By Georgia Brammer, Regional Director, JAPAC, at Flashtalking
Over the past two decades, the advertising industry has made impressive strides in leveraging technology and data to better understand audiences and deliver messages to them along their customer journeys. Along the way, though, one truth has become more evident than ever: Success in marketing still requires strong creative. All the technology in the world isn’t going to get you far if you can’t deliver compelling, relevant creative at the moment you’re reaching your audience.
That’s where dynamic creative optimisation (DCO) comes in, as it sits at the nexus of targeting and creative execution. In recent years, dynamic creative technology has reached a tipping point in terms of accessibility, enabling the world’s most inventive marketers to achieve their digital visions in a personalised way. That said, getting started with DCO – or elevating it within your organisation’s planning—requires a strategic mindset shift. Let’s take a look at how marketers should be thinking about this transition.
Build a Dynamic Foundation
Building a strong foundation with dynamic creative means letting the creative – not the technology that underpins it – take centre stage. Focusing on how the technology works and then trying to shoehorn in creative is a surefire way to throttle not just your campaign ROI, but ultimately your marketing programme over time.
Creative, after all, is what drives consumer connections. It’s foundational. Turning from static executions to dynamic creative doesn’t change this. Quite the contrary, it makes the underlying creative concepts all the more important. DCO isn’t a low-cost performance tactic to be activated on a one-off basis. It’s a new way of thinking about your marketing.
Walk Before You Run
Dynamic creative is foundational. But in terms of execution, it’s not a single switch-flip. It’s a ramp-up. To get started, you don’t need a fully established, state-of-the-art internal data infrastructure to surface the signals for dynamic optimisation. There are partners to help on that front as you establish and grow your DCO activities. What you need to focus on is establishing a logical starting point with DCO and growing your capabilities over time.
The DCO opportunities for optimisation can feel overwhelming if you simply turn on the fire hose. Weather, time of day, geography – the possibilities are endless when it comes to how you tailor your messages. You need to start somewhere, but you don’t need to start everywhere. Start simply. Test. Learn. Expand.
Resist Complacency
The automation enabled by DCO are powerful, but these campaigns don’t run themselves. As you wade deeper into DCO and start to feel comfortable, don’t become complacent. Stay attentive when it comes to daily optimisations and ensure you’re continually testing and learning in order to better extend your efforts.
Rethink Metrics
As you roll out your DCO initiatives, don’t rely on outdated measurement tactics like last-click when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of your creative. As discussed, dynamic creative is a foundational approach, and it shouldn’t be evaluated as a simple direct-response tactic. Done right, DCO has applicability throughout the marketing funnel and should be measured based on a wider variety of creative performance indicators.
Think Long-Term
Finally: Be patient. DCO requires a ramp-up period, but the benefits of sticking with the process and investing meaningfully in its success will yield significant long-term benefits for your organisation. Dynamic creative lays the groundwork for strong organisational discipline and collaboration. It’s not a tactic to be tested on a single campaign and then put on a shelf for later consideration. It’s a journey that provides benefits at every step along the way.
