Welcome to Scout! Each week, our team tracks down the best digital marketing articles, POVs, and reports—so you don't have to. Here’s what to read from the week of 9/1/23 - 9/7/23 to stay ahead of the curve:
Meta is reportedly weighing the possibility of offering an ad-free, subscription-based version of Facebook and Instagram in Europe. The source of this dramatic shift in revenue model: the Digital Services Act, which gives European internet users more control over how their data is used, combined with a recent data-focused EU court ruling that curbed Meta’s ability to combine user data across platforms (not to mention a huge fine levied by Irish regulators that cost the social giant hundreds of millions of euros). No wonder Zuckerberg was itching for a cage match to let off some steam!
This week, the Justice Department kicked off its first antitrust case against Google, accusing the Big Tech behemoth of monopolizing the online search market. The results from the trial could upend the search market, force Google to restructure or pay huge fines…or ultimately end uneventfully and without further action. Either way, it may just be Act I in the drama between the DOJ and Google: a separate suit on Google’s illegal abuse of its adtech monopoly was filed in January.
Speaking of Google, the company is gradually rolling out its new “Enhanced Ad Privacy” Chrome functionality, which allows websites to target users with ads based on their online activities, interests, and browser histories, but is positioned as a privacy-friendly alternative to third-party cookies. However, users who’ve seen the notification are complaining that Google has made it unclear how to toggle this new tracking method on and off—using, to every marketer’s chagrin, vague language and a confusing CTA.
Read all of these stories already and hungry for more? No need to waste your time searching for the right read: Answer a few quick questions, and this quiz will provide a piece of content sure to suit your current needs and interests.
Show off your marketing chops with our question of the week. This week’s hot topic: Convergent TV and video advertising.
How much ad spend was represented by digital video at this year’s upfronts?
A. Less than one-quarter
B. About half
C. Roughly two-thirds
D. More than three-quarters
Click here to get the answer, plus learn how to navigate TV advertising amidst convergent TV’s dramatic plot twists—including the continuing writer’s and actor’s strikes.
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Is it just us, or does the digital advertising world feel like it’s changing faster than your favorite coffee shop’s menu at the first hint of fall (white pumpkin mochas, anyone?) It can be hard to carve out time to just sit down to get in a good read—or even know what to read once you find a few minutes.
Enter: our content recommendation quiz. Whether you’re in the mood for a deep dive or a read-it-in-one-go piece, a quirky article or something a bit more buttoned-up, this quick quiz will identify the perfect read for you.
Sit down, Sopranos. Back up, The Bachelor. Get lost, Game of Thrones! The latest season of TV upfronts might be more dramatic than all three of you combined.
OK, we’re exaggerating...but only slightly. The real-world story has progressed so quickly and taken so many twists and turns that it’s felt like one of those shows you kind of have to read the recaps for. Assuming that’s why you’re here, we'll get right to it:
Let’s start with one of the biggest stories of the year: On May 2, the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) went on strike to pressure the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to provide a fairer contract, citing “business practices [that] have slashed [their] compensation and residuals and undermined [their] working conditions.” On July 14, the Screen Actor’s Guild, or SAG-AFTRA, joined the WGA with its own strike against AMPTP, in an effort to secure higher wages, new controls over the use of AI, and a new compensation model to account for the shift to a streaming.
With the strikes curbing (and then effectively ending) production on new scripted TV shows, the fall lineup has shifted from its usual mix of comedies and dramas to a parade of reality shows, game shows, and (gasp!) reruns.
At the same time, there’s been some massive personnel churn across the industry. From major layoffs at Disney and ESPN, to Don Lemon’s exit from CNN and Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox, to NBCU’s loss of its CEO and its Chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships (the latter of whom has gone on to become X’s (formerly Twitter) new CEO) shortly before the upfronts, many linear and streaming giants are experiencing some major upheaval. As to how these changes will impact their advertising businesses, there’s a whole lot of uncertainty—both in the short and long term.
Then there's the convergence we’re seeing in the historically fragmented landscape of streaming TV, with new mega-apps like Max, which has combined the content libraries of HBO Max and Discovery+, and Disney planning to fold Hulu and ESPN content into Disney+ later this year to form its own super-app (though Hulu and ESPN+ will still be available as standalone offerings as well).
While digital video represented about half of ad spend from last year’s upfronts, that share has grown to roughly two-thirds this year, with linear’s YoY share decreasing significantly as advertisers move their dollars over to digital. As for viewers? Well, July 2023 marked the first time ever that linear TV usage dipped below 50% of all TV viewing as streaming continues its inevitable rise.
So yeah, just a few small things for advertisers to keep track of.
To help you make sense of it all, we called in two of our experts, Susan Mandell, VP of Brand Development, and Paul Morrone, Integrated Client Solutions Director. Below, they explore all the biggest questions on advertisers’ minds and provide recommendations for how to weather the wild, wild west of convergent TV in 2023.
Paul Morrone: At the beginning of the writer’s strike, the first domino to fall was late night TV. Ever since then, programs like “The Tonight Show,” “SNL,” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live” have been running reruns instead of new episodes. Now that SAG-AFTRA is also on strike, and given that both strikes have no end in sight, production for new scripted TV seasons that typically start in the fall has been delayed. All of this impacts the content available for advertisers—a lot of that looks very different now than what they were expecting even just a few months ago.
Susan Mandell: If it does come to a point where there isn’t any new scripted TV coming out, people will be watching unscripted content like sports, as well as going back to CTV and streaming channels (and their giant mass of content) to find something they haven’t watched before…or to indulge with an old favorite. This poses the question of whether the whole situation will fuel more cord-cutting, because if you're not getting the content that you're used to from your cable subscription, you might want to scrap it and put that money toward some streaming services.
PM: While some of our favorite scripted series will experience delayed returns, networks are relying on alternative content to help them weather the storm. Sports and unscripted reality programming will serve as the linear TV advertising band-aid heading into the final stretch of the year. Advertisers will need to be agile and likely shift some of their linear dollars into capitalizing on live sports and/or unscripted content...or, potentially, away from linear TV altogether.
SM: In this moment, if you're advertising on those late-night TV programs that are now showing reruns, you're likely not going to get the consumers you thought you were, because they’re moving their eyeballs to content that's new to them—whether that’s a show they haven't watched before, a new streaming program, or even a new podcast. In many instances, they're not finding that new content in linear right now—with the exception of sports and unscripted content.
The question becomes, how do marketers pivot their current or traditional marketing plans in an effort to really be in front of the right people? If you want to be in front of the right people on video, you can certainly do that on social channels like TikTok, Meta, or YouTube. And luckily, union actors can still work on commercials, since they are covered by a different contract than the one SAG-AFTRA is negotiating with the AMPTP, so there shouldn’t be any significant curbing of the creative opportunities available to advertisers while the strike continues.
In addition to social, there’s also CTV, where you can really connect to a specific audience in ways that you weren't able to with linear. For example, you can use an audience segment of people who have done X, Y and Z, or who fall into a certain demographic, and reach them specifically where they’re viewing their content.
This is a really interesting moment for advertisers to think more about personalization and who their consumers are, who their target consumers are, what consumers drive the lowest customer acquisition rate and the highest lifetime value. How do you target those consumers to generate new revenue streams or new subscribers or whatever you may be selling? If you're thinking about how to maximize your dollars without wasting impressions on the wrong people, gearing it towards digital—think social and CTV—makes sense right now as eyeballs move away from linear to find new content.
SM: When you think about linear, the guarantee you have is that time slot, right? You can see your ad and know that it checks all the boxes, but outside of that, there's little that you're able to do from a targeting perspective, outside the show.
In digital environments, there are more opportunities to get consumers to interact—and for advertisers to see and track those interactions—than we’ve ever had in linear. On YouTube TV, for example, consumers can click to get more information on each ad as it pops up.
Typically, CTV ads that work really well are those with QR codes or those that have immediate calls to action. And this is an interesting moment where people tend to have their phones or devices in their hands while they’re watching TV, so they're already ready to interact.
PM: One of the things that I find really interesting about this moment is that it shows how quickly things can change in this space. Constant change is going to be the new normal. We've seen an abundance of streaming platforms trying to go to market, as well as convergence of content with Max and Disney, and that tumult is going to continue because not everyone's going to be able to survive.
Agility, and the ability to react quickly, is critical right now. For advertisers, it’s a great opportunity to embrace your sense of adventure—a test and learn approach is really going to be key.
SM: You’ve got to be flexible, and the digital space affords a lot more flexibility than we’ve ever had in linear. In this space, you can move dollars from a display campaign to a video campaign with three clicks of a button. For marketers to be agile and have their dollars flow in and out of mediums depending on what’s working and where people are, being in the digital space or the CTV space is really the best way to meet your consumers where they are.
Not to say that linear isn’t one of the strongest mediums out there—it absolutely is. But there are alternatives now that give marketers more flexibility to reach the right consumers without the price tag or the volatility that we’re seeing in linear.
Phew! This might be one of those seasons you want to watch a second time, just to make sure you catch it all. To recap the recap, here’s what advertisers should know:
In light of the writer’s and actor’s strikes, as well as larger audience trends, advertisers may want to consider moving some of their linear dollars over to digital video to capture audience attention on the channels and platforms where consumers are spending time. And with major changes seeming to happen more and more at the broadcast and streaming giants, digital offers advertisers the agility necessary to act swiftly in reaction to whatever plot twists come down the line.
Luckily, there’s one thing that’s certain: TV is one drama that won’t get cancelled anytime soon.
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If you’re ready to lean into connected TV, but want more information on how to do it right, check out our connected TV advertising guide for the latest data, trends, and best practices.
What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? This month, Alexa Dillon, Basis’ VP of Search Media Investment, and Erik Chellberg, VP of Social Media Investment, compiled all the latest news, trends, and resources for easy access.
At the end of July, Twitter announced its name change to X—and just like that, the blue and white bird logo has flown the coop. This is a massive first step in Elon Musk's plans to rebrand and transform the social media platform into a so-called “everything app," although little detail has been shared on what exactly that entails. There is no change to paid advertising opportunities on the platform as of right now, but that may evolve as Musk and team build out and expand X's organic and paid offerings.
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Many of Google’s new marketing features are aimed at driving efficiency at a time when maximizing learnings to improve campaign effectiveness is top of mind, especially for retailers. For example, Google is updating product pages with more details to inform data-driven decisions that boost ROAS, making it easier to onboard local ads. Google is also rolling out more A/B experiment opportunities and expanding ad space in the top search slot for users who have shown explicit shopping intent.
Google is rolling out an AI-powered feature to help advertisers run videos across orientations in video action campaigns. Flip video ads use computer vision technology and Google's AI to automatically transform horizontal videos into vertical and/or square videos. The functionality will be enabled by default but will not serve if an advertiser’s own vertical and square assets are uploaded in every ad group. If desired, it can be disabled in campaign settings through the "video enhancement" control. All flipped videos go through an extensive human evaluation before being approved.
That’s cool, but check out THIS flip.
Google has deprecated all but two of its attribution models, last-click and data-driven, citing low adoption for other rules-based attribution models—although the company’s heavy lean into data-driven attribution reinforces its desire for data ownership and analysis. E-commerce retailers should determine if they can accommodate minimum requirements for data-driven policies, or they will be forced to use last-click attribution in lieu of other time-decay options.
The Demand Gen campaign type, announced in May at Google Marketing Live, is now open for beta. For marketers who sign up for the beta, their existing Discovery campaigns will automatically be upgraded to Demand Gen. All other Discovery campaigns will be eligible for the upgrade upon wide release in October, with automatic upgrades expected from January to March 2024. Demand Gen campaigns combine image and video ads and serve across YouTube Shorts and in-stream, Discovery, and Gmail. New features include ad previews, A/B creative experiments, the option to use a click-based bid strategy, and lookalike segments.
Microsoft's version of Performance Max is now available for select advertisers, allowing them to maximize conversions and set targets for return on ad spend while leveraging Microsoft’s entire suite of inventory to reach untapped audiences. Like automated ad buying programs on other platforms, one additional key benefit is that advertisers can add assets, such as text and images, to groups, which are then automatically applied to campaigns at scale based on best-performing combinations.
Oops, wrong betta. Nothing fishy about these new features.
TikTok’s sights are set on growing its global e-commerce business to more than $20 billion through TikTok Shop. TikTok's creator community and appeal to Gen Z make it the platform to watch in the social commerce space, according to eMarketer insiders. As of today, 17% of US adults start their shopping journey on TikTok, compared to Instagram's 18%, Facebook's 21%, and YouTube's 23%.
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Consumer trust plays a fundamental role in the financial services industry.
The inherently personal nature of the products and services provided, coupled with their potential magnitude of impact, puts trust right at the center of the consumer relationship. As such, it’s not enough for financial services brands to simply talk the talk when it comes to trust—they must actively diagnose and acknowledge weak spots and constantly improve their operational mechanisms to build better trust-related outcomes.
Indeed, this is an area where many players in the financial ecosystem are struggling to meet expectations, and those struggles can be even more prominent in digital channels—where there is typically less human interaction, greater anonymity, and increased fraud risk. It’s a shortcoming that’s been further exposed post-pandemic, as consumers have increasingly embraced online channels, rendering the physical presence of a retail footprint less meaningful. To top it all off, emerging fintech apps and other non-traditional financial products and services are now flooding the marketplace, offering greater levels of convenience, choice, and flexibility.
Against this backdrop, the financial institutions (FIs) that build acceptance and trust through agile digital marketing touchpoints can better position themselves to develop stronger consumer relationships—and grow their bottom lines, to boot. Here, we discuss some key aspects of digital trust in financial services marketing and provide recommendations for how financial advertisers can strengthen that trust with consumers.
In light of privacy-minded regulations such as CCPA, CPRA, and GDPR, and with the rapid approach of the cookieless future, first-party data is becoming increasingly central to supporting a vibrant digital media advertising strategy.
For FIs with extensive product sets and revenue streams, collecting consented data and leveraging it for marketing is particularly important. It is integral to prospecting efforts, and has the potential to unlock a wave of cross- and up-selling avenues, especially when merged with second- and third-party audience data sets to create a holistic view—not just of an existing customer, but also of the types of customers an FI wants to acquire within a particular product type. This level of data activation can inform a highly measurable approach to media buying.
The caveat here, however, is the handling of this data. When it comes to anonymizing and cleaning these data sets, FIs must be nothing short of immaculate. A massive 75% of consumers are not comfortable making a purchase from a brand that has poor personal data ethics. With the stakes so high—and awareness of these issues continually growing—the way FIs collect, store, curate, and activate consumer data, and handle privacy, can become a point of differentiation. Companies must be vigilant, communicate transparently, and lean on experts to support this evolution and create future-proof data infrastructure.
How financial institutions leverage targeting mechanisms for a digital marketing campaign is only one piece of the advertising puzzle, but it’s one that deserves some dedicated attention and consideration. Oftentimes, FIs can be overly focused on the review and internal alignment of messaging and creative communications, all of which must go through a rigorous legal compliance review before they’re pushed out the door (and for good reason!). But now, with consumer targeting under the federal microscope, brands will need to be just as focused on the specific ways they reach their consumers—and this, in turn, may require changes to some well-established processes.
One example of this intensifying regulatory scrutiny is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) interpretive rule concerning behavioral targeting through digital media (ruling in full here). In short, it says digital marketers acting as service providers “can be held liable by the CFPB or other law enforcers for committing unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices as well as other consumer financial protection violations.” With this in mind, FIs must now look much closer at service provider compliance (for example, with agencies) and the platforms and systems they use to distribute messaging.
Consumers expect FIs to employ high ethical standards with both their communications and their targeting methods. For a long time, everyone simply placed trust in their agencies, the big channels, and the big technologies to do the targeting part of that mix for them. This approach, however, is no longer acceptable. The CFPB ruling may be somewhat cloudy, but it is shining a spotlight on the need for a more tightly intertwined media buying process in the financial industry so that advertising is executed in a way that builds trust with target consumers. This is pivotal for all FIs, but especially important for regional and smaller institutions, as trust in their local communities is core to their success.
The consumer is queen (or king) in the digital world, and perhaps nowhere does this ring truer than in the financial space, where experiences and brand perception are increasingly assuming greater significance. This means financial advertisers must approach growth differently—in a way that restructures how they plan, optimize, and report.
Having a full range of features and products is table stakes for FIs, but today, many of those individual offerings now sit disconnected in silos. This presents a massive headache for marketing organizations in a space where experiences are no longer a differentiator when it comes to trust, but instead a crucial aspect of maintaining it. FIs, especially the old incumbents, need to focus on breaking down those silos to determine what is right for the consumer and repairing their reputations at a brand level—rather than, say, revolving their strategies around marketing the next new innovative product.
This is rooted in embracing the power of brand loyalty and brand reputation, establishing a presence in the marketplace and acquiring consumers before they even reach their purchase point. It’s no easy feat to achieve, though—not when there are emerging tools and apps that have a leg up in this conversation because they’re not immediately stymied by the stigma that is “big banks,” or when technology juggernauts like Google and Apple are entering the financial realm with an abundance of consumer data, best-in-class user experiences, and already-comprehensive operating mechanisms.
This competitive landscape requires traditional FIs to evolve, as the long-term operational and product expertise that at one point was an advantage has been eclipsed by neo-fintech. Younger generations, in particular, are increasingly distrustful and wary of the traditional institutions for fear of being exploited through hidden fees and other deceitful tactics (something else the CFPB is tackling, by the way!) The digital revolution has put FIs on a collision course with a range of newer, nimbler rivals, and to stand a chance, they will need to reframe their strategy to prioritize branding over product and more effectively meet the omnichannel experiences consumers now expect.
Over the past several years, there’s been a notable increase in digital ad spending in the financial services industry: From 2019 to 2023, digital ad spending grew from $18.07 billion to $30.02 billion. That’s an increase of over 66%! And investment in digital channels is forecast to continue to grow in the coming years, making it critical that marketing teams carefully consider just how they’re leveraging different digital channels to connect with audiences.
For example, FIs might use channels like digital out-of-home and connected TV to build broad awareness of their brand. Additionally, FIs might use first-party data to reach specific audiences relevant to a product or service across digital video and/or display. They could then lean into digital video and digital audio advertisements—which make it easy to elevate customer stories and experiences in their own words—to deepen trust with prospective audiences. By strategically leveraging these diverse channels, advertisers can create a seamless omnichannel experience that fosters connection with customers, enhances brand presence, and results in product and customer growth.
However, these digital channels come with their own challenges, and one of the biggest for FIs is applying them in a way that prioritizes brand safety. This is especially true of social media, where advertisers have less control over the comments and content that shows up near their ads. For an industry as personal as financial services, there are few things more damaging to brand trust than having your content appear alongside misinformation, disinformation, or hateful/harmful content.
To address this challenge and ensure their use of digital channels builds—rather than erodes—trust, FIs must have a strong brand safety plan in place. Such plans should include proactive elements like blocklists or allowlists, topic exclusions, or sensitive subject exclusions, which can help ensure ads aren’t displayed alongside questionable, misleading, or controversial content. These plans should also include specifics on how advertisers will keep an eye on their campaigns and make adjustments to ensure brand safety is prioritized (for instance, by monitoring posts, comments, and other activity on social media). By building a brand safety plan into their digital marketing strategy, FIs can craft meaningful advertising experiences for customers that deepen trust over time.
Inspiring consumer trust must be an ongoing priority for financial institutions. It’s not something FIs can achieve via one-off campaigns, but instead through the effective installation and utilization of robust data infrastructure, ethical targeting and digital marketing compliance in a stormy regulatory environment, a sharp focus on brand perception over pursuing shiny new products, and the strategic use of digital channels in a way that prioritizes brand safety.
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For financial institutions, a significant part of building trust with consumers is listening and adapting to their needs. And with consumers demanding data privacy, leveraging privacy-friendly advertising solutions is a must for FI brands.
Want to learn more about how to secure consumer trust via privacy-compliant advertising? Our guide, Beyond Third-Party Cookies: Your Guide to Privacy-Friendly Advertising, covers everything marketers need to know.
In the fast-paced realm of digital advertising, staying ahead of the competition requires more than crafting compelling creative and targeting the right audience: It demands a deep understanding of campaign performance and the ability to derive strategic insights from consumer actions.
But tracking and understanding consumer actions today is far different than it was a few decades ago, as advertisers are dealing with a complex landscape where emerging channels, platforms, and screens muddle traditional conversion paths. Whereas a typical consumer journey used to follow a fairly predictable and linear progression from awareness to consideration to (ideally!) a conversion, that's not always the case in today’s world. Instead of clear stages, consumers are following a cyclical approach where they can jump in and out of stages or skip stages entirely.
At the same time, the rising complexity of digital advertising with shrinking media budgets, and it has become even more important for advertisers to understand what messaging, optimizations, and targeting are driving a desired action, or conversion.
Today, we’re exploring what conversions are, how advertisers can track them utilizing a demand-side platform (DSP), best practices for optimizing a campaign with a conversion-based KPI, and what impact the loss of third-party cookies in Chrome will have on tracking and measuring conversions moving forward. Read on for everything you need to know.
Imagine this: You’re scrolling through TikTok after a long day at work. Between silly duck videos and mesmerizing cook-along clips, you see one of your favorite creators promoting a skincare product. It’s one you’re familiar with—you remember seeing a different ad for it on YouTube. You click the link in the video, fill out your credit card and shipping information, and voilà! The product will be on your doorstep in a few days.
Sound familiar? This purchase is an example of a conversion.
At its simplest, a conversion is a specific action a user completes on your site. Beyond making a purchase, examples of conversions can include:
By tracking conversions, advertisers can evaluate campaign performance and make optimizations based on what is working and what isn’t. And because advertising budgets tend to be finite, advertisers will often measure the success of a conversion campaign by controlling for cost.
Sample KPIs for conversion tracking include:
By tracking conversions and evaluating the results against these KPIs, advertisers can gain a deeper understanding of which ads, placements, and targeting tactics are resonating with consumers and driving them to take action.
To track an action or conversion, an advertiser must employ a conversion pixel. A conversion pixel is a piece of code specific to a platform (i.e., Meta, Pinterest, or Basis) that tracks a specific action based on how it was created or where it was placed. This pixel can then track activity, such as whether a user clicks on or sees an ad.
While there are nuances based on the platform and/or client, the general process for advertisers to place conversion pixels to track conversions is as follows:
Once the conversion pixel is set up, it’s ready to do its job of tracking and collecting data around consumer actions. When a customer sees an advertisement and completes the relevant action (aka the conversion), the conversion pixel fires and drops a cookie. This cookie allows the advertiser to identify who the user is and check if they saw or clicked on an ad that was served via the corresponding platform. If a user clicked on an ad and immediately took an action, that counts as a click-through conversion. If a user saw the ad, did not click, but ended up taking an action later on, that counts as a view-through conversion.
Once you've ensured a conversion pixel has been placed and is firing correctly, you can make optimizations based on the results you're seeing. Such optimizations could include the following:
As the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome approaches, it’s important to note that conversion tracking will be impacted. The most significant change will be that advertisers will not be able to track view-through conversions, as they require a third-party cookie to track a customer’s behavior after they have seen an ad.
However, advertisers will be able to track click-through conversions in a privacy-friendly manner, given the right technology. Universal pixels can track how consumers behave on a website without collecting any of their personal information. Through the use of universal pixels, marketers can track click-through conversions when third-party cookies aren’t supported in a given browser.
Here’s the key takeaway: The absence of third-party cookies will necessitate the adoption of alternative tracking methods, such as first-party data utilization and privacy-compliant technologies, reshaping the landscape of conversion tracking and prompting advertisers to explore new strategies to maintain precision and effectiveness in gauging campaign success.
In the ever-evolving digital advertising landscape, conversion tracking is one way that advertisers can measure the effectiveness of their campaigns, make intentional and data-driven optimizations, and maximize their budgets. As the consumer journey becomes less linear and more complex, understanding precisely what is driving audiences to take action will grow increasingly important.
That said, some aspects of conversion tracking will shift as advertisers prioritize privacy compliance. In light of consumers and regulators alike demanding increased privacy, it’s critical that advertisers adapt the ways they are targeting and measuring their campaigns to meet those demands.
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Want even more insights on how to adapt to the cookieless future? Check out Beyond Third-Party Cookies: Your Guide to Privacy-Friendly Advertising to learn how marketers can best prepare for the changes coming to digital advertising
Marketers in higher education, we feel for you.
Many industries are experiencing turbulence, thanks to economic upheaval and the lingering impacts of COVID-19, but higher education is reeling from a host of other issues as well. There’s the shift in demand toward digital offerings and increased competition from online bootcamps and certification programs. There’s the recent Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action. And there are the rising tuition costs and record levels of student debt, which have led many to question if getting a college degree is really worth it. In fact, 51% of Americans feel that a college education is “a questionable investment because of high student loans and limited job opportunities.”
These factors aside, perhaps the biggest challenge facing higher ed right now is the looming enrollment cliff. While US college enrollment has been on the decline since 2010, a drop-off in birth rates during the Great Recession of 2008 is set to dramatically shrink the college-age population starting in 2025.
If reading this made your blood pressure spike, stick with us! Our goal today is not only to lay out exactly what the enrollment cliff is and what it means for higher ed, but also to provide strategies marketers can use to address the challenges it poses. Want to set yourself up for success in the coming years? You’ve come to the right place.
Before we dive into strategies, let’s address what the college enrollment cliff is and why it’s happening.
The enrollment cliff is the result of a significant US population shift that happened about 15 years ago. From 2007 to 2009, people had fewer children, largely due to stress and uncertainty stemming from the Great Recession. The birth rate has continued to see a long-term decline ever since, reaching a record low in 2020 (gee, we wonder why...)
Some quick mental math will tell you that kids born during the Great Recession are just now reaching the age when they’ll start to consider and apply to colleges. The problem? That high school-aged population is significantly smaller than it has been historically—with the number of 18-year-olds expected to decrease by 15% from 2025 through 2029—hence the looming drop-off, or “cliff,” which experts predict will take hold in 2025.
Couple this population shift with declining college enrollment in general, and it’s clear that higher education institutions must brace themselves for a drop-off with no clear end in sight.
Now, it’s worth noting that the enrollment cliff will not impact all higher education institutions equally. Elite colleges like Harvard and Yale will be just fine, and West Coast states, Texas, and some Mountain States are projected to see enrollment numbers rise due to migration patterns in those areas. However, colleges in the Northeast and Midwest may see a more than 15% drop in enrollment through 2029.
The enrollment cliff, combined with the other factors impacting higher education that we touched on in the beginning, is set to transform this space in ways that are out of marketers’ control. However, there are some strategies higher ed marketers can leverage to prepare.
If there’s one good thing to come out of the enrollment cliff dilemma, it’s the growing importance of marketers and marketing teams in higher education. Yes, we’re talking about Y-O-U! As competition grows ever fiercer, leadership will look to marketers to attract prospective students by developing impactful messaging and strategically delivering that messaging to target audiences.
Marketers should use the enrollment cliff as an opportunity to get cabinet-level support for their teams and budgets. Lead with the value your team will provide through these turbulent times, and educate your leadership about the support, investments, and technologies you’ll need to ensure your institution’s story gets in front of the right audience, at the right time.
As for what you should you do once you have that support, here are some key strategies and tips to help you meaningfully connect with prospective students, even as that pool declines:
By now, most higher ed marketers appreciate that diversity and inclusion are critical in college marketing. Forces like racism, ableism, and homophobia make it so people of non-majority identities face extra challenges accessing and thriving in higher education, and marketers share the responsibility of combatting those challenges. But packing marketing materials with inauthentic representations of diversity is also harmful, so this is an area where marketers must be mindful, collaborative, and open to learning.
Yes, it’s important for your marketing materials to reflect a country that is growing increasingly racially diverse. But it’s also critical to think about the experiences students will actually have as you’re designing your marketing campaigns. For example, it’s a smart choice to have ads that run in Spanish to increase accessibility for multilingual Hispanic and Latinx students. However, you should also ensure that your services team employs people who can speak Spanish when people call to follow up on those ads.
For true authentic inclusivity, cross-team collaboration is critical. Get connected with your college’s diversity and inclusion team to ensure your media reflects the experiences that students with diverse identities can expect on campus. Missteps here are highly impactful, as they not only misrepresent the service you’re selling, but also present a threat to brand safety.
In this era of increased competition, higher education institutions must reinvest in upper funnel storytelling—both to educate their audiences about the value of a college degree, and to differentiate their brands.
This first focus is designed to address that skepticism toward higher ed we’ve mentioned a few times now. Showcase statistics like your graduates’ rate of employment, plug your career services, and share stories about successful alumni. Parents in particular will appreciate seeing some evidence when it comes to the value of a degree.
Prospective students, on the other hand, will likely want to hear about campus life. What programs, extracurriculars, experiences, or values set your college or university apart? Finding compelling ways to tell these stories will ensure your institution is top-of-mind when students start their applications.
How can you tell these stories in ways that will capture the attention of this generation of prospective students? While higher ed has traditionally used glossy, highly curated advertising, Gen Z prefers content characterized by messy realness and authenticity. The key for colleges and universities is to embrace imperfection in their creative. Need some inspiration? Just open up TikTok, where messy realness dominates, and on which monthly TikTok users between the ages of 18 and 24 spend an average of one hour and 19 minutes per day.
Speaking of social media, TikTok and Snapchat are the two most popular social platforms among Zoomers and serve as an excellent way to reach that generation. And when approaching upper-funnel marketing with all target audiences in mind, audio and CTV present enormous opportunities to share compelling stories with highly engaged viewers and listeners—not to mention additional opportunities for segmentation and targeting. Which brings us to our next point…
To market effectively in this competitive environment, marketers will need to get hyper-focused in their advertising. They’ll need to deeply understand key audience segments, develop messaging based on those audiences’ needs, and deliver that messaging in targeted ways.
Here are a few ways to achieve this precision:
Higher ed marketers should invest time and energy in understanding both prospective audiences and any people who have already shown interest.
Certain growth segments will be generally relevant to higher education institutions, including:
Additionally, having a system for collecting and making the most of first-party data is a must—for instance, marketers can use a DMP solution to gather information about users who have visited their website, then tap into technologies that offer look-a-like modeling to expand that data’s reach.
Once you’ve clarified your target audiences, it’s time to get creative about reaching them. For example, potential graduates and adult learners offer some unique options for targeting. Marketers can gather a list of the companies in their institution's area that provide tuition reimbursement, then geofence those buildings and serve ads that are tailored to the needs and desires of workers who may be interested in continuing education.
Yield campaigns work to convert applicants and accepted applicants into students. While applicants used to be the bottom of the funnel for marketers, prospective students are now applying to a lot more colleges—in fact, one report found that the number of applications submitted to a survey of 853 colleges increased by 21.3% between 2019-2020 and 2021-2022.
An effective yield strategy might leverage a customer relationship management (CRM) system to reach and maintain excitement among applicants who have been accepted to your college or university. Marketers can ensure optimal user experience by updating their CRM lists weekly, adding new accepted students and removing those who have committed.
While higher education is one of the industries that has been slower to adopt them, marketing tools and technologies have come a long way in recent years. Innovations such as automation and artificial intelligence now allow marketers to make their campaigns as hyper-focused, segmented, and personalized as possible.
For example, the automation provided by programmatic advertising technology allows marketers to serve the right people the right message at the right time, at scale. Even more, tapping into advertising automation can empower a whole new level of marketing personalization. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies can automate aspects of campaign personalization and optimization. Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) can automatically create thousands of ads to enhance personalization and segmentation. And features like workflow automation, automated reporting, and automated billing work to streamline the entire campaign process and save marketers time.
The enrollment cliff and the other challenges facing higher education right now might seem insurmountable. But challenges and change bring unique opportunities for success, a constant that holds true for higher education marketers in this moment.
The first bright spot is how the competitive landscape will increase the importance and value of marketing. Institutional leadership will be eager to invest in your teams and understand your perspectives on how to boost enrollment amidst the turbulence. The second is that new tools and technologies allow marketers to reach their audiences more effectively and efficiently, while providing prospective students with a more personalized customer journey.
This is an ideal moment for marketers to put these two advantages together by getting cabinet-level support for the tools and technologies that will not only make their jobs easier and more enjoyable, but dramatically more effective as well.
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As we detail above, higher education marketers have some pretty unique needs and face some significant challenges connecting with their target audiences. BasisEducation, Basis Technologies’ suite of solutions curated for higher education marketers, offers a variety of tools and technologies designed to help higher ed teams adapt to challenges like the college enrollment cliff, including:
Connect with us to learn more about how BasisEducation can ensure that all your campaigns earn straight A’s.
They say buying a home is one of the most emotional purchases you can make. We’re not sure if SNL nailed the exact emotion in this skit… but it’s safe to say that the entire process, from poking around at open houses to making an offer and beyond, is full of ups and downs.
Many prospective homeowners have likely felt the “downs” more frequently in the past decade-plus, as the economy has made buying a home—if not finding a place to live, period—increasingly difficult. First, during the 2009 housing bubble, homeowners sold off while mortgage rates plummeted. Then, during the 2020 pandemic, the available home supply dropped as construction costs skyrocketed and more people, especially millennials, entered the buying arena. Now, record-high home prices and increasing mortgage rates are causing many US adults to delay their homebuying plans, and the market has continued to cool.
And the economy is impacting more than just buying a home: Renters are struggling too, saying the rising cost of, well, everything is leaving them “cost-burdened.” Investors buying more properties is only adding to the competition, and economic factors make up at least half of the top issues affecting real estate agents today.
That said, there are still buyers, renters, investors, and real estate agents in the market right now, ready to make cash offers, go above asking price or forgo contingencies, and invest in the hopes of earning passive income. And for advertisers looking to reach these various audiences effectively, a fine-tuned, persona-based approach is critical—as long as it abides by the Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws.
To that end, let’s get to know how four key real estate consumer personas look, sound, and feel as they research this major money move. At the same time, we’ll explore some strategies, shared by real estate marketing expert and VP of Integrated Client Solutions at Basis Technologies, Savannah Thrasher, for reaching each of these personas.
“I’m ready to settle down, and I’m researching until I know exactly what I want.”
With nearly 21 million potential buyers in the market, home sales are forecasted to reach 6.07 million this year. Most of those buyers are between the ages of 25 and 44, and are college graduates with household incomes of above $50,000—meaning they’re stable enough to borrow money at today’s rates. This group spans people who are single, married, or living with their partner, and have or don’t have kids, so from “starter homes” to “forever homes,” there’s not much on the market that this buyer group won’t consider. Size matters (not too big for a couple, not too small for a growing family), as does image, social status, and feeling influential among their friends and family, so the research process of potential home buyers starts early and stays intense.
Savannah Thrasher’s media recommendations: Getting in front of this segment throughout their process is key. Brands can reach and influence potential home buyers effectively by showing them trends and homes for sale, either contextually when they’re reading about homes and buying-related topics, via search when they’re looking in specific geographies, or on social media. Video ads provide additional time and space for messaging, as well as education and inspiration. Leveraging first-party data obtained from buyer inquiries, like scheduling a tour or downloading a brochure, means reaching a prospect with high intent. Finally, retargeting based on browsing activity could bring potential home buyers back through the virtual front door.
“I can’t keep up with the Joneses, but I like what I like…and one thing I’d like is a place to live.”
Renters—of which there are 72 million in the US—are definitely feeling the effects of the economy, often feeling like they can’t keep up with bills and financial commitments. Consumers in this group skew younger than the potential home buyer audience, falling between the ages of 18 and 44. They’ve likely completed some college, have a household income between $20,000 and $60,000, and may be single or divorced. Despite financial stress, they’re willing to spend in an effort to experience life to the fullest, and typically only save for very important and specific purchases. This group is made up of early adopters who influence their friends, and they love what’s hot, meaning they’ll switch brands if it makes them look cool.
Savannah Thrasher’s media recommendations: With so much competition in this space, to connect with renters who plan to continue renting, rental communities should strive for top search placements using custom keywords within their geographies. In fact, a hyperlocal advertising approach makes sense, since this segment is often looking for apartments or units within a comfortable radius of their colleges, employers, or families. Businesses that balance what’s trendy and what’s inexpensive are more likely to win with this segment. Modern, diverse, and inclusive messaging will catch their attention, and communicating about deals and offers that are financially beneficial is key.
“I worked damn hard for my money, and now it’s time for my money to work for me.”
The nearly 11 million investment property owners in the US skew older and appear more established than many of their counterparts: They’re ages 45 and older, they’re often married, and they’re college graduates with household incomes of $100,000 and above. What they do with that money, especially regarding real estate, can be a bit riskier, but can also come with higher rewards. That’s because they’re financially secure, and enjoy educating themselves on topics like real estate and finance so they can own their expertise. They also enjoy showing off the fruits of their labor: Their homes and their wealth are signifiers of social status.
Savannah Thrasher’s media recommendations: Like other segments, investors can be reached via paid search as they hunt for their next property, and contextual targeting can place ads next to the financial content this group craves. Beyond that, more premium inventory through private marketplaces specific to business, finance, and investments creates a high degree of relevance. Plus, this group is loyal and trusting, so brands that advertise luxury, details, and both physical and fiscal comfort may see repeat business and a high ROI on their advertising spend.
“I love helping my clients find their dream home…so why not get one for myself?”
While real estate agents may not be the first consumer persona you think of when you hear “property buyers,” someone has to sell to them! With about 3.5 million real estate agents in the market for a home of their own, and with prospective buyers willing to take risks in hopes of winning big and impressing others, real estate agents are a viable audience to target. They’re between the ages of 25 and 64, married or engaged with kids, with some college but also specialized education in their field, and with household incomes over $100,000. Most importantly, they love what they do: They take pride in their careers and in being trusted resources for buyers. They work hard—days, nights, and weekends—but it’s a sacrifice they’ll make for the financial reward and to be the “host with the most” for their clientele.
Savannah Thrasher’s media recommendations: Between the information they need to sell homes and their sophistication when it comes to buying one (or two, if a vacation home is the right fit), brands should emphasize quality, price, and the know-how it takes to be a productive agent. Reaching agents with job title targeting, as well as geotargeting real estate offices for those moments when they’re on site, and then gearing messaging toward them, can pay dividends.
While the economy has shaken the real estate industry’s foundation, people are still eager to find a home, whether that’s via purchasing, renting, or investing in real estate. And while these consumer personas may vary in demographics and values, their processes are similar: Research, accompanied by emotion, followed by decision—all of which can be influenced by a marketing campaign that finds prospects where they are, speaks to their motivations, and builds trust from consideration to closing.
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If you’re looking to connect with one or more of these personas, advertising automation can help your team get more granular and efficient about reaching them in all the spaces where they spend their time. Download our guide to learn about all the ways these technologies can make your campaigns work smarter and move you closer to your business goals.
Welcome to Scout! Each week, our team tracks down the best digital marketing articles, POVs, and reports—so you don't have to. Here’s what to read from the week of 8/18/23 - 8/24/23 to stay ahead of the curve:
A new report detailing ad spend across streaming platforms like Max, Roku, and YouTube says that June was a record-setting month for CTV advertising. Surprising? Not necessarily, especially given how the writer’s and actor’s strikes are impacting linear TV.
Talk of generative AI is everywhere, but are you wondering how advertisers are actually implementing it in their work? This regularly-updated roundup details how agencies, holding companies, and consultants are using GenAI.
This is a must read, especially in light of recent legal developments: Digiday looks back at the history of consumer privacy regulation to predict how the use of generative AI in advertising may develop and become regulated.
AI has come a long way, but one thing it still can't do is replace the human marketers running programmatic campaigns. Until that day comes, marketers will need to assess what programmatic approach is right for their brand—whether it's outsourcing, in-housing, or somewhere in between. This piece lays out everything those marketers need to know.
Show off your marketing chops with our question of the week. This week’s hot topic: Brand safety.
What percentage of industry professionals think generative AI poses a brand safety and misinformation risk to digital marketers?
A. 77.6%
B. 99.5%
C. 81.9%
D. 65.5%
Get the answer, plus a rundown of brand safety threats on social media and how to deal with them, right here.
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