The economic impact of the pandemic is still a significant factor in most marketing budgets.

And today’s competition for marketing dollars and space is fiercer than ever.

So what innovative, cost-effective ways can make your brand stand out?

Which new channels can you add to your marketing mix to maximize ROI?

On April 12, I moderated a webinar with Sreekant Lanka, SVP of Digital Solutions at iQuanti.

To maximize results, Lanka showed how to refresh your search strategies and connect with your target audience through high-impact marketing channels.

Here’s a summary of the webinar. To access the entire presentation, complete the form.

Key Takeaways

Align your media where your audience is.

Your content must cater to your potential visitor’s intent during each funnel stage, from building context at the top of the funnel to being more specific at the bottom of your funnel.

Top Of Funnel Strategies

• Tactic: Lead your top-funnel activations with videos to drive awareness & recall.
• KPIs: Aided and unaided recall lift and top-of-mind awareness.

[Get examples] Instantly access the on-demand webinar →

Middle Of Funnel Strategies

• Tactic: Nurture your mid-funnel with a mix of videos & statics by driving & traffic consistently.
• KPIs: Engagement rates, retention rates, quality visits to the website/app, branded search volumes, and CTR.

Bottom Of Funnel Strategies

• Tactic: Close the bottom funnel with search, retargeting, and other high-quality signal-based audiences.
• KPIs: CPA, ROAS, and LTV/CAC.

Measure Success Through:

• Different KPIs per funnel stage.
• A sense of overall CAC to help assess the overall health across marketing channels.
• Attribution challenges and privacy pave the way for increased adoption of incrementality testing.

Take Note Of The Evolving Search Landscape

To grow your brand, consider what is evolving and which channels are emerging. To begin with, note that users now search for different things than they used to.

Look For Changes In Search Queries

The search landscape is changing and moving away from a keyword-first approach.

You can see shifts:

• From keywords to conversations.
• Expanding into multiple sessions.
• Emerging as “Near me,” “best of,” etc.
• Moving beyond the lower funnel.

Notice Changes In Bidding Strategies

Bidding strategies are also changing, primarily driven by the Google ecosystem building capabilities beyond keywords.

Screenshot by iQuanti, April 2023

[See how bidding is evolving] Instantly access the webinar →

Recognize The Changes In Search On Verticals

Marketplaces & social media sites are commanding a significant share of product searches.

Understand How AI Is Changing The Face Of Search

In this regard, the exact impact of AI on SERPs is still unclear. Still, you can see the potential in keyword targeting, search volume, and implementation.

Site optimizations will likely be key as tools evolve to include more relevant and up-to-date information.

Shift Your Strategy Around Newly Evolving Segments & Needs

Search, as a product, has been changing, especially with Gen Z on its way to becoming the most dominant customer segment.

As a segment with the lowest attention span, you should look at how verticals are evolving with the shift.

[Find out how this influences looking beyond search] Instantly access the webinar →

Additionally, social media has significantly influenced consumer journeys with behavior change.

With this, new platforms and short-form content are taking center stage to cater to the needs of the evolving customer base. Pivot to focus on:

• Social video.
• Short Form video.
• CTV.
• TikTok.

Which Media Channels Are Influencing Consumer Journey

Retail Media Networks are potentially the third big wave in digital advertising after Search & Social.

• 14.7% share of US digital ad spend in 2021 was on Retail Media networks.
• 19.1% share of US digital ad spend is expected from Retail Media Networks by 2024.

[Discover the advantages of Retail Media] Instantly access the webinar →

On the push side of things, retail push media shows media diversification, and CPG push media shows social channel growth.

Screenshot by iQuanti, April 2023

Marketers can diversify away from some of the more expensive, highly competitive channels by figuring out where the right users are and how to spend.

[Slides] Think Beyond Search: Top Channels & Emerging Trends to Grow Your Brand

Here’s the presentation:

Image Credits:

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal