went dark during an economic downturn saw a major impact on their brand image and use. Additionally, going dark on consumers will make it hard to stay top of mind. It will also give your competitors that are spending a leg up. Why?
Consumers actually intend to spend more this holiday season than last year despite the economic uncertainty. In fact, eMarketer reports that retail holiday spending is projected to increase. Why? Consumers are less impacted by economic concerns. In fact, you’ll be happy to hear that consumers are planning to increase their Q4 spending by 4.5% over 2022.
Here’s the main takeaway: Consistency is key. Therefore, it’s important for you to maintain an always on strategy to ensure you have a steady voice in the marketplace. Even during economic uncertainty.
Tip 2: Strategic Data Usage is Critical to Success
In the current digital landscape, optimizing the efficiency of your advertising budget is more crucial than ever. Achieving precision in delivering the right message to the right audience at the right moment aligns with your objectives. It also minimizes wasteful ad spending. The key to success lies in effectively reaching your target audience. And this is done by harnessing the potential of 1st and 3rd-party data. Strategic data usage is the cornerstone of this strategy.
The initial step towards ensuring your success involves harnessing the potential of your first-party data (1P data). 1P data comprises information that you possess about your prospects and customers. It holds a gold-standard status as it’s derived from individuals who have either demonstrated interest in your brand or are existing clients.
Many of our most strategic clients effectively leverage their 1P data, typically sourced from their website pixel or CRM email addresses. On The Trade Desk platform, this data serves multiple purposes. For instance, it can be used to build retargeting audiences. It can used to construct lookalike models. It can also be used to exclude specific groups when prospecting for new audiences. Additionally, 1P data aids in generating Audience Insights. These insights provide valuable information about converting audiences. You can learn interesting insights such as their preferred open web channels and geographical location. These insights play a pivotal role in shaping future campaign strategies. They make1P data a foundational asset for planning, activation, and campaign optimization.
To further enhance your strategy, consider enhancing your 1P data with relevant 3rd-party data. For instance, you can augment your data with lifestyle segments, like health enthusiasts or sports enthusiasts. You can combine 1P data with retail data to target shoppers effectively. With access to over 270+ data partners through The Trade Desk, you have a wide array of options when planning and executing your campaigns.
Tip 3: Implement an Omnichannel With a Frequency Management Approach
Did you know the 2023 holiday shopper spends 76% of their online time on the open web? By aligning your omnichannel campaign in one platform like The Trade Desk, you can reach more consumers at scale while increasing the effectiveness of your data usage and advertising spend. For instance, not only can you run campaigns across multiple channels (native, display, audio, video, CTV, and DOOH), but you will have the ability to measure all touch points across your omnichannel converters. Plus, we all know how much we hate seeing multiple ads in a short amount of time. That’s why The Trade Desk allows you to control the frequency of your impressions to the right audiences, across channels and devices, which ensures your dollars are being spent effectively.
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Q4 2023 offers an opportunity to advertisers ready to capitalize on it. While others may cut back on their advertising and strategy, you can lean into the right tools and data to increase the efficiency of your advertising dollars. The Trade Desk and your partners at Ventura Growth are here to help you make the most of this opportunity.
Interested in learning more about this topic or have any pressing questions that we can help you with? We’d love to hear from you! Get in touch with us and make sure to follow us on LinkedIn for all things programmatic.
