Winning customers in a downturn

With inflation and interest rates on the rise, how can you

economy-proof your strategy and build a deeper connection?

I’m no Economist but…

80% of chief economists believe that by raising interest rates we’ll curb inflation. With what can be best described as a rather blunt model, we hopefully won’t see an enthusiastic RBA raise rates too much more and plunge us into a recession.

So, what can brands do when the cost of cash is increasing, and their boards want to ensure they don't over-invest in marketing?

Thankfully, there’s some robust data that shows how investing wisely in building deeper relationships with customers can keep your brand in high demand.

Now is the time to be using highly targeted, RELEVANT content to engage your core customers in a way that adds value to their lives.

Here’s some data that the chief economists haven’t seen:

According to local research from May 2022 by consultancy firm Crowd DNA:

• 84% of Australian consumers took some form of action (buy, share, follow, or save) after engaging with a recent piece of brand content. The most common action (34%) was purchasing a product.
• 73% of consumers agree with: “I feel more positively towards a brand that provides valuable content to me.”
• One in two Australians feel that staying connected to a brand through content makes them feel like they’re part of a community.

According to the Global Content Marketing Institute:

• Content marketing generates three times more leads compared to outbound marketing, and costs 62% less.
• Only 34% of Australian consumers believe brands are truly meeting their content needs. Which means that 66% are looking for more.

Here lies the opportunity to make sure your brand is in demand in the current environment.

At 3rdspace we talk about key content drivers and how all content needs to check off at least three of these five drivers:

As an example, we recently worked with Winning Appliances around their involvement in The Block TV show.

The partnership with The Block played two roles:

Firstly, to position our brand idea of “Creating Your Forever Home” with Winning in front of new audiences.

Secondly and more importantly, to use a myriad of formats to inspire, educate, and involve the audience in a timely and relevant way with exclusive content.

We enlisted interior designer Kate Walker and Winning interior expert Kate McGlone to take customers behind the scenes of The Block with a sense of inspiration:

We created 5x3-minute films that tapped into what customers were thinking about when designing their home:

1. Kitchen designs to express your personality
2. Design with sustainability in mind
3. Game changes in innovation
4. Space saving design
5. New design & colour trends

This allowed us to highlight  Winnings partner brands and products that were used by contestants in The Block in a relevant, inspiring, and educational format.

We also engaged with one of The Block's host Darren Palmer to appear in an updated TVC that ran across the Nine Network, highlighting how you could create a winning home in every sense:

With this wealth of content, we created teasers and cut downs, and seeded the films to our various personas via socials and an in-depth automated marketing program. This drove people not only to a landing page but to deeper product information from each episode, and exclusive product offers.

This holistic approach to content enables brands to invest wisely. With data and a range of analytical tools, brands can truly understand the value of their existing customers, and how the lifecycle with those customers can be built upon by delivering content that’s relevant to their persona and needs.

Ultimately this enables the brand to evolve that conversation through to further sales.

If you’d like to find out more about this approach to delivering Content ROI, please reach out rob@3rdspace.com.au

Rob Logan Founder and content economist!