Jeffrey Ryznar
President/CEO at 898 Marketing
Website Address: www.898marketing.com
“More to Advertising” is a show made for people in the world of marketing and media who want to grow their advertising knowledge. Interviewing experts around the country, “More to Advertising” is the place to go for tips, tricks and entertaining quips to take your business to the next level.
This week, our host interviews Jeffrey Ryznar from 898 Marketing. To learn more, check out www.898marketing.com.
What is the biggest change in marketing that you see coming in the next 2 years?
1. Recess(ion) is in Session – the economic challenges approaching will be the biggest change. Companies are going to start looking at how they not only leverage their marketing dollars more efficiently, but also use them to attract talent, not just customers. This is going to be the biggest change – how can companies market themselves for employees to join them rather than customers.
2. Influencer are Everywhere – everyone thinks they are a star because, well, in their world, they are! They have a following but the idea of leveraging an influencer who has a million followers is going to give way to the approach of garnering 1,000 people who have 1,000 followers. These micro-influencers want to feel validated and vindicated. Social media is a Look at Me platform for sharing. This is no different than free samples you used to get in the mail, just with a larger following. The opportunity to measure that product placement or effort is what is going to be key as people want to be seen and noticed by their following and brands.
3. Things Just Got Personal – data continues to bring people and things closer together and the idea of hyper-personalized ads are going to be even more prevalent. We can already target crazy things with consumers, however, understanding and linking to buying behaviors, trends, viewing patterns, etc. will further enhance this. Amazon was not far off with their buttons that people pressed whenever someone need laundry detergent. However, there’s not going to need a button. Your smart-washer, refrigerator, and home will be signaling, searching and buying for you. The ads you see will be the same way, offering you what you want when you need it.
4. Gen Z is going to take over – with more buying power and influence, the generation born 1995 – 2010 are fixing to take over. Representing just 10% of the population over 20 right now, they will quickly become the largest population with the highest amount discretionary spending. With that in mind, we’re going to see video, long form content, conversational consumption and the connection of real and virtual world engagement converge. Marketing was once said to be about the stories you tell not stuff you sell. In the upcoming years, it is going to be about the people you make famous by giving them time to shine in your marketing. The use of real people and experiences will start to take over.
What is one tip that you would give when it comes to digital marketing?
“Let it breathe.”
When you open a fine wine, you have to let it breathe – to give it time to let the aromas and flavors come out to an optimal experience. The same is true with digital marketing. Because of how we have been warped to have immediate gratification through likes, follows, comments or even purchases on our own personal buying habits, many clients and novice digital marketing customers believe that the impact for this is immediate. Maybe that is due to the copious amount of data we have at our fingertips to monitor, or maybe it is because the lightning in the bottle stories that have made so much attention about the impact it can have are highlighted more than the 99 other efforts out of 100 that took time to mature. Regardless, like any medium, digital marketing is not lighting in a bottle. However, it can be a conductor to make the spark a fire. One tip I would give is to give your plan time to succeed and not be reactive at the first sign of something that is unexpected or not desirable. Make changes but realize that digital marketing, like anything else, takes time so, let it breathe.
One other element is that I will say it has to be used with other elements. Digital marketing is useful and beneficial but combining with other traditional mediums has proven to show significant lift in results, especially TV and radio, by pulling in viewer habits and actual listeners/viewers to a digital solution, and print…yes…print. Digital allows for multi-level targeting of households and people who have received printed materials or scanned a QR code. Digital might be your number one draft pick for your plans but don’t trade your entire team for it. You need to have complimentary assets.
What are the major challenges that you (and/or other advertisers) face today?
1. The fact that they don’t “see” their ads – many clients feel like if they don’t see their marketing running, then we either aren’t doing a good job or aren’t doing what we say we are doing. The scalability and targeting of digital allows us to truly go after individuals who are customers with limited to no wasted impressions. This can be difficult for some clients to understand as they want to see themselves or have others tell them they’ve seen their commercials/ads.
2. When there’s blood in the streets – the economy is starting to impact our business. While the pandemic was one challenge, companies needed to be even more out in front during that time and assistance enabled them to continue. However, a quickly approaching recession is going to impact everyone. The rising costs of labor, goods and services coupled with the economic challenges are going to put many companies in a position of defending territory rather than gaining momentum. It is going to be a challenge that all companies will face. However, when there is blood in the streets, as the saying goes, that’s where investing should happen. The one thing companies need to realize is that cutting off the supply to the one area that continues to put them front and center with their audience is an approach that has much longer term impacts than short term gains.
3. We Do That Too – for advertisers, it is coming up against other entities who claim they can do it all. If you try to do everything for everyone, it’s hard to do something great for someone. Advertising and marketing has not changed. While mediums have, the strategy, expertise and competency of the team still remains supreme. Anyone can buy media or post on social media, however, it is the practicality, the chess game mentality of why you are doing that how you can maximize that is where the separation will happen in the next 18 months.
How is the trend towards streaming television (CTV) impacting your advertising strategies?
We have been priming the pump for our clients with CTV for over 3 years now. While we faced opposition and doubts back then, we knew where the market was shifting and continued to be an educational resource for our clients rather than force feeding them this as an option. As the market penetration and shift began, our clients were already aware, educated and comfortable with the shift that would be needed.
What are the most effective advertising tactics and/or media for your company?
Authenticity is key. We are transparent organization that has organically grown by realizing we are here to serve others with integrity and accountability. Having people get insight into the people who make up our company is the differentiation.
