Three tips on how to get your return on advertising spend

South Africa’s year-end retail season is about to begin, with Black Friday, the December holidays and back-to-school campaigns being around the corner.

While big brands have an enormous advertising budget to use to get their products noticed, Daniel Levy, co-founder of Flow, offers tips that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can use to get value for money on their advertisement spend.

“To stay competitive, local brands need to turn to a powerful tool, one that is already at their fingertips, technology.”

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Three tips to maximise your return on ad spend:

Use first-party data to get personal

Levy quotes the words of Woolworths’ head of digital marketing, Zack Nossel: “a direct connection to a known audience.” This is that personalisation is no longer a luxury but an expectation from the consumers.

Levy and Nossel both believe local retailers have an unique advantage when it comes to understanding their consumers’ behaviours.

“To stay competitive, you have to really understand your shoppers, and when retailers use reliable data to be as relevant as possible, it’s like a superpower.”

First-party data is information a company collects directly from its own customers or audience. “Since it’s gathered straight from users, it’s highly accurate and relevant, giving businesses valuable insights into their customers’ behaviours, preferences, and needs.”

Levy adds that things are much easier for brands when tapping into data they already own, this can be from sales data, or customer feedback.

“This is where the use of audiences from a rich and diverse data marketplace can be invaluable.”

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Be budget-savvy by hyper-targeting

Dean Stander, media specialist at Traffic Brand, says by using first-party data, the local retailers will be saving money, as they do not have to go overboard with their advertising spend.

“Local brands should focus on refining their messaging and audience targeting, rather than simply increasing their ad spend on impressions. First-party data can give you precision, letting you deliver your message to the highest-intent audience.”

Don’t wait to adapt to the new state of play

Alon Rom, CEO of HelloPeter, says brands can use audience data to see if consumers complain about their products and service, and how they can improve what they’re offering.

The digital advertising landscape has shifted dramatically in 2024, with privacy concerns driving brands to rethink their strategies.

“To drive sales and get more for your ad spend this shopping season, beat bigger budgets by harnessing the power of first-party data.”

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