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 team’s 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 is an ongoing part of team development. Effective digital marketing is the same: as advertising campaigns go on, users’ interactions and responses to ads can be tracked and changes made to campaigns accordingly. By actively tracking and responding to data, we continuously improve campaign performance as you gain valuable insights.
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. 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 creative.
To Win, You Need To Keep A Close Eye On The Conditions
In competitive sailing, constantly monitoring and modelling weather conditions is vital. This 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. This is combined with a trove of data gathered from trialling and testing various designs. While hitting the water to practice, every part of that yacht design is being tested, changed if needed, and 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. This was 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, enquiries, or sales) for a profitable cost within your budget; and that equals a win. While your ads might not always appear at the top of the search results for every target audience member, what it does mean a profitable return on your digital advertising investment—at your defined level—still qualifies as a win!
Contact us for more information on how your digital marketing can be match-ready. 09-950-5320 or email info@conversionmarketing.co.nz
