Relevance and timing of marketing is replacing reach and frequency

Advertising technology may have added complexity to media buying, but improved targeting capabilities can be highly beneficial for those willing to take the time to understand and invest in the technology.Marketing spoke to Patrick Darcy, commercial director, Asia Pacific at RadiumOne, to understand how advertising campaigns can use social sharing data to optimise media buying, and how this turns the traditional creative process on its head.[Darcy will be speaking at Marketing magazine’s Performance Marketing conference, taking place next Tuesday in Singapore.]Marketing: The focus on technology sometimes seems like a game of smoke and mirrors – the latest media technology platform is used to disguise mediocre creative. How true is this?Darcy: We believe that technology is actually turning the traditional creative process on its head. Conventionally, brands have relied too heavily on great creative to evoke consumer emotion. Technology now enables us to uncover the ‘right now’ emotional state of consumers, which can be the trigger for brands to activate successful marketing campaigns across all digital platforms.Exceptional and relevant creative will always be important for brands, but data and technology is now placing the consumer's mindset at the forefront of strategy. What we have learnt around sharing behaviour in particular is that when a consumer shares content online, it stimulates their emotional state of desire -  we know this is something that really matters to them and it’s a great indicator of interest or intent. Using these triggers as the starting point for effective communications is making a huge impact on results and insights for marketers.Marketing: What place does emotion have in technology-led creative ad campaigns?Darcy: The power around a brand’s image or product is now in the hands of consumers. Relevance and timing is replacing reach and frequency. We can now come at this challenge from the opposite direction; tapping into the emotional state of consumers as the catalyst for marketing activity, rather than the goal.Marketing: Should social sharing data be the starting point for creatives?Darcy: Creative, technology and data must all work in harmony. We come at this from the viewpoint that relevant creative and actionable data allows brands to connect with consumers in their ultimate moment of openness. Channel planning will continue to be valuable but acting on real-time consumer emotion and passion will become a key driver of future success in marketing.Marketing: How do campaigns based on social sharing work?Darcy: Simply put, it works like this (and this all happens in the ‘right now’):Content sharing activity is tracked across all social media channels and dark social (email and instant messaging);Cohorts or segments of those sharing, receiving and on-sharing are created, which shows us the ‘right now' intent and interest signals around a particular category, product or service;The social networks of these consumers are tracked across the open Web and mobile, and messaging is delivered to them in relevant Display, Video, Mobile or Social paid media environments.For example, an airline would target ‘travel intenders’ -  consumer who are demonstrating their interest or intent to travel through social sharing of related content (sharing articles about destinations, news about best places to visit, hotel bookings etc). Many of these consumers aren’t on the radar yet for activities such as retargeting, so the activity is very much mid-funnel prospecting.Speed is critical and timing is everything. Our most recent research found that if we serve targeted advertising to prospective customers within an hour of them sharing relevant content - conversion rates are up to seven times higher than the following hour.Darcy will be speaking at the Performance Marketing conference on 8 September in Singapore.To register, please click here or contact Bernadine Reyla at bernadiner@marketing-interactive.comor call +65 6423 0329, +65 9830 4454If you would like to learn more about sponsorship opportunities, contact Soren Beaulieu atsorenb@marketing-interactive.com or call +65 6423 0329