‘It shouldn’t be a jarring experience’: how can marketers simplify omnichannel media?

The good news is that there is a proliferation of content, which equals more media opportunity for marketers. In a webinar for The Drum, industry experts assessed the media landscape at present and some of the complexities in its orbit. Here are some of the key takeaways:

Be subtle

To ensure omnichannel content consumption isn’t a jarring experience, marketing across platforms must be discreet. “I don’t think the audience should notice the magic that is happening within the marketer’s toolkit,” says president at connected media buying platform Infillion, Christa Carone.

“We should be smart enough to present the creative that is relevant for the platform that the consumer is engaging with,” she says. “I know what I expect to see on TikTok because I'm already in that content experience, and the point is that audiences shouldn't know.”

To streamline ads amid the rapidly changing industry, there’s a hunger to test and learn that is needed – Carone calls it “intellectual curiosity”. By testing different variables alongside being vigilant of new technology, you can continue to optimize what’s working, and be more efficient yet discreet in your marketing efforts.

Adopt a holistic view

A multichannel media strategy requires both generalist and specialist points of view; you need those who innately understand omnichannel marketing just as much as you need those who are immersed in the individual channels. This is the stance of Carl Fremont, chief executive officer at brand-led, performance-driven agency Quigley Simpson.

“Ideally, a generalist can still speak to individual channels like search and social influencer marketing,” he says. “But they have a broader view to put this all together.”

Silos won’t work; marketers must look at the entirety of the customer experience (CX) — across multiple channels, which is all the more reason to embrace integration. The new wave of technology is game-changing, allowing marketers to be more accurate and more in touch than ever with their targeting but, as Carone states, “the abundance of opportunity has also created some chaos”.

In Fremont’s view, to better understand the media landscape as it is today, “everyone from the brand side should spend some time on the technology or media publishing side to get a broad purview”.

KPIs first, vision second

In addition to generalists and specialists, Fremont also emphasizes the need for analysts: “I think too often, we just get right into the tactics without spending enough time on the strategy. That's what we do at Quigley Simpson – and that’s what I would advocate for everybody to do: spend more time on the upfront strategy, on developing the KPIs and understanding how they’re going to be measured.”

Understanding from the beginning, the KPIs of what is going to be evaluated as success – whether sales, brand health, or a combination of the two – needs to be established first-off for the best chance of long-term campaign success. “Thankfully, we’re in a period of time where we can see instantaneous results and performance and be able to take that information and learn and then optimize campaigns going forward,” Fremont adds.

Food for thought

When it comes to the future of the modern media ecosystem, marketers should keep an open mind. The multitude of opportunities and platforms presents untapped potential for brands and marketers, but, as Carone puts it, “it can be a mess”.

We’re reminded that the media through which we consume content is as fickle as the consumers themselves: “Media and marketing professionals need to be really agile. We need to be tolerant and we need to be risk-takers,” says Carone. It comes back down to intellectual curiosity and, while it is indeed a mess, it’s the responsibility of marketers to make the media minefield more cohesive.

Tune in to watch the full webinar on-demand here.