When less (data) is more

Whether or not that is hyperbole, brands do certainly need to try and develop a data strategy that can take advantage of all the information that now exists about their consumers.

Most advertisers realise this and there is a very real fear of missing out among advertisers as they look for ways to drive better results and improved ROI.

Today user data can include online, offline, mobile, interest, locations, purchases, for example, allowing the generation of hundreds and thousands of “audiences”. Advertisers and their agencies can leverage these insight, targeting and measurement opportunities that this offers.

However, so much choice can leave advertisers overwhelmed by an excess of data insight. For example, it is easy for advertisers to overlay lots of specific audience criteria from different sources, such as organic yoghurt lovers/purchasers (from online interests or offline purchases) living in urban areas (from location based data) with children (from offline demographics). The thought when doing this is that using more data and more types of data will more accurately target their desired consumers. However, this brings with it several challenges.

Firstly, it decreases the volume of audience available to communicate brand messages to. Additionally, utilising various data sources to create a single audience can potentially lead to a confused view of consumers (do online interests conflict with offline purchases or location movements etc).

Finally, and most importantly, the specificity of the audience potentially does not align with the stage of the consumer journey and the message being communicated.

What lies at the heart of this strategic confusion is the lack of understanding of how data can fit into a brand’s broader objectives.

In the above example, by targeting an audience that already includes purchasers of yoghurt brands (as well as the other criteria of urban and having children) will mean that the advertising communication will drive additional purchases/brand loyalty from that audience. However, it will not bring in additional audience who with the right messaging could be tempted, eg targeting an audience who have children with messaging around the value of the organic yoghurt for growing children could bring previous non-purchasers/irregular purchasers to start considering the brand and product.

A misconception has even developed that encourages planners to avoid broadly targeted campaigns and instead layer on multiple audience attributes, defining a very specific and narrow group of potential consumers that can be dubbed “the target audience”.

They will also then compare performance results between the narrow targeted and broadly targeted audiences, drawing conclusions, such as that their niche audience of females 18-20 who are love organic yogurts and yoga have higher engagement levels with their brand on mobile apps, that can negatively impact their future campaign performance.

Narrowcast? Broadcast? Or both?

The truth is that broad vs. narrow targeted campaigns should not be seen as mutually exclusive strategies. Both serve different purposes and actually complement each other in moving consumers through the purchase funnel – starting from awareness and familiarity and moving towards consideration and intent to purchase.

The fact that broad and narrowcast messages play different purposes in achieving advertisers’ campaign key performance indicators has been recognised by Procter & Gamble, which has decided to cut back on Facebook audience-targeting for most of its brands.

And in many sectors the need for precision targeting can be broadly redundant.

Globally, more than six-in-ten respondents admit that they like it when brands introduce new products, and over half confirm that they have indeed purchased a new product during their last grocery-shopping trip[1].

For example, just because a consumer does not purchase Mr Kipling Angel Slices regularly today, does not mean they could not be converted into a fan in the near future. Maybe they were never even aware that such a treat existed!

Running a highly-targeted advertising campaign that zooms in on ‘Mr Kipling Angel Slices lovers’ (yes, this audience segment actually exists) actually limits the opportunity to increase awareness and attract new customers, and in turn grow the brand’s market share and sales.

If brands can define the key moments and key triggers in the purchase funnel then many will realise that while targeting can be critical for some audiences, for many the need to reach out to a broad audience also remains essential.

This applies not just to FMCG brands like Mr Kipling but also holds especially true for high-investment, longer-lead-time purchases such as cars. A car brand might track increased conversions directly for cars from consumers who you knew were in-market for a used vehicle. However, that won’t be as effective without earlier investment to position the brand as preferable to its competitors.

Certainly, data generates insight into consumers’ interests, behaviours, physical locations, intentions, and purchase patterns that is invaluable. The fact that it can drive effectiveness and efficiency for advertising KPIs is undeniable.

However, using data too stringently also limits opportunities to have relevant conversations across the full purchase funnel, from stimulating interest with potential new customers, to connecting with existing engaged fans or purchasers.

Brands that can align the optimal audience insight and manage the mix of broad and narrow targeting appropriately for their brand’s audiences and consumer journey are the ones that will thrive in our ever-more data-rich world.