The dramatic fall of performance marketing
The underlying problem isn’t that costs are rising, it’s that companies relied so heavily on direct advertising in the first place, writes Michael Browne.
Since being laid off, I’ve had 13 interviews for everything from director to CMO, and every company is asking the same thing: “How do you approach increasing direct advertising costs?”
Typically, I will follow that up with questions about their company: resources, owned list size, campaign strategies, etc. Then, I’ll share some experience and advice.
After hearing what I have to say, I get almost the exact same response: “Wow, that’s really refreshing to hear.”
So what’s the answer? Before we get to that, it’s worth exploring the problem. The underlying problem isn’t that costs are rising, it’s that companies relied so heavily on direct advertising in the first place.
Look, I’ll be the first to admit: I get it. “Performance marketing” (aka cheap social ads) was easy, and it worked. So companies dumped all their resources into performance marketers who didn’t really know much about marketing in the first place. They were experts in the dashboards, at clicking boxes of predefined audiences, running a/b tests with subtle variances. And they had massive budgets to spend. For some companies, performance marketing was the marketing department.
But the rug just got pulled out from under their feet. Like the artist who only knows photoshop, when the tool changes, the lack of foundation cripples them.
That is where we are today. The game has changed. Companies are panicking. And performance marketers who have known nothing else are up a creek.
Direct advertising has its place, but it can no longer be the sole lever to pull when growth is needed.
So what’s the answer? I’ll tell you, and you don’t even need to spend an hour of our time together for a job that won’t pan out — Brand & Content.
Two simple words that take experience, strategy, resources and commitment to execute on. Here’s a quick summary of thing you’ll need to execute (outside of a seasoned professional to pull it all together)
1 – Know your brand. Your values determine your approach. Your values do not change on a quarterly basis.
2 – Know your audience. understand and empathise with their problems. Spend your time speaking directly to this.
3 – Develop authentic content — well-rounded content. The same message in multiple mediums. Put it on repeat, and listen to the reaction. This sounds easy, but it takes discipline, resources, and time.
4 – Build your owned audience. Celebrate them. Treat them with immense respect.
Of course, this is a simplified version. Actually building a team, directing staff and resources, and developing a vision to execute is much more detailed and specific to a brand. But the framework is the same. With my background in magazines, brand management and directing teams, this comes easily to me. To the performance marketer who cut their teeth on Facebook ads and didn’t learn beyond that, not so much.
Well-rounded marketing professionals: our time has returned. Instincts, strategy, and serving customers with content that truly meets a need will help you and the brands you represent thrive in the next few years. Welcome to the renaissance.
Michael Browne, founder of Browne House Consulting
