Hug Your Customer - Episode 215
INTERVIEW WITH RICH ZELDES
DESCRIPTION
In today’s podcast, we are talking with Rich Zeldes about the different ways brands can advertise, create a following in the digital space and increase conversion. How much should you focus on the tried and true channels? Should you, for example, use SMS, TikTok, Connected TV and podcasts to advertise? What are some of the challenges of these?
Make sure you tune in to find out!
Rich Zeldes is the Founder and CEO of Zeldes Media Advisors and has over 25 years of marketing and media services experience. He is focused on driving profitable growth for emerging health, beauty, food, fashion and cannabis brands across the DTC, Amazon and Retail distribution landscape. He is obsessed with helping to navigate today's evolving media ecosystem by offering executive-level strategy, insights and attention to brand founders and their leadership.
“From my perspective, you really want to be where the consumer is. Be friendly, hug your customer.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Omnichannel ecommerce is a strategy that utilizes multiple platforms and is a great way to build a business. You can know your customer more than in the old world that had retail only.
One the one hand the walled garden concept makes it hard to track customer journey across channels; at the same time, for example, Amazon gives a lot of information about the customers.
One of the biggest challenges for brands is having to think about whether to put more emphasis on their own DTC or Amazon. An effective DTC strategy, often using a platform like Shopify is important. However, a commitment to Amazon, Walmart.com and other leading ecommerce stores is vital.
Owning the customer data and getting to know your customer is very important. The fact that Amazon is putting effort there is not surprising.
There are some benefits in using social media - understanding a little bit more about what data sets are performing better than others, using that information on Google, Amazon, DSP and other platforms.
It is a good idea to put a lot of effort into core vehicles that can drive conversions, such as Facebook and Instagram, but at the same time, reliance on only the tried and true should be limited. Work hard to uncover opportunities in other places, like the use of TikTok in social advertising and promotion.
Email is still a very effective form of communicating with customers, but text marketing is also a fast-growth business. Taking the leap into SMS marketing is important, though it requires more time, effort and budget, but you want to be there for consumers where and how they like to shop.
Taking a big leap for some of the brands is difficult because the platforms might require a bigger upfront investment or use of their managed services team. Brands are being bombarded with different media platforms, partners, tech, and just pouring through all the options can be time-consuming.
Allocating media spend framework to existing platforms or emerging social media is important for the beauty and fashion categories, for example. They require a lot of content to be viable, which can be expensive.
PR and influencer marketing can also influence engagement and with more planning and strategy, brands can benefit from building awareness and also drive website or amazon storefront visits as well as conversions.
One thing that has changed over time is the potential to use Connected TV as a strong alternative to linear TV and at the same time, use digital audio and podcasts as an alternative to terrestrial radio. It is easy to track outcomes and understand who you’re reaching.
There has been massive growth in ecommerce - 4 years of projected growth within one year. It will be interesting to see whether there is an increase in 2021 compared to 2020.
CBD is a growth category, with a lot of potential in ecommerce. It is tough to advertise on social media; there are regulatory and legal challenges. Also, there is potential for growth in the cannabis category as well.
ZNA Cannabis Marketing will be launched by the new year.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Connect with Kiri Masters
Learn more about Bobsled Marketing
Connect with Rich Zeldes
Learn more about Zeldes Media Advisors
