It’s not a digital marketing conference unless someone from Google presents, right? Well, West Barnell made sure that DMC 2017 met the quota — and we’re glad he did! West is a Senior Marketing Consultant at Google, where he leads a team to help companies in growth stage acquire customers through a full-funnel marketing strategy.
Video is the Future (and the Present)
West’s DMC presentation focused heavily on video and it’s growing influence on the internet. He shared projections showing that 80% of the world’s internet use will come from video. “This is the future, this is where things are headed.”
He also highlighted one of the biggest battles marketers face today: the battle for attention. It used to be that a marketer’s reach was scarce, but attention was plentiful. However, technology has changed everything, and today a marketer’s reach is plentiful, and attention has become scarce.
So how can a marker win the war of attention? West suggests brand storytelling using video like Nike and Purple. West acknowledged that some marketers have reservations because video has a reputation of being risky (because it’s hard to measure the return on investment). However, brand familiarity built with video can provide a significant lift to your overall marketing efforts.
Brand Building with Video
West also cited a specific example of recent videos from world-famous chef, Gordon Ramsay and their impact on the chef’s marketing. Ramsey is using video and video ads to promote his online cooking class, Masterclass. Once consumers have seen the videos, they tend to search differently. Instead of using broad phrases like “online cooking classes,” people are searching for “masterclass gordon ramsay.” These phrases are far less competitive and make it easier for Ramsay to capture business from intent-based searches they’ve influenced with their branded videos.
In speaking about campaign performance inside of Google’s platforms, West cited that 65% of campaigns see significant lift in brand interest after viewers watch their TrueView ad on YouTube. The reason? Because the majority of the engagement happens before the shopping.
So what can you do to capitalize on the opportunities Google’ suite of advertising tools affords? Build audience first, use data and eliminate or segment those who don’t want to engage with you, and then create a customer journey to maximize lifetime value.
West’s Self-Recommended Key Takeaways:
- Create Your Brand’s Story
- Give Them a Reason to Search For You
- Find and Re-engage Your Audience