At the CommerceNext Growth Show, a diverse of industry leaders covered all things full-funnel marketing and measurement, exploring challenges in implementing full-funnel marketing strategies, focusing on measuring ROI and attribution. They discussed how to leverage various marketing channels, AI’s role in customer acquisition and how brand marketing is key for feeding top of funnel strategies.
Read on for insights from these speakers:
- Billy May, CEO of Brooklinen
- Doug Jensen, SVP Go-To-Market Analytics at Estée Lauder
- Renee Halvorsen, CMO of Marine Layer
- A.J Ghergich, VP of Consulting at Botify
- Moderator: Emily Hickey, Co-Founder and CEO of Chief Detective
Watch the replay or read the recap below.
Current Trends in Channel Allocation
A.J Ghergich at Botify shared that budgets are down by approximately 20% YoY, leading companies to focus more on bottom-of-the-funnel activities due to easier attribution.
Key trends include:
- Leaning out of top-of-funnel activities
- Increased focus on AI and automation
- Governance and technical SEO
Billy May from Brooklinen gave some insight into their strategy, which involves progressive messaging, audience segmentation and leveraging AI use cases. They are leaning out of channels like podcasts and out-of-home advertising in certain markets.
Importance of Creators and Influencers
One channel on the rise is creator/influencer marketing. Doug Jensen from Estée Lauder highlighted the importance of creators and influencers in the beauty and fashion industries in particular; the challenge lies in finding the right influencers at scale and measuring their impact effectively. Their team uses a multi-stage marketing mix modeling approach to measure desirability, consideration and conversion. This approach has been transformative in understanding the impact of influencer marketing.
Renee Halvorsen from Marine Layer also emphasized the need for a clear POV and structured collaboration between creative and marketing teams to develop content at scale.
Measurement Strategies
Marine Layer focuses on incremental new customer acquisition and weekly CPA values. Multi-touch attribution is deemed less relevant due to its complexity and the risk of getting lost in analysis.
Brooklinen, being a smaller brand, prioritizes data-oriented measurement, focusing on new vs. repeat customers. They aim for a balance between brand and performance marketing.
Doug Jensen discussed the challenge of measuring branded vs. non-branded search. Estée Lauder’s approach involves combining these factors to understand their impact on different parts of the funnel.
The Role of AI in Search
As AI’s capabilities increase, so does the impact of these tools. When it comes to the use of AI in search, like AI-generated results, consumers and brands alike can expect a change in the dynamics of search. An AI assistant would take over much of the search and curation process for viewers, but the usage of AI-generated results is quite a small percentage of total results as of today. Companies need to prepare by focusing on technical SEO, ensuring data feeds are ready and establishing governance policies.
Full-Funnel Measurement Insights
Brooklinen’s approach to full-funnel measurement is using marketing mix models and running tests to validate assumptions. The key components are:
- Making everything is measurable
- Running tests to prove incrementality
- Aligning internally around the measurement strategy
For those who need more basic strategies, Marine Layer advised start-stop testing and YoY analysis to provide more context into the impact of different channels. Focus on your broader strategic goals to start.
CommerceNext Steps
The speakers ended by sharing their CommerceNext Steps, designed to help you put the insights into action:
- Focus on High-Impact Channels: Prioritize channels and strategies that show clear, measurable results and align with your brand’s strengths and audience.
- Measure Effectiveness Holistically: Use a multi-stage marketing model to evaluate the impact of campaigns, ensuring that each stage from awareness to conversion is effectively tracked and optimized.
- Adapt to AI and Technology Trends: Stay ahead by incorporating AI and emerging technologies into your marketing strategy, but remain vigilant about their impact on traditional channels and metrics.
View the rest of the CommerceNext Steps here for even more industry insights!
