Next-Gen audiences engage with brands like never before—organically, via native posting, and through brand assimilation.
Current measurement approaches focus heavily on short-term revenue generation, which Rory Sutherland critiques as a limited perspective.
Regression analysis evaluates the consideration cycle—understanding what makes it tick and how it connects to a customer’s LTV to a brand. As modern audiences move away from the “race-to-the-bottom” culture, an overwhelming majority now place brand authenticity and value as top priorities. Ineffective evaluation of awareness content, and thus inadequate planning for its use, is a trap that will impact most now more than ever.
While this is well known, the job for modern marketers has become increasingly difficult as the industry has shifted to being efficiency-oriented. Traditional measurement approaches are naïve to understanding the value of brand activity, focusing far too heavily on short-term revenue generation, which has polluted the thinking of decision-makers.
As the marketing paradigm shifts toward effectiveness—ensuring every pound spent works optimally—it is crucial to understand the importance of good brand-building and correctly integrate its value proposition into budgeting frameworks to stay relevant with today’s audiences.
“Brand engagement starts before and after the first purchase.
Aoife Diamond
Marketing Manager
To adopt an effectiveness-first mindset, consider how we evaluate top-of-funnel impacts across two key areas:
- Impacts on the consideration cycle: Without fully understanding the consideration cycle ahead of purchase and the long-term impact of brand awareness, we can never fully incorporate the influence of brand activity on customer behaviour. Attribution approaches should be holistic—not just evaluating the path to purchase, but also the path to brand engagement (both initial and repeat) to level the playing field between channels that capture the Next-Gen audience and those through which they convert.
- Cross-channel synergy: Understanding how conversion-focused channel performance is impacted by the presence of awareness channels is essential to ensure the full value of upper-funnel activity is considered. Without adequate brand-building to drive greater effectiveness, conversion media is “shouting in a crowded room.” This impact must be considered when assessing its value. At Charlie Oscar, we’ve seen upper-funnel activity improve the effectiveness of promotion-led conversion media by +8%.
As Next-Gen customers’ value systems shift toward being brand-first, our measurement approaches should adjust to reflect this perspective if we want to continue winning. Doing so, alongside executing highly effective brand media, will likely attract a new audience with a greater LTV than ever before.
What can you do right now:
- Ensure you have long-term demand indicators in your marketing KPIs alongside your short-term performance metrics. Integrate metrics such as brand awareness, customer lifetime value, and market share growth into your regular KPI reporting. Use tools like COmpass to track long-term demand indicators and incorporate them into your strategic decision-making.
- Build behavioural datasets that provide quick access to changes in awareness and consideration behaviours. Invest in data collection methods that capture customer interactions across touchpoints, including surveys, social listening tools, and engagement data from upper-funnel channels like YouTube and influencers. Analyse these datasets regularly to stay ahead of market shifts.
- Build short- and long-term attributed revenue impact metrics for all marketing channels to balance short- and long-term objectives. Use full-funnel attribution models to measure both immediate conversions and the long-term revenue impact of brand-building activities. Regularly review this data to allocate your budget across channels more effectively, ensuring a balance between short-term sales and long-term brand growth.
You can read the full playbook here and if you want to learn more about how to measure and attribute ROI across your full marketing strategy then drop us a line.
