4 Approaches for Aligning Corporate Social Advertising and Values-Based Marketing through a Diversified Channel Mix

Written by: Mike Jensen

Marketers are pros at achieving more with less. We’re consistently being asked to achieve new heights with the reach of their messages to target audiences: “Whatever we achieved last month, quarter or year…beat it!  Oh, and do that with a fraction of the budget you had.”

The attempt to solve this problem has typically let marketers to look at high reach, lower cost social platforms (like Facebook and Twitter) that provide these scale minded advertising opportunities.

The calculus is changing and no longer are budgets the only concern. This challenge of ‘get us more for less’, is in direct competition with the growing number of emerging values-based criteria that must also be applied to marketing strategies and tactics.

What might be the easiest, or even relevant, choice that can lead to goal attainment is now misaligned to company values and positions around Black Live Matter, social injustice, politics, censorship, etc.  According to a recent Washington Post article, more than 750 companies have pivoted away from social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter due to this misalignment, and now the marketers within these companies are scrambling to fill the gap. To compound the difficulty for marketers, the decision to move away from these platforms was quick and didn’t provide the luxury of time to thoroughly vet alternatives.

So, how can marketers respond to this? What is needed for them to embrace this challenge as an opportunity for their organization and marketing teams to diversify their channel mix and strategies?  Here are 4 thing that can help as you start to evaluate new approaches.

1. Expectations of Executive Leadership – First off, while aligning with more of a value-based approach for where advertising spend occurs is the right thing to do, leadership needs to provide time to the marketing practitioners with some grace. Push the marketing team for innovative thinking and approaches, but use this time as a way to learn, reflect and change.  There is impact beyond just metrics, so look for more than just impressions and click-through rates.
2. Research & Planning Mindset – A strong strategy requires deeper thinking and planning. With specific tactics removed from your existing strategy, you need to go back to the drawing board in certain cases and find alternatives that can drive value for the organization. This can be a heavy undertaking, but rather than thinking of “the amount of work” it will take, harness a fresh perspective rooted in learning and discovery.  here are often some great finds around corners that you normally would not look.
3. Think smaller, more focused – Shifting to small-scale targeted solutions, while potentially more expensive, often have better engagement and conversion given the high degree of relevance.  Small-scale could range from display ads on niche web sites or communities, to more strategic account-based marketing (ABM). In either case you narrow the focus, to make what you are doing more impactful. If ABM has not been a part of your mix, this could be a great time to consider as it also requires strong alignment across the organization, and in these times of change, everyone should be working closer together.
4. Over Communicate – While never a bad thing, in times of change and re-prioritization, the need to over communicate is even more critical. Communication needs to be frequent and routine, but also in different modalities to ensure key updates are in fact heard and understood. Also, consider the educational elements of your communication, as new approaches begin evaluated, the pros/cons and trade-off can all be fully absorbed. If you are getting the support of your executive leadership to embark on these changes, ensure you feed them with data, information and insights on progress.

The decision to pull advertising from social channels disrupted a lot of marketing plans, but also created unique opportunities for organizations to reconsider their priorities. If leadership can first provide the space for marketers to use this time to rethink and wrestle with the alternatives, it will provide a great way for marketing teams to lean in, learn and do meaningful work that aligns with personal and organizational values. Something I think we all can agree is what we strive to be part of.

Mike is a 20-year Technology and Marketing leader who has worked with companies large and small to plan and deploy programs that drive impact.  As the VP of Consulting Services for Lions & Tigers, Mike pairs intuition and empathy for our clients with industry experience and best practices to offer valuable consulting and execution in a model that supports growth and development for everyone involved.