Marketing Briefing: ‘An energetic live bazaar’: As platforms expand live shopping, marketers and agency execs expect advertisers to test the channel

Aside from targeting capabilities and iOS 14 changes, the rise in costs due to the shift to digital advertising over the last 18 plus months of the pandemic has marketers looking to diversify spending and testing new channels.

“The pandemic caused a disproportionate shift to digital that resulted in significantly higher costs due to increased online competition,” said Mike Feldman, vp and head of commerce and retail media at dentsu. “Advertisers are hungry for new options that are both cost-effective and impactful, and livestream shopping fits that mold. It’s also different given its interactivity as shoppers are getting more product info and personal touch, which leads to better engagement and loyalty on top of sales.” 

It’s unclear how quickly marketers will adopt live shopping or the longevity of the feature for advertisers. That said, there are some brands that have been doing live shopping long before the platforms began offering it. 

BetaBrand was among them, “staging live, interactive product drops since 2019.” In all, it has already hosted 480 broadcasts, according to CEO and founder Chris Lindland.

“Since last spring, it’s been the only way we’ve launched new products, directing our entire audience via email and SMS to watch and interact with the broadcasts,” said Lindland. “Most every week, we add new features to our chat and Shopstream feed, all designed to hook customers into participating and, ideally, communicating with one another.” 

Per Lindland, live shopping is “incredible marketing because nothing shows social proof like an energetic live bazaar.”

3 Questions with Meghan Hurley, vp of marketing at Farmer’s Fridge

When the pandemic hit, Farmer’s Fridge went from being a B2B company to a B2C. How did you all pull it off?

Farmer’s Fridge started as a healthy vending machine. Once the pandemic hit, we lost 80% of our business. So, we launched a DTC delivery program. At the same time, we launched into retail. We pivoted from a vending machine company into an omni-channel, all over the place company. We really used Facebook to scale, as every other DTC brand, then went back and started doing more traditional efforts. Then, we also started launching more consumer-friendly stories. We were seeing some success that restaurants weren’t able to see. So, [we were] partnering with these chefs to bring attention to their products, the work that they were doing [donating] to different restaurant relief funds. Right now, we’re looking to do some awareness campaigns in the next year, once we can keep up with demand.

What did you learn from that pivot?

We really found our brand voice. Before, we were more reserved as a brand. With the pandemic, we were able to be a bit more fun and engaging. We sell salads. They’re not always approachable. We really want to be approachable, to be there when you need us. We’re all friends and we’re not judging you for your food choices. We couldn’t really figure out that story before. With the pandemic, we were able to poke a little bit more fun at ourselves and be a bit more approachable and fun. That has been our biggest learning is that that works, people like it and it comes very naturally to the team.

What impact did that have on Farmer’s Fridge’s media mix?

Before, there was nothing. Now, we’re really on Facebook. We just recently launched Google Ad words [and] direct mail. We’ve seen really great partnerships with public radio. They offer a lot of flexibility, so we’ve seen good returns on that in Chicago. We were planning on doing a big campaign this year, but we’re tapping out on demand. We pushed it to next year and I’m hoping that’ll be a much more diverse media mix. 

Because we’re launching in new markets, Facebook has been the easiest to get all of those customers. I have a performance marketing background, so I know I need to diversify off of Facebook, so we are starting to test everything. But we’re also making sure that the channel is profitable. We only get so much budget to play with and as we go into the new year, as we get new customers, it opens up that testing budget a little bit more, which will hopefully help diversify away from Facebook.  — Kimeko McCoy

By the numbers

The travel industry is on the mend from the blow COVID-19 dealt it, as many are looking to book expensive vacations starting next year, according to recent research from Rakuten Advertising. Per Rakuten’s research, many travelers have already slated travel plans for 2022, meaning travel marketers should start preparing sooner rather than later. Find more details and key data points from the report below:

• More than 90% of travelers say they plan to look for bargains when making travel-related purchases. Of those, over a quarter (27%) will use customer review sites to find deals, surpassed only by online search results (40%).
• Sites and apps that show offers from multiple brands (22%), online ads (22%), and card-linked offers (21%) are all very popular among travelers looking for deals.
• 56% of travelers say they don’t plan to change their travel plans regardless of concern around new surges in COVID-19 cases. — Kimeko McCoy

Quote of the week

“Whether a marketer today is running a brand or awareness campaign, they are still looking for a return on that investment.”

— Geoffery Litwer, vp of programmatic and display media at Tinuiti, on stage at the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit in Miami, Florida, when asked about brand and awareness campaigns versus performance marketing.

What we’ve covered

• As the metaverse industry continue to heat up, these are the leaders emerging from the gaming space.
• Work from home became work from wherever for this startup.
• How Twitter’s God-is Rivera is offering Black voices a seat at the table.