Performance-only marketing experiencing ‘slow death’ as digital brand builders dominate
A new analysis of the e-commerce landscape has revealed the demise of traditional performance-only marketing, as sophisticated brand building takes centre stage. The report from Nest Commerce reveals that digital brand building described as ‘full-funnel performance’ is the needed approach to build awareness and win customers across increasingly video-first platforms including Meta, TikTok, and Google. The Readout, is a quarterly trends and learnings report derived from aggregated advertising data from Nest’s portfolio of e-commerce clients. It uses global ad data from 40+ e-commerce brands, managing over £100 million of media spend. According to Nest data, brands running awareness or traffic campaigns alongside performance campaigns saw a remarkable 31% YoY (Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) boost in Q1 2024, compared to a 32% YoY ROAS decline for brands that only leveraged performance. While Meta performance on aggregate is higher YoY, the trend differs based on whether brands leverage the upper funnel or not. 9% of Meta spend is now going to upper-funnel Investment in awareness and traffic activity. This has increased YoY by 356% and 30% respectively, as brands shift budgets towards driving long-term growth and incrementality. The verdict is clear: Full-funnel performance is a strategic necessity for winning digitally in 2024. The […]