Audience Insights

The Trifecta of Campaign Success: Brand Awareness + Customer Acquisition = Increased Sales

In a recent survey of small to medium-sized business owners, we learned that their top three advertising goals are centered around customer acquisition, increased sales, and brand awareness. While many of them pinpointed brand awareness as a benefit of Streaming TV advertising, most did not associate this medium with acquisition or sales. We concluded that they may not fully understand that these three actually pack the biggest punch when used in combination—and brand awareness is where it begins.

Brand awareness is foundational to business growth and it starts with great storytelling. A strong story with a powerful reach to the right audience has the ability to tee up other digital lead generation tactics—such as search and social media—and connect the dots all the way through the customer journey.

We sat down with Faye Trapani, Hulu’s Director of Ad Sales, to get insight about the power of storytelling through Streaming TV advertising and how it has the ability to generate valuable brand awareness, which can be the foundation of increasing sales and creating better business outcomes.

How does video aid in brand storytelling and in the development of an effective ad campaign?

Faye Trapani: Video allows advertisers to convey rich ideas within a short period of time. You get to show what your brand is about, demonstrate your product in action, and use impactful storytelling to connect with viewers in ways you can’t in other mediums. Effective marketing is all about telling a story, and a well-made video can drive an emotional response with viewers. This builds trust and makes it more likely that people will remember and choose your brand when making a purchasing decision.

How can businesses make sure they’re creating effective ad campaigns?

FT: To make sure advertisers are creating an effective campaign, you have to first think about where your audience is in their customer journey, or “the funnel” as most advertisers call it. You would use different advertising tactics when approaching someone who has never heard of your business versus someone who is educated about your offers and is ready to make a purchasing decision.

If you’re already running a social campaign that’s focused on driving the purchase, you also might want to include a brand awareness ad in your advertising mix to provide people with more information about your product or service. Having a broad range of touchpoints working together creates familiarity with your brand.

Another thing you can do is think through how viewers are likely to respond to your ad. Are you making an emotional connection and honing in on exactly what you want to communicate to your prospects? Ask yourself the “so what” question: Why should someone care about who you are and what you have to say? Then, focus your messaging toward that goal.

How does great storytelling lead to more sales?

FT: I like to think of the trifecta of campaign success as: Brand Awareness + Customer Acquisition = Increased Sales

Businesses need to be able to tell their story in detail to communicate who they are and why people should choose to buy from them. You’re only going to get so far if you focus solely on the bottom of the funnel without filling the top of the funnel, where people are encountering your brand for the first time. While sales can be driven through direct response, which is the focus of many social media campaigns, if you’re not covering all of your bases throughout the entire customer journey, you’re missing out on a lot of potential sales.

In the simplest terms, a Streaming TV ad allows a customer to become familiar with your brand and a complimentary social media ad can give them the impetus to act on that familiarity. It is by having multiple channels in your advertising mix that brand awareness and customer acquisition tactics can work better together to increase sales.

Why is Hulu such a good place for a brand to focus on its story?

FT: Currently, Hulu’s audience has 83 million ad-supported monthly viewers who are already invested in storytelling, based on the premium content we provide. A Hulu ad spot gives brands 15 to 30 seconds to tell a story—which is a lot compared to the 6 seconds advertisers have to grab someone’s attention on social media.

We also offer advertisers a unique opportunity to customize who sees their ads, making sure their story is being told to the audience who is most likely to act. Commercials on traditional TV, for example, are shown to anyone and everyone, regardless if the product or service is relevant to them. Our self-service ad platform allows you to specify your ideal target audience, which allows you to reach your preferred demographic and ensures viewers only receive ads relevant to them and their interests. Also, viewers can’t scroll by or fast forward through your ads on Hulu.

What would you say are the top things that differentiate Hulu from other media?

FT: The first things that come to mind are Hulu’s engaged audience, the fact that many of them only stream and are not reachable through broadcast or cable, the affordability we are able to offer with our new self-service advertising platform, and the “authority” that is gained by a business appearing next to hit TV shows.

ENGAGED AUDIENCE
When people watch Hulu, they’re already highly engaged in the content they’re viewing when compared to other formats, which can be more passive methods of content consumption. We have found that viewers pay 151% more attention to ads on Hulu than Linear TV. By putting your ad in front of this more-attentive audience, you’ve already got consumers in the right mindset to be actively engaged with the story you’re telling through your ads.

CORD CUTTERS & CORD NEVERS
Out of Hulu’s 83 million ad supported viewers, 47% of them are what we call “cord cutters” or “cord nevers.” These are people who have either moved away from or never signed up for broadcast and cable television, choosing instead to solely stream their entertainment. If you’re only including broadcast television commercials in your marketing mix, this streaming-only audience is one you would never reach—and it’s a large one. That’s why it’s good to include advertising through Streaming TV in a well-rounded marketing mix.

AFFORDABILITY
Commercials on traditional TV can be quite expensive for smaller businesses, creating a high barrier to entry. With Hulu’s self-service ad platform, these businesses can now participate the same way a bigger company can, with the added benefit of being able to reach a specific audience and spend their dollars more efficiently.

AUTHORITY MARKETING
One of the coolest things we’ve heard from our clients who have advertised through Hulu is within their local community they’ll have people telling them that they saw their ad. It’s one thing to see a big brand that’s a household name being advertised, but a smaller local company appearing on a premium streaming service further legitimizes their business.

Start Telling Your Brand’s Unique Story: Advertise With Hulu

With our self-service ad solution, businesses of any size can now take advantage of the many benefits that advertising through Streaming TV has to offer. With flexible budgets starting at just $500 and no long-term commitment, this solution is tailored to help you:

• Effectively reach your ideal buyers
• Bolster the impact of your other marketing efforts
• Affordably generate brand awareness through effective storytelling
• Legitimize your brand among Hulu’s community of over 83 million engaged viewers

Sign up to be part of our beta today to learn more about how you can start applying the power of effective brand storytelling with Streaming TV ads.