How the America’s Cup is Like Digital Marketing – and One Way That It Isn’t
We have an office with a fantastic view over the Hauraki Gulf, and we love it. Over the last few months we’ve been able to check out the new generation of America’s Cup boats as they’ve been testing, training, racing and literally “flying”.
They look great, and they go fast. We’re looking forward to more of it as we hit the actual America’s Cup match in March.
I have to admit I’ve been geeking out on the tech involved with these amazing yachts. I think that’s part of the appeal for all of us – the sheer scale and technology involved with having these quite unique yachts flying across the water is amazing. It got me thinking about how the approach taken in building a competitive America’s Cup boat has some parallels with digital marketing. So here are my reasons why the America’s Cup is like digital marketing, and one reason why it isn’t:
- To Compete, You Must Take A Data-Driven Approach.
All the teams have a serious approach to their design thinking, measurement of the performance of each iteration and changes made on the yachts. Beginning with the first version of each teams’ boat, and continuing on through all of their on-water testing and training.
To do this takes a massive amount of data, and analysis of that data as an ongoing part of team development.
Effective digital marketing is the same: as advertising campaigns go on, user’s interactions and responses to ads can be tracked and changes made to campaigns accordingly. This means consistent improvements in performance over time, as insights are gained by monitoring and responding to the data. - The Racecourse Changes Frequently.
Wind and tides change daily, even course locations can be changed depending on conditions for race day. How does this apply? In digital, be ready for anything. Competitor behaviour and market conditions can change quickly, and taking an agile and responsive approach to your online marketing is key. Fortunately, working in the digital space means changes can be rolled out instantaneously, and marketers can adapt campaigns to suit -whether that’s a change to audience targeting, budgeting or ad creativ - To Win, You Need To Keep A Close Eye On The Conditions.
In competitive sailing, constant monitoring and modelling of weather conditions is key to maximising the opportunities available to get the most speed from the daily conditions.
Likewise with digital marketing; monitoring market trends, being aware of news related to the industry and following competitor activity are all key to successful digital strategies. - Test, Test, and Test.
All teams base their designs on the knowledge of their world-class designers, combined with a trove of data gathered from trialling and testing various designs. While hitting the water to practice, every part of that yacht and its design is being tested, changed if needed, and then tested again.
This very much relates to effective digital campaigns. The best-performing campaigns aren’t static – marketers should be trialling a variety of audience targeting options, ad creative, budget and bid amounts to optimise campaign performance. Alongside consistent reporting and client feedback, this amounts to the best possible approach for effective online marketing campaigns.
And that reason why it’s different…
“There is no second, ma’am”
This famous line was uttered in answer to Queen Victoria’s question in the very first America’s Cup race – when the English boat was soundly beaten by the New York Yacht Club’s entry, who then went on to hold the cup for another 123 years! There’s no second in the America’s Cup – the teams are competing for only one prize, and the winner gets all the glory.
However, in digital, that’s not quite true. There can be more than one winner. You can achieve target conversions (like leads and enquiries or sales) for a profitable cost within your budget – and that equals a win. It might not mean your ads show to everyone in your target audience at the top of the search results page every time, but it does mean your investment in digital advertising is profitable at a level you set – and that’s a win!
For more information on how your digital marketing can be match-ready, contact us for a chat on 09-950-5320 or email info@conversionmarketing.co.nz
