62% CMOs said spends on video for consumer outreach delivered the highest ROI: Octane Report

Octane Research had engaged with over 250 CMOs in India to gauge industry's lookout towards digital marketing for their 2021 Report.

Spending on video to reach consumers during the lockdown period yielded the highest return on investment, said the ‘Digital 2021: Adapting to the New Normal, a report prepared by Octane Research and DMAasia.

Octane Research engaged with 250 plus of India’s leading Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) and Leaders – as part of its research study to gain first-hand insights and perspective on outflanking the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. DMAasia is now India’s largest fraternity of progressive & brave marketers.

According to the report, as many as 62 per cent of India CMOs said that spends on video for consumer outreach delivered the highest return on investment."The digital industry and streaming video players like Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, YouTube and others decided to temporary default their video quality to SD. This initiative was in consumer interest to ensure better access to the internet by maintaining the robustness of cellular networks," said the Octane's annual state of online marketing report published on its 10th anniversary.

The report said video continues to be the most stimulating type of content for the consumer, as well as offering maximum engagement. 

Marketers said that video—along with live streaming—gave their brands the maximum amount of customer engagement, only social media had more. It was also noted blogs and email campaigns have continued to be among the TOP 5 channels for customer engagement. Promotion and updates through the use of traditional SMS is also among the Top 5.

"Content Marketing in India has finally found its place as a separate line item on the marketers’ budgets. Online is driven through effective content management practices and we anticipate surge in this area for the 2021 Annual. Engaging new audiences emerges as the no. 1 area of opportunity for India brands," it said.

Video continues to be the most stimulating type of content for the consumer. It continues to offer a solid ROI (return on investment), as 61.8 per cent of our responders deploy content marketing strategies within the videos & webinars.

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Also Read: Digital in advertising reached 15% in 2020, 2 years ahead of forecasts: BCG & CII Report

The report revealed that a video for “Nutrela” titled #AcchaKyaHua, and promoted with minimal budget, managed to garner over half a million views on Facebook during the lockdown.

“With the movement of people severely limited during the lockdown and even after that, companies swiftly adopted digital mode to reach out to a wider section of people, the evidence suggests that the strategy worked,” said Punit Modhgil, Chief Research Officer, Octane Research.

The research report said about 51 per cent of India CMOs admitted having leveraged branded pages, microsites and social media handles for marketing promotions and consumer engagement. Promotional microsites allow consumers to have a quick, focused journey based on their immediate need, rather than dispersing their attention. They are also cost-effective in increasing a consumer’s engagement by promoting brand specific content.

CMOs in India also leveraged their brand’s social media handles to actively reach out and engage with their followers. They used their Instagram and Twitter handles to showcase emerging creative talent—and commissioned select creative work to help tell the brand story. The brand 'Converse' ran a campaign on new ways to create progress together with consumers.

As regards emailers and newsletters, 43 per cent of India CMOs participating in the study ranked email third in terms of impact & return on investment generated. According to Campaign Monitor, open rates for email increased by 16 per cent in March and email sends increased by 19 per cent.

2020 is the year influencer marketing became mainstream with marketers in India and a majority of them plan to invest in 2021 in influencer marketing programs because of its high impact in driving awareness & engaging consumers. Celebrities regularly conducted “Instagram LIVE” sessions to engage their followers. In addition, a number of BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) and e-wallet brands utilized influencers to inform consumers on how their services were relevant during lockdown. An overwhelming 88 per cent of the participants said they would be trying influencer marketing in the next 12 months as "Consumers trust what influencers say about brands far more than what brands say about themselves in their advertising". 

Thirty-three per cent of CMOs feel they would be running seasonal campaigns on loyalty programmes and an almost equal number vouched for such initiatives in the short-term.