Advertising in the time of uncertainty: how should marketers make every penny count?

It’s an undoubtedly difficult and unpredictable time for the industry. Brand owners have expressed mixed feelings – with some marketing more responsibly and others erring on the side of caution around their campaign decisions. Is there a trend emerging? “There’s nervousness around brand spend; marketers want to make sure that it’s working for them,” says Nasse. “We have seen some reductions on certain verticals in the last three to four weeks across EMEA, not just within the UK. But we've also seen certain verticals spending more money in this marketplace as areas like technology and entertainment have had to adapt based on the fact that we're home pretty much 24-7.”

How to spend smarter?

“It's important at this time to be accountable and to make sure that every single penny that's been spent is working hard,” he says. “Any wastage is going to directly impact the brand's ability to drive ROI.” Nasse suggests reworking and delivering valuable messages that resonate under the current context.

Digital ad budgets have undeniably shrunk in response to the crisis so brands need to spend smarter.

Nasse points out that while most industries seem to be impacted, platforms such as premium newspapers and websites are still pulling in high online traffic – “which opens up great opportunities for brands.”

He suggests that marketers think intelligently about where they make their ad investments.

“Placing ads in premium content and quality news are incredibly successful in terms of driving more likeability, higher engagement and greater memorability,” he adds. Though marketers should also focus on optimisation, checking in on campaign details and questioning the creative and publisher performance to make each impression count. Platforms selling ad placements, meanwhile, should offer more flexible marketing bundles to benefit marketers, who may request altered terms to see them through this period of uncertainty.

It’s difficult to know exactly which metrics will count towards a campaign’s success, especially when so much has been impacted and consumer behaviour isn’t functioning as usual. Nasse recommends that marketers reassess and get clear on their KPIs.

“It's incredibly important to make sure we're aligning those performance metrics with the objectives that the campaigns are setting out to do,” he says. “We need to take a step back and think about whether those KPIs are aligned and if the answer is no, then maybe we need to adapt those KPIs to ensure we're driving the right behaviours. Also, we need to be a bit more sensible about how we're placing our media at the moment and make sure we've got all the controls and tools in place to offer levels of protection when necessary.”

Technology and data proves vital at a time like now. Nasse suggests softwares such as Integral Ad Science that understand changing behaviours can help advertisers at this time.

“It’s a quick and immediate short-term measure that brands can take,” he concludes. “Publishers and the sell side can also package up their inventory, their pages and their contents and build some really creative stories around that.” But he encourages marketers to continually check the effectiveness of their campaigns and constantly review the data. The new technologies can be a useful tool for informing brand safety, however, Nasse urges marketers not to overlook the importance of emotion and sentiment when making that analysis.

Watch the full Digital Transformation Festival session here.