Digital Marketing News: Voice Search a Win-Win for Consumers and Advertisers

Every week we’re collecting a host of links, videos, and assorted analysis on the ever-changing world of digital marketing. We invite you to skim, share, analyze, argue, and refute – just so long as you don’t get embarrassed at the water cooler again. Here are the latest digital marketing news and trends for the week of July 20, 2018.

Snapchat’s Partnership With Nielsen Boosts Ad Targeting Capabilities

Snapchat’s partnership with audience data veterans Nielsen is giving the social media platform the opportunity to catch up or exceed its competitors in ad targeting capabilities.

Marketers can now use Nielsen’s offline purchasing data gleaned from loyalty cards and credit cards to target users based on their purchasing history. The increased focus on ad targeting is a somewhat aggressive move by Snapchat as data privacy concerns still linger following the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica debacle.

While Instagram’s Stories have taken some buzz from Snapchat, developments like these show Snapchat is doubling down on its future as a major social media player. Whether that means more ad dollars being dedicated to Snapchat campaigns remains to be seen, but it’s worth watching.

Conversational Intelligence a Win-Win for Consumers and Advertisers

This post from Ben Lamm via AdWeek examines how mass advertising continues to fall by the wayside as consumers expect, and appreciate, a personalized ad experience.

Lamm focuses on the ongoing shift from “what they may want” advertising to “what they need” advertising. This ad experience can be presented most effectively from insights garnered through conversational intelligence and voice-activated content, argues Lamm.

Voice commands are giving advertisers a wealth of relevant consumer information, including “what we say” and “when we say it”, says Lamm. This agreement between the consumer and the advertiser gives consumers the control they crave and advertisers the information they need.

Lamm’s lesson: The relationship between consumer and advertiser can be mutually beneficial if advertisers use the right tools to listen.

Paid Social: The New Focus Group?

Brands and agencies create data-based audience personas to ensure they’re creating relevant messaging, but these aren’t always as accurate as they could be. Christine Goos of AdWeek argues that “when it comes to finding a winning brand strategy, paid social, when used correctly, can act as the most authentic litmus test for understanding the triggers that prompt people to buy.”

Goos recommends using Facebook and Instagram as audience testing grounds because of their forgiving environments. “Unlike print or outdoor, on social, you have the chance to be imperfect, to test more novel approaches,” says Goos. Testing on these platforms, if done correctly, has the potential to create personas that are based in behavior as opposed to unreliable responses via surveys and focus groups.

For more insight, the entire post can be found here.