Creating Certainty In Uncertain Times: Let Performance Take Center Stage

Forbes

2 days ago

Michael Della Penna, Chief Strategy Officer of InMarket.
Which tariffs will go into effect? Which countries will enact retaliatory tariffs? Which categories will get hit the hardest? Which brands will have more opportunity? Since no one actually knows or can accurately predict what will happen, we must stop dwelling on the unknown.
Brands that come out on top won't be the ones relying on contingency planning. They'll be the ones that started taking action early wherever possible. A real-time performance approach rooted in what you know, what you can guarantee and how you can optimize every ad dollar spent creates certainty in uncertain times.
You don't know what will happen, so embrace what's happening now.
As news and predictions change every day, it can be easy to fall into a 'what if' trap. Instead, invest that time, budget and energy in what you do know.
For example, we don't know for sure what will happen in the economy, but we do know that consumer confidence is down. We might not know which tariffs will hit or when, but we know how the current rising prices are impacting shopping behaviors. Our Q2 report on Grocery Staples Insights found that shoppers are continuing to trade down to private labels in categories with limited differentiation, such as bottled water, flour and eggs. Consumers are also shifting their spend to warehouse clubs and discount/dollar stores where they can save on certain categories, including essentials like canned goods and paper goods and novelties like ice cream and candy.
Focus on understanding these shifts as they're happening. This empowers you to create strategies rooted in what's actually occurring, not the what-ifs. Most importantly, by combining intent, location and purchase insights, marketers can understand why consumers are making respective purchase decisions and craft more effective targeting, messaging and execution that accounts for consumers' evolving needs during unpredictable times.
Drive greater impact with incremental opportunities.
With improved insights into your customers, performance and the competitive landscape, you can also uncover growth opportunities. There are two simple yet powerful audience segments to focus on here: the movable middle and your most valuable consumers and stores.
The movable middle is that group of frequent category purchasers that your brand may be missing out on. They're that sweet spot of the middle 50% of category purchasers who aren't locked into a particular brand yet, posing a fantastic opportunity to win them over with the right message at the right moment. If you're a brand in a category like candy that's being increasingly purchased at a discount, a simple digital coupon reaching them while in-store could be enough to encourage movable middle shoppers to choose your brand over competitors.
Another opportunity is understanding your most valuable consumers and stores. In our fragmented shopping landscape, marketers must be able to answer a key question: Is there a retail channel, consumer segment or specific retailer that's providing more growth for our products?
This type of insight allows brands to understand which retail channels offer the greatest opportunity for incremental growth and adjust strategies accordingly. For instance, considering the aforementioned shift I mentioned about more shoppers switching to warehouse clubs to stock up on costly goods, an incremental opportunity for, say, a coffee company, could be reminding shoppers that their brand is offered at the nearest Costco or Sam's Club—a top-of-mind message for consumers ahead of their next shopping trip.
Granular measurement can also play a guiding role in understanding the most valuable consumer or store for CPG brands by leveraging the most loyal cut in the movable middle analysis or offering a 'by retailer' analysis on campaign performance. Combined with insights into the competitive landscape, this by-retailer view ensures you understand where specific campaigns are driving the best outcomes and where you might be lacking as shopping remains fragmented and increasingly value-focused.
Everything should come down to the bottom of the funnel.
As more eyes from stakeholders are on the bottom line, prioritize bottom-of-the-funnel tactics that are proven revenue growth engines.
Awareness is undeniably important as the competition heats up. However, shoppers are trading down, less committed to brand names and making more final decisions in store. In this era of uncertainty, it's critical to extend top-of-funnel efforts, like influencer campaigns or on-site event activations, beyond the norm and incorporate bottom-funnel tactics, like mobile ad experiences, that can remind shoppers of your brand and products as they're planning, actively making purchase decisions or even walking into the store or reaching for a product on the shelf.
Marrying top and bottom-of-the-funnel tactics will expand opportunities for campaign success, maximize outcomes and help transcend your brand from simply being one of many in consumers' consideration set into the one they ultimately choose in-store.
Focus on the metrics that matter to stakeholders.
Times of economic hardship naturally put marketers on the defense amid fears of budget constraints. Improved measurement helps you get ahead and set yourself and your teams up for success in those conversations, even creating opportunities to bring positive outcomes proactively.
Focus on the metrics that empower you to speak the language of your financial counterparts, from the CFO to the CEO. Paying closer or equal attention to incremental growth across sales, visits and return on advertising spend will help marketing teams and leadership. Taking it a step further, seek opportunities around guaranteed incremental return on ad spend with strategic partners willing to take risks if they have the data and capabilities to do so. This may be the ultimate certainty in uncertain times.
Don't let the unknown hinder creativity and success. Pivot toward a mindset, tariff-relief strategy and tech stack that prioritize creating certainty in these uncertain times.
If you're focusing on real-time insights, closely monitoring trends and performance, doubling down on performance tactics and betting on incremental outcomes, you'll be well-prepared to adapt and overcome the waves ahead.
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