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[Case Study]: Omni-Channel Digital Campaign Drives 19% Increase in Sales

Posted on August 31, 2021September 9, 2021 by Mindstream Media Group

Bonchon Chicken, a South Korean-based international fried chicken restaurant franchise, struggled with a lack of brand awareness but enjoyed an almost cult following among food enthusiasts with their crispy fried chicken wings and unique flavors. They needed a media partner that could help them not only gain awareness and new customers but drive online orders while indoor dining was restricted due the pandemic. It was also critical that the strategy be scalable to accommodate the anticipated growth in the number of franchise locations. After being introduced by their creative agency and long-time Mindstream partner, we began collaborating with the Bonchon marketing team to create a recipe for success by leveraging a digital-first media plan with mouth-watering creative.

Challenge

Lift awareness for 90+ locations and capture demand for delivery and online order options during the pandemic shutdown.

Design a streamlined grand opening media strategy to scale with the growth of franchise locations quickly and efficiently.

Solution

We took a holistic, full-funnel approach with a variety of tactics to reach consumers at every stage of the customer journey. Multi-channel digital marketing campaigns including paid search, paid social and programmatic display were deployed around each of Bonchon’s 90+ locations driving customers to order online for delivery or pick-up at their local restaurant. Lifting awareness and capturing demand for these options during key (pandemic shutdown) times played a pivotal role in generating a positive outcome.

Our account setup and structure created efficiencies that allowed the ad budget to be utilized to reach a more relevant and targeted audience. We implemented first-party data to exclude current customers from prospecting and search campaigns. For a more relevant ad experience, messaging was also segmented to serve different creative to previous and new website visitors. Tracking on the online order site allowed campaigns to be optimized to the conversion point furthest down the funnel while Google Local campaigns were optimized to helped increase foot traffic and sales as well. Our responsiveness to creative changes, starts/stops, Grand Openings and LTO promotions also contributed to the success of the campaign.

Focused on the customer journey, we activated a multi-channel campaign and optimized towards KPIs that aligned with each tactic’s position along the path to purchase.

Results

Mindstream helped introduce Bonchon to new audiences who were hungry for something different; Bonchon did the rest. Year-over-year performance shows significant growth in sales as well as gains in efficiency.

Sales: 19% increase
Online Order CPA: 18% improvement
Paid Social CPA: 32% improvement
Paid Search Conversion Rate: 59% increase

Vice President of Marketing at Bonchon, Christina Coy loves our work. “I just wanted to thank you for all the time and effort you’ve put forth for Bonchon. We’re loving these numbers and appreciate all the support you’ve provided whenever we had issues with LinkedIn or with the online ordering site.

You’re an amazing team and I’m thrilled we brought you on board to be a part of the Bonchon team!

Thanks again for being such great partners.”

Leveraging the Industry’s Top Research Tools

Posted on July 28, 2021July 28, 2021 by Mindstream Media Group

As an agency, Mindstream Media Group invests over $1 million annually in the media industry’s best research, intelligence and analytics tools, which help to define and drive our media recommendations, as well as help our agency partners flourish.

Whether we are forming a comprehensive media partnership with another agency or working as a consulting partner for services like media buying, reporting or analytics, we’re able to leverage these valuable industry tools to guide and inform our strategies and maximize success for all parties involved. Our agency and client partners rely on us, as well as our tools, to answer challenging questions and propel their brands forward.

In some instances, we’re filling the gap for agency partners that have found themselves with limited media and research capabilities after the last year of possibly shifting or reducing resources.

While all of our tools like Nielsen, SQAD, eMarketer, SEMRush and Comscore provide value to our clients and partners, the top three that we use most are Kantar, Pathmatics and MRI-Simmons.

Here’s a closer look at each.

Kantar

We rely on Kantar to gain insight into the competitive landscape from a directional sense on where brands are spending across traditional and digital media. Kantar is an advertising intelligence tool that helps our clients’ creative, paid, owned and earned media be more effective. With the ability to research competitive activity and spend, including traditional (TV, radio, print and OOH) and some digital spend, as well as view competitive creative placement and assets, Kantar allows us to measure and optimize the effectiveness of content and activity across all media channels and provides actionable insights to improve performance. We are also able to understand how and where consumers are seeing client and competitive content and gain insight into how each channel impacts the brand, market share and sales growth.

Kantar helps advertisers stay ahead of the competition by giving access to industry spend and media mix trends, the ability to view and analyze competitive brand investments and evaluate creative messaging strategies. Kantar also helps brands understand their own campaigns’ performance to help gauge and optimize omnichannel strategies.

Source: Kantar

Recently, Kantar used analytics to determine what consumers expect from brands in regard to the social justice and human rights movements. By conducting contextual research on personal values and actions, and combining that with Kantar’s artificial intelligence tools, they were able to identify consumer trends related to their personal values. They found “demand for values showing momentum including bravery and improvement, while actions such as donations, supporting black-owned and anti-racism are likely to disrupt.”

At Mindstream Media Group we use Kantar in developing RFPs, client media planning and for identifying agency growth opportunities, as well as to aid clients with their own projects. MedStar Health, a hospital system based in the Northeast U.S., inquired about a recent competitive ad that had just started running on TV. Since TV data as recent as two days prior is available in Kantar, we were able to quickly identify and view those ads, find out when and where they started running, how many times they had run in each market, as well as pull the spend data, thus aiding in determining the competitive messaging strategy. We were then able to provide a more detailed competitive overview back to the client.

Pathmatics

Recently acquired by Sensor Tower, Pathmatics is a suite of marketing intelligence tools that help our team better understand the marketplace to identify key opportunities for clients. It allows us to get an idea of spend by brand and shows how creative messaging changes throughout the year. This has been especially helpful given the challenges using the right voice and messaging to resonate with consumers throughout the pandemic. Pathmatics allows us to create data-driven digital marketing strategies based on marketplace trends, competitive spend, messaging and budget allocation.

Pathmatics’ competitive spend tools for digital media provide robust insight into the most difficult to track ads like targeted and retargeted, mid- and post-roll, click-to-play video and even ads behind paywall sites and walled gardens. Spend data for multiple platforms is available including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, as well as video and display channels.

Using Pathmatics, we’re able to quickly understand creative, targeting, device, buying and media placement strategies of advertisers across the digital space. We can research which brands are spending on specific channels, how much they’re spending, see share of voice achieved and the creative messaging being used. We can compare strategies of a set of advertisers within an industry, analyze tactics across industries or drill into a single brand to gain competitive insight.

Source: Pathmatics.com

For example, imagine you’d like to know when your competitor’s ads are running, where they’re appearing and the number of impressions they’re receiving to identify gaps in coverage that can be used as an opportunity for your brand. Or perhaps you’re looking for intel to help design creative that will stand out from the crowd while resonating with your target audience. Pathmatics can provide all of these details and more and even shows the ads on the sites on which they appear.

MRI-Simmons

MRI-Simmons helps us identify and paint a more complete picture of an audience segment by going beyond demographics to reveal their attitudes, opinions and beliefs. This consumer and media analysis tool allows us to access consumer insights such as demographics, psychographics, brand affiliations and media consumption trends. Powered by thousands of attitudinal and behavioral data points obtained through ongoing surveys and passive measurement techniques, MRI-Simmons sheds light on the “why” behind consumer behavior. This level of granularity gives us the ability to drill down to the local level and target specific market segments.

We rely on the MRI-Simmons Insights Platform to quickly access consumer intelligence that allows us to identify behaviors that can be used to shape target audiences and media strategies. With the platform’s powerful search engine, we can gain a better understanding of specific consumer sets, efficiently build segments and develop personas. By reviewing historical trend reports we can learn more about particular behaviors and the mindset of a select audience. We’re able to identify media preferences and consumption habits as well as determine the interests and motivations of consumers.

Source: MRISimmons.com

This tool was the perfect solution to help an agency partner develop user personas for a new business prospect. We began by plugging in the prospect’s demographic data to identify media behaviors (where they consume, what they are watching/reading, etc.) and touchpoints by time of day as well as the factors that influence their purchases. This allowed us to better understand who these consumers are and paint a clear picture by creating a “day in the life” for each. Using raw data like indices and projected percent of the population, we were able to create a full-blown presentation of various personas, complete with names which really helped build the story for the overall pitch that was being prepared.

Complementary Insights Provide Holistic Viewpoint

The various insights gleaned from each of these tools is often combined to create a more comprehensive outlook. For example, Kantar, Pathmatics and MRI-Simmons were all used at various stages of a market research project conducted for a client seeking to expand into a new market with a new concept of their business. Kantar and Pathmatics were used to identify competitive activity like spend levels and placements in two markets to assess the potential to dominate a particular channel. One market clearly stood out by investment alone with $40+ million in expenditures compared to $3 million. Using another of our market research tools, SQAD, we took a deeper look at costs by market to determine which was actually the most efficient.

We then utilized MRI-Simmons Insights at the local level for each market to analyze concentration of the target audience. While both areas were top growing markets, one was slightly larger than the other; however, we found that the target audience made up a larger percentage of the total population in the smaller market. MRI-Simmons Insights also allowed us to analyze the media consumption habits of the target audience at the local market level. This was then compared to the highest indexing media channels to assess overlap with the gaps identified earlier where we found less competitive noise. Finally, current market conditions like the number of competitors, trends in unemployment rates, home values, tourism, etc. were evaluated to determine if one market was growing at a faster rate than the other. This collective intel was used to create a scorecard for each market which informed our overall market recommendation.

All three of these tools were also used to craft a successful digital media strategy for newcomer Varo in the fiercely growing and competitive neobank category. MRI-Simmons was used to analyze target audience media consumption habits and identify over-indexing media channels in select markets. We then used Kantar and Pathmatics to pull expenditure data for competitors and found they were spending heavily in the same tactics (primarily national TV and paid social) with limited expenditures in print, radio and OOH. When overlayed with the audience media consumption data, we found that radio and OOH indexed very high in these markets making these channels a clear winner for connecting with the target audience with less noise from competitors.

The value that each of these industry research tools brings is undeniable. Even better, brands and agencies can leverage our access to these tools through strategic partnerships and project work. At Mindstream Media Group, we are built to be an extension of your team, working closely with you to drive better results for your business. Whether you’re with a brand or an agency, if you’re looking for a partner to help take your work to the next level, connect with us to explore the opportunities.

[WEBINAR RECAP]: How Will Facebook’s Conversions API Help Propel Brands Into a Cookieless Future?

Posted on May 20, 2021May 21, 2021 by Mindstream Media Group

The ads ecosystem is rapidly evolving to meet privacy expectations. As a result, the industry is moving away from the primary technology it relies on to deliver relevant and personal ad experiences, yet personalized advertising remains valuable to both consumers and brands. One common misconception is that personalization is at odds with privacy; however, that is not the case. In fact, many of the solutions evolving today are actually helping to create a more private world with consumers at the center of decision-making.

Many advertisers currently rely on browser data captured by pixels which are downloaded along with the web page. The pixel sends a cookie to the server when the user completes a tracked event like making a purchase, abandoning their cart or viewing a product page. With pixels in place, marketers can measure and optimize campaigns, using captured data to adjust audience targeting. But the reliance on web browsers is becoming a growing challenge, as they are not always the most reliable way to capture data, especially as more and more consumers are using ad blockers. Loading errors and connectivity issues can also prevent tracking pixels from capturing valuable browser events. In addition, and most importantly, recent and impending browser changes including limitations to the efficacy of cookies will make it more difficult for websites to share information about site visitors’ activity with their analytics and service providers. This is a massive industry change impacting the ability to share data through pixels and the cookies they send out.

In 2018, Apple’s Safari browser launched Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP), blocking third-party cookies by default and limiting the lifespan of certain first-party cookies and data storage. In 2019, Mozilla’s Firefox browser blocked third-party cookies by default, and Google has announced their intent to remove support for third-party cookies by 2022. Due to this deprecation, cookies have no long-term viability for digital user identification. Very soon, most browsers will block all third-party cookies by default and even limit the lifespan of first-party cookies.

Without the data captured by cookies via the browser, advertisers will experience an impact to their ability to reach consumers who have expressed interest in their brand, deliver relevant ads to their customers, optimize ads towards conversions and accurately measure and report on campaign results. Facebook’s Conversions API can help. Click here to download a quick reference guide.

What is Conversions API?

Conversions API is a tool designed to help businesses honor the privacy choices made by consumers. It creates a new and direct connection to Facebook allowing advertisers and partners to share information.

Prior to implementing Conversions API, the flow of event data to Facebook begins with an event, such as customer data being entered into a form field or a user clicking on a webpage link. This triggers a request to the advertiser’s website or server from the web browser to submit information from the form field or load the landing page. When the form is submitted or the landing page loads, the pixel event is triggered, and the Facebook pixel installed on the page will load on the browser sharing the event data with Facebook. However, browser and device defaults are increasingly blocking that data. When Conversions API is implemented, a direct channel for events is established between the advertiser’s server and Facebook, eliminating the reliance on browsers.

In its simplest form, Conversions API allows advertisers to send events, or customer actions, to Facebook that can be used to help improve their advertising.

What are the advantages of Conversions API?

Discrete data control – advertisers determine what data is shared and when
Reliable data sharing – less susceptible to browser and connectivity issues
Full-funnel visibility – more insight into the consumers that matter most

Having a more reliable data connection allows advertisers to not only secure—but strengthen—the insights that power their Facebook campaigns. The data connected to Facebook allows advertisers to create and target custom audiences, personalize ads and drive the outcomes that matter most to their business.

Banks – The pixel can track only the number of mortgage applications submitted. But CAPI can show how many of those applications were actually approved, allowing the advertiser to narrow in on a segment of consumers.
Restaurants – The pixel provides visibility of online orders, but what about the people who see or click on an ad and go into the restaurant? CAPI allows that data to be tied back to the ad.
Fitness – The pixel can track free trials, showing user intent, but CAPI can take that a step further and track memberships.
eCommerce – CAPI can track not only the basket value, but the lifetime value of the consumer.

Will Conversions API replace the Facebook Pixel?

The short answer is no, using Conversions API in combination with the Facebook pixel can maximize the data connected with Facebook. With stronger data, advertisers can gain greater visibility into the whole funnel of their customers’ actions. Conversions API plus the pixel is our recommended set up for most businesses; however, a standalone implementation of Conversions API may be best for those that handle more sensitive consumer data requiring compliance with HIPAA requirements like those in the health and medical industry. The discrete data control provided by Conversions API allows the advertiser to select which data points are shared with Facebook to ensure compliance.

Conversions API allows advertisers to pass along web events, offline events, CRM data, qualified lead information gathered over the phone or significant customer interactions happening elsewhere online and offline. Many of these events are not captured by the pixel giving advertisers a big advantage in reaching the right customer with the right information.

Will there be an impact to Facebook campaigns if Conversions API isn’t implemented?

Yes. Without the ability to properly attribute online actions advertisers will be forced to revert to the link click method used 5-6 years ago to optimize campaigns. The problem with this approach is that users who click on an ad aren’t necessarily the users who convert online. Advertisers need to be able to track those online actions to optimize campaigns accordingly. In addition, by October 1, 2021, Facebook will require advertisers to implement Conversions API in order to run lift tests.

Mindstream Media Group can help advertisers avoid this setback, first by validating the quality and impact of Conversions API on your Facebook campaigns, then reviewing the historical data you already have to establish proper strategy and benchmarks for future success. Adopting Conversions API now is a proactive step that can help safeguard your brand’s advertising from the performance degradations we expect over the next year.

Can Conversions API prevent the impact of iOS 14 data loss when users opt-out?

There are several benefits for advertisers that are adopting Conversions API, including explicit and intentional control over how and what data is shared with advertising platforms. Another benefit is the customer journey insights for interactions that occur both on and off a business website, as well as access to personalized advertising features and functionality for deep funnel optimization.

However, like data collected by the pixel, any data that’s collected via Conversions API for iOS 14 users is governed by the same Aggregated Event Measurement (AEM) requirements, which means that measurement tracking and optimization of some mobile web events will be very significantly impacted.

Facebook’s Aggregated Event Measurement is a protocol that allows for measurement of web events for iOS 14 users. It limits domains to eight conversion events that can then be used for conversion optimization.

Events that are sent through CAPI do still need to adhere to the requirements of AEM, so it’s not necessarily a solution, but as browser policies impact the efficacy of cookies for sharing data, businesses need to adapt to new technologies to power personalized advertising. Conversions API really enables the next generation of personalized advertising on Facebook.

Will Facebook store or sell the data that companies provide through Conversions API?

Regardless of how data is shared—whether it’s through the pixel, Offline Conversions, Conversions API, etc.—Facebook business tools’ terms mandate that advertisers only share data in line with their own legal obligations, platform terms and commitments made to their users. Conversions API, like Facebook’s other business tools including the pixel, is designed to honor Facebook’s consumer privacy controls, which allow users to choose and manage how their data is used and shared.

For instance, Off-Facebook Activity (OFA) is an option that allows users to see and disconnect information that other websites and apps share with Facebook. The platform provides full transparency about the information it receives and how it’s used, in their publicly available Data Policy. In addition to those terms, Facebook also uses active data filtering, which automatically removes certain types of potentially sensitive data, like social security numbers or passwords, before it is stored.

Is there a one-size-fits-all solution for implementing Conversions API?

Each brand or advertiser will have their own unique needs, and there are three implementation methods to help customize a solution.

Direct

Your brand’s developers, or web dev team, work alongside Facebook developers to build an integration.

Facebook Marketing Partners for Technical Services

If your brand does not have a web dev team or if you need extra resources to build a direct integration, Mindstream Media Group can leverage our partnership with Facebook to find a technical services partner to help your brand with the heavy lifting on the back end.

Partner Solutions

Partner solutions include third-party vendors who already have integrations created to help enable server-side data sharing. There are several types of partner solutions.

Customer Data Platforms like Tealium and Segment collect and distribute client data to various platforms, including Facebook.
Commerce and Website Platforms like Shopify, for example, enable end-to-end creation and management of online stores for ecommerce brands.
System Integrators like Zapier or LeadsBridge provide technical integrations for platforms in agnostic use-cases.
Marketing Technology point solutions like Salesforce or Adobe help power marketing campaigns and are geared toward lower-funnel events like purchases.

As your partner in Conversions API integration, Mindstream Media Group will help you decide which solution is best for your brand.

Has Conversions API been successfully implemented by any brands?

There are a handful of CAPI case studies available within Facebook for Business success stories. One great example is Love Your Melon, which is a direct response (DR) focused apparel brand that implemented Conversions API using the Shopify integration. After integration, an account-wide conversion lift study was conducted to understand the true business impact and validate results. Love Your Melon saw a 17 percent increase in attributed revenue after integrating CAPI. They also saw a $230,000+ sales lift in incremental revenue and over 3,000 incremental conversions from implementation of CAPI plus the pixel, (the recommended approach).

Another example is HoneyBook, a business management platform that helps small businesses organize all of their client communication and payments in one place. They were also an early adopter of Conversions API and used it to cut their acquisition costs by 50 percent.

How do I get started?

First, you’ll want to secure buy-in from key stakeholders within your company, like marketing executives, technology or analytics teams, IT, a solutions partner and your legal counsel. Once you receive buy-in from the necessary parties, we’ll work to establish a proper data connection and monitor data flowing to Facebook.

Although this process is different for every company, we estimate a time frame of around 90 days from buy-in to implementation. Using a partner with more of a turnkey solution could result in faster implementation, but the more requirements your brand has, the longer the process will take. 2022 is approaching quickly so it’s important to get the ball rolling.

TL;DR Key Takeaways

Implement Conversions API as soon as possible to preserve marketing effectiveness.
Consider using a third-party integration partner.
Download this handy reference doc.
Connect with Mindstream Media Group to get specific integration recommendations for your business.

[Case Study]: Redefining CPG Media Mix for Immediate Growth

Posted on August 28, 2020September 10, 2020 by Mindstream Media Group

Mindstream Media Group has successfully partnered with CPG brands to develop local market media plans designed to measure the impact of strategic paid media elements on overall brand awareness and sales lift. This experience and unique perspective were leveraged to create a media mix strategy for a national kitchen and laundry appliance cleaning product brand.

Overview

The client’s previous approach to media was broad in structure and did not lend itself to observable test and learn scenarios, which is key to identifying and proving media mix effectiveness. We revised the setup of targeted media and implemented a carefully outlined, multi-market exposed versus control media channel delivery strategy. The result showed a large lift in year-over-year sales and armed us with insights for driving even greater returns with future campaigns.

Challenge

Increase brand awareness of and sales for a CPG brand amidst a stacked roster of brands in the cleaning product category.

Objectives

Modify the existing mass reaching, national approach of media delivery into a pinpointed selection of markets in order to measure and verify:

sales of core products
media channel value and opportunity for progressed application

Approach

Mindstream Media Group’s initial collaboration with our client involved mapping out historical sales data to visualize product sales by DMA. Once complete, we added retailer store count and population density per DMA to gain a better understanding of the opportunity landscape of each market. Test and control markets were then defined based on this data.

The test included 12 DMAs that were segmented into three groups (Control, Market A, Market B). Segments were grouped together based on Q4 2018 sales volume and DMA population density relative to the number of retailers within those DMAs. Within each group, there were also high, mid and low investment DMAs.

Market A and B segments were exposed to a consistent base media channel mix focused on new customer prospecting and re-engaging users at various touchpoints along the path to purchase. DMAs in Market B were assigned a variable media outlet/channel partner and had specialized delivery against them with an opportunity to engage users via this additional touchpoint. The contribution and return of this channel partner were assessed by online ROI reports and the effect on retailer sales within supported markets.

Control markets were supported only by national paid search efforts. All other media delivery was withheld to establish baseline market references for general year-over-year sales trends and the impact of media support versus none.

The goal of the test was to assess how media impacts sales growth of brand products and whether a certain media mix had a greater impact over others. Sales of three of the brand’s appliance cleaning products (for washing machines, dishwashers and disposals) were tracked relative to the following media channels:

Display
YouTube
Paid Social
Paid Search
Dynamic Digital Retail Partnerships

Hear more about how we proved the true efficacy of media and leveraged shopper marketing to boost sales.

Results

Both test groups showed a significant lift in both quarterly and year-over-year sales (2019 Q3 vs Q4 and 2018 Q4 vs 2019 Q4). Our first quarter of media partnership revealed an 89 percent lift in sales in A Markets and a 200 percent lift in sales in B Markets quarter-over-quarter.

A Markets – Q3 2019, 9% lift YoY / Q4 2019, 17% lift YoY / 2019 QoQ, 89% lift

B Markets – Q3 2019, 6% lift YoY / Q4 2019, 18% lift YoY / 2019 QoQ, 200% lift

A media-driven lift was visible in all three of the brand’s core appliance cleaners supported in the test:

Product 1 = Washing machine cleaner (65 percent budget allocated to support)
Product 2 = Dishwasher cleaner (20 percent budget allocated to support)
Product 3 = Disposal cleaner (15 percent budget allocated to support)

*LY = Last year *TY = This year

Leveraging Facebook Ads During COVID-19

Posted on May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 by Krystal MacIntyre

Not only has COVID-19 driven dramatic changes to our typical routines and ways of working, it has also changed how people use Facebook’s apps. Facebook has reported seeing spikes in usage of their apps; however, they are also seeing a significant decrease in ad spend. This is great for advertisers, as there are more users on the platform, and less competition in the ad space.

The COVID-19 crisis has specifically impacted Facebook’s messaging apps, with more than a 50 percent increase reported globally. While the increase in feeds and stories hasn’t been as large as the messaging increase, Facebook reported that they have seen record usage on their platforms nearly every day.

What does all of this mean for brands who are active on these platforms?

Lower CPMs can provide a unique opportunity:
- Less advertising on Facebook = less competition. This means the bid rates on Facebook are lower as it is a true marketplace in terms of bidding.
Ads should be run using Auto Placements:
- We always recommend Auto Placements to ensure ads are shown in the places they’re likely to perform best. But with usage being so high on Facebook’s messaging platforms, ads need to run not only in feeds, but also on Messenger, Stories, etc. This also means ads need custom creative for each placement so audiences on those platforms see the ad in a way that fits the placement.

Since consumers are spending an increased amount of time on Facebook’s apps, the platform is active with the target audiences that brands want to reach. In addition, the platform is an ideal place to run multiple messages to test effectiveness and quickly change messaging depending on the situation. Being nimble is a requirement to successfully navigate rapidly changing market conditions, especially as states and even individual counties within them, reopen at a different pace.

While all businesses can benefit from Facebook advertising, those that are open and actively serving their customers, even if through modified services, should maintain their advertising spend on Facebook’s platforms. These businesses include (but aren’t limited to):

Those offering delivery or pick-up services like dine-in restaurants or bars that are offering to-go beverages when they usually are on-premise only.
Businesses with apps their customers can use (such as mobile banking or mobile fitness apps).
Those that desire to drive awareness may want to send a new message about their brand or a specific crisis-related communication to their customers or perhaps to an even wider audience in their geographic area.
Others who don’t fall into the above categories can still benefit from maintaining a presence on Facebook. For example, offering gift card sales or communicating what actions are being taken to prepare for a safe reopening can help brands stay top of mind with their audience.

At the height of the crisis, many brands pivoted their messaging to be more relevant and show empathy with their customers and followers, putting solutions before sales. As the progressive re-emergence unfolds, consumers will increasingly want to hear non-pandemic related messaging. Facebook continues to be a good platform to share these types of messages as stay-at-home orders are relaxed and more businesses begin to reopen. And, the reduced competition for ad space lets you stretch your marketing dollars further.

Snapchat Platform Landscape: Learnings From COVID-19

Posted on May 11, 2020May 12, 2020 by Charles Ackley

Over the past few weeks, Snapchat has reported increased engagement across the platform, much of it coming from communication between close friends and family. Discover Content within News, Health & Wellness and Gaming are also seeing increased engagement. With friends looking for new ways to connect and have fun together, engagement in Snap Games has reached the highest figures since launch.

Of course, maintaining quarantine best practices means adjusting your routine, so it’s no surprise that new methods of keeping busy revolve around internet use. With disruptions in daily routines, Snapchatters are adjusting their priorities, interests and choices. News and financial sites are seeing increases in activity as people look to stay informed and plan for the future during our current environment. Equity trading apps have also seen increased interest as Snapchatters look to pay close attention to their investments throughout this time of uncertainty.

Snapchat Marketing Advantages

Depending on your objectives, there are some advantages to the changing landscape on Snapchat, and certain brands or campaign goals can see scale and success. Within the platform we are seeing increases in Install Volume for App Ads (+36 percent), Swipe-up Rate (+19 percent), Time Spent Calling (+50 percent) and Time Spent Engaging with Lenses (+25 percent). With increased engagement on the Snapchat app, there is an opportunity for brands to test creatives, execute brand-lift studies, scale within specific verticals and execute brand awareness with historically low CPM inventory.

Highlights

Time spent calling (+50 percent)
Time spent engaging with lenses (+25 percent)
Install volume for app ads (+36 percent)
Swipe-up Rate (+19 percent)

Increased engagement

News and Financial Sites
Equity Trading Apps
Current usage has reached an all-time high, surpassing typical peaks on Christmas and major holidays
Group Chats have reached an all-time high as well
Calling has grown by more than 50 percent
Engagement in Snap Games has reached the highest figures since launch

Snapchat Recommendations for Business

The change in consumer behavior in the wake of COVID-19 presents both opportunities and challenges for advertisers. While all advertisers are anticipating a return to stable consumer behavior, normalcy and business-as-usual, it’s important to remain proactive and vigilant in the pursuit of media success. As a Snapchat Certified Partner with extensive platform expertise, Mindstream Media Group recommends the following:

1. Scale Top-Performing Verticals – Due to strong trending performance, we recommend capitalizing on momentum within Snapchat for brands who fall within the following verticals:

- Financial Services
- News
- App Install (Gaming, Streaming and VOD, News, Financial, Equity Trading Apps, Fitness and Wellbeing – Health and Meditation)
- CPG (Cleaning Products, Everyday Staples, Subscription Boxes, Prepared Foods, Fitness Equipment, Health, Supplements and Medical Supplies)
- eCommerce
- Gifting

2. Test AR Lens – With engagement at an all-time high and costs at an all-time low, there is an opportunity for brands who’ve yet to test AR lenses. In addition to increased engagement and low cost, AR lenses reach an entirely new inventory source compared to the other ad units. Within the Snapchat ecosystem, there are many users that frequently visit the discover section and view publisher content, but there is also a whole set of users, specifically content creators, who spend the majority of their time on the app interacting with lenses and sharing content with friends and family. Leveraging the AR Lens unit, advertisers can achieve incremental reach while capitalizing on brand interaction when users are engaging the most. Bonus Content: 5 Tips for AR Lenses During This Time.

3. Pivot Messaging and Goals – Advertisers should remain proactive by pivoting their goals and messaging to align with the COVID-19 landscape. In order to achieve success, brands and advertisers who’ve been focusing on in-store visits as a KPI can restructure their campaign goals to focus on driving traffic to their website, app-installs, purchases, engagement or even brand lift. To captivate audiences and nurture relationships with consumers, we recommend leveraging Snapchat best practices for messaging during this time.

With over 229 million daily users, Snapchat provides an opportunity to connect with a unique audience while they are communicating with friends, playing and learning. The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in increased engagement and historically low CPMs, making now a great time for brands to explore the platform’s ability to build awareness, drive consideration and boost conversions. The situation is ripe with opportunity for advertisers in verticals like financial services, news and CPG or those with particular campaign goals such as increasing website visits or app-installs to scale and test.

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