Effective Listening for Great Advertising
The main goal of advertising is that it should resonate with its audience. When a brand communicates to us in a way that we “feel heard”, and consequently feel noticed, and involved, then we are more inclined to favour that brand — and that is the magic of innovative advertising.
You might have come across the phrase “Hearing is passive, and listening is active”. Listening requires understanding about how your audience is feeling, what they are thinking, what they want and why they want it, what their motivations are, and how their habits are evolving over a period of time. And therefore, behind “feeling heard” is a team of “effective listeners” who ask questions or queries.
Today, social media best practice recommends advertising backed by data and analytics that drives campaigns, demonstrating through actions that is listened to. To do this, we look at lots of data on a variety of influences on consumer and audience behaviours. We bring together data on:
· Quality of communications reflected by social media metrics of share of voice, brand visibility and interactions
· Consumer and audience associations reflected by their motivations and opinions, interests and preferences, and feelings and sentiments
· Marketing spend and budget
· Macro-economic and industry research data
And the list goes on.
Are brands effectively leveraging social and business intelligence to be good listeners? Are brand marketeers and consultants acting probabilistically in how they use data and analytics to inform plans to drive anything from as short term as an awareness campaign to as long term as a strategic brand value growth?
Here are a few guidelines to move in this direction:
1 // Keep an ear to the ground today
The importance of effective listening has grown immensely in current circumstances where consumer sentiments and mindset is evolving, as their preferences, motivations, and priorities change with uncertain times. Smart advertisers are responding to the pandemic with an understanding of where audience sentiment lays. Bloomr.SG’s social media report on trends for the first half of 2020 shows that when circuit breaker began in Singapore, people were looking for ways to discover and nurture relationships and create social connections, to fight off boredom, to develop DIY skills with a heightened focus on home-made and home based stuff, broadening their culinary horizons, to deal with stress and anxiety, and to enhance personal and mental well-being. Attitudes have now transformed to a desire for demonstrations of leadership, support for changed behaviours and lifestyles, and inspirations from brands.
2 // Democratise data, analytics, insights and recommendations
This need for technology-enabled data strategy that’s insights-driven is not new, but is greatly accelerated with the dynamic changes in business and consumer realities brought about by the pandemic. Keeping track and staying on top of trends while mapping out a plan of action before novelty fades are crucial to managing the kind of drivers of consumer choices summarised above. And that is the key to great advertising that requires access and interpretation of data through effective listening strategies.
3 // Choose a play that is least expected through calculated assessments
Staying creative and being open to listening — open in a way that you listen to those who have never been heard, opens up new markets and opportunities for your brand growth. By using data and analytics we can analyse and explore markets and audience segments that are yet to be considered, and throw light on growth paths that are not expected while simultaneously unlocking more uncertainties around these paths. While doing so, with agile experimentations on strategy and execution, we can start gauging what works and what doesn’t, what needs to be kept and what needs to change, and assign probabilities of potential success — just as a coach needs to do through a game.
While needs don’t fundamentally change, the optics with which the audiences see them can. Right now, people expect a strong need of safety and security in terms of hospital-grade hygiene in restaurants, hotels, flights, and malls, a heightened need for job and financial security, and support for home made, home based and DIY behaviours . Brands must be intentional in how they meet needs, and address concerns with relevance, while doing so in a way that reinforces the brand personality and maintains a long-term brand building for the future.
Bloomr.SG’s Audience-Centric Engagement approaches, which leverages social media listening and analytics delivers insights for marketing, content creation, and business strategies, while providing context on current tensions and landscape.
When advertisers listen and respond appropriately the chances of creating world class advertising improves dramatically.
Access Bloomr.SG’s detailed report on trends in Singapore for H1 2020 here now!
