How to bridge the gap between brand and direct response marketing

In traditional marketing organizations, brand and direct response (DR) efforts occupy two very distinct and discrete positions. Brand tends to focus on long-term impact intent, and DR focuses on short-term. Brand is top of funnel, and DR is bottom of funnel. The two categories are different sides of the same coin, with the same end goal, but enjoy few day-to-day commonalities.

The metrics used to measure these initiatives reflect this disparity. Brand marketers focus on sentiment, engagement, interaction, equity and other slightly “fuzzy” KPIs, while direct response marketers look at transactional metrics and behavioral response: This $1.00 returned $1.50, based on this consumer action.

When these silos formed, the distinction made sense. It is admittedly challenging, even with today’s plethora of data and technology (let alone what we had 10 years ago), to bridge the gap between brand and DR. Intuitively and organizationally, from the people to the numbers, the rift is wide. But here’s the catch: CMOs don’t care.

The C-suite as a whole wants to get its arms around the effectiveness of the entire marketing department. Your CEO doesn’t want to hear about the differences between brand and DR, so your CMO can’t either.

The pressure is coming from multiple directions. Companies must be increasingly accountable for their digital footprint. Consumers expect increasingly high levels of personalization, relevance and speed. And CMOs have never been more under the gun to orchestrate all of the moving pieces into one cohesive and precisely measured agenda.

Reaching common ground

So, what does it take to reach common ground between brand and direct response campaigns?

Historically, companies attempted to bridge the gap with marketing/media mix modeling (MMM). MMM answers high-level questions well and addresses the brand side of the equation admirably, but it is ultimately too broad and not actionable enough to effectively integrate direct response.

The pendulum is now swinging to the other side. Organizations have begun to look to their performance agencies for more comprehensive insights, in hopes that new technology and an elevated emphasis on incrementality and investment will translate across both languages.

[Read the full article on MarTech Today.]

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Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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About The Author

Alison Lohse is COO and Co-founder of Conversion Logic. Alison spent the last 18 years focused on digital strategy for a number of Fortune 100 companies across many industries including telecom, retail, travel, B2B, CPG and tech. Her expertise and focus on client service, advanced analytics, media planning and optimization lends Alison a unique ability to drive digital strategies that scale brands helping them reach a wider audience. Cutting her teeth on digital starting in 2000, she worked across the interactive media practices at Starcom IP, then Avenue A, Razorfish and SMG with a focus on sophisticated media buying through analytics and optimization. Most recently, Alison was the Regional VP of Visual IQ, Chicago where she worked with Conversion Logic’s CEO, Trevor Testwuide. Alison earned an MA from the University of Manchester (UK) and holds a degree in art history from Lawrence University.

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Author: Alison Lohse

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