Three-quarters of U.S. adults say they ‘tune out’ digital ads due to the increased amount of time they’ve been spending on computers, mobile devices, and TV sets according to findings of a recent Harris Poll. Considering rising advertising costs on Facebook, Google, and Apple (cited by Forbes rising as much as +89% in April 2021 alone), marketers are hard-pressed to find affordable and effective channel alternatives.
Enter Direct Mail. Direct Mail volume in the US has dropped almost in half in the last 15 years, yet according to Forbes, a substantial 42% of recipients read, or scan, the advertising mailers they receive. Compare that to the open rates of your last email campaign, and you can see why Direct Mail can be a logical and effective channel for many B2C and B2B businesses to consider.
Direct mail has often struggled for adoption, typically due to its cumbersome and multi-step/multi-vendor executional properties and lack of targeting, integration into larger marketing efforts, and 1:1 tracking. But recent advancements in data and technology have changed all of this, making Direct Mail a seamless, integrated, and trackable marketing channel.
Enhanced customer data owned and aggregated by third party data providers has made it possible for any business (B2C or B2B) to connect the dots between online prospects and customers and offline data points. For example, “Reverse IP Append” is a service offered by a number of data providers where the IP address of a company’s website visitors can be matched to a home or business address. Data providers can also translate a customer’s email address to their corresponding physical address. Couple these two data strategies with the ability for Direct Mail vendors to integrate with your CRM, Marketing Automation, Meeting software, eCommerce Platforms, and the third party data providers mentioned above, and you are able to seamlessly and immediately trigger a variety of retargeting, integrated marketing, or win-back campaigns through Direct Mail – trackable and transparent.
AI and predictive modeling are also now being applied to Direct Mail. As many companies continue to find success through Look-a-like modeling on platforms like Facebook and Linkedin, they can now more effectively apply this same approach to prospect list development. Data and Direct Mail list providers can develop segmented profiles based on your highest value customers, create look-a-like Direct Mail lists for prospecting, they can even create models to predict attitudes and behavior towards your offering based on past direct mail (or other tracked) interactions.
Direct Mail has long since been a prominent channel for credit card companies sending offers to large lists of credit-worthy prospects, for local businesses offering services to prospects who just moved into town, or for B2B enterprise companies sending swag to their top 1000 client prospects. Direct Mail can also work for a wide range of B2C and B2B businesses. For B2C companies with mass appeal and mass adoption (like our credit card example), or for local businesses unable to compete for eyeballs or execute via digital advertising, Direct Mail can be an effective stand-alone prospecting tool due to its high “open rates.”
However, integrating Direct Mail into your customer journey touchpoint strategy and personalizing it (based on customers’ or prospects’ past interactions with you or information garnered from third-party data providers) is often the most effective way to incorporate Direct Mail into your overall marketing efforts. For example, for B2B businesses, triggering a customized company branded gift or a personalized informational mailer is most effective when sending after prospects have qualified themselves as an interested lead (e.g. attending a webinar, or even talking to a salesperson). For B2C businesses, this might mean triggering a personalized offer to a prospect who abandoned their cart (including the images of those products on the mailer) or triggering a personalized win back mailer after a loyal customer has gone dark.
Identifying and mapping out your use cases for Direct Mail is a great first step to evaluating where and how it can fit into your overall marketing strategy. However, Direct Mail takes time to test. Variables like target segment, use case, timing within the customer journey, type of mailer, creative, and offer, all need to be tested and optimized. It takes time to design and execute these tests, typically executed as A/B tests with different variables or hold out-groups. Responses to mailers also typically happen between 7-14 days but can take up to 30 days, so time is needed to both see the results and analyze them. Because of these complexities, Direct mail is often best tested over a 3 to 6 month period, and large quantities of mailers (e.g. 30,000 or more) can be required to gather a big enough data set to evaluate.
Customized gifts or branded products are often a popular Direct mail tool for B2B businesses when used in conjunction with ABM efforts or other strategic account and prospect strategies. Gifting as Direct mail can also be used for employee holiday mailings, or for engaging or retaining strategic partnerships. Gifting is a specialized function within Direct Mail and includes anything from sending personalized gifts, eGifts, company swag, offering virtual experiences, even the option to donate to charity. The leader in the space is Sendoso because of their full-service offering, as well as their breadth of available products and mailers, their integrations with key CRM and sales technologies, their ability to trigger real-time mailings, and their user-friendly option for gift recipients to donate their gifts or money to charity.
Unlike social media specialists, analytics managers, or SEM experts, in-house marketers who specialize in Direct Mail are tough to find. Plus, even in-house experts require the help of outside vendors for data and execution.
Direct mail “vendors” are somewhat fragmented as there are gifting-focused solutions, legacy providers (like printers) who have recently evolved, new full-service technology platforms, agencies, general direct mail vendors, and third-party data providers who offer services both direct to brands and to other providers. Most solutions have grown to include marketer-friendly design tools or integrated design partnerships to deliver creative, while pricing typically includes a base fee, plus a variable cost per mailing.
Printers: Brands like credit card companies that use Direct mail for mass prospecting are more likely to use printers like IWCO Direct or ICS Corporation.
Agencies: For eCommerce companies looking to be totally hands-off, Share Local is a popular full-service direct mail agency focused exclusively on e-commerce. Founded by direct marketers for direct marketers, they focus on CPA-efficient outcomes for clients.
General Direct Mail Vendors: Postalytic’s recent integration with Hubspot has helped in increasing its popularity as a direct mail vendor. While Postal.io leans more heavily into e-gifting products, virtual events offerings, and corporate swag options, they offer general direct mail as well and have integrations with key CRM technologies.
Full-service Technology Platforms: For B2B and B2C companies alike looking for a one-stop-shop technology platform to execute and track direct mail campaigns, Lob is the leader in direct mail innovation. Their single platform is fully integrated with local printers, gifting-focused direct mailers, third-party data providers, as well as leading marketing automation, CRM, and sales technologies which allow them to provide a single place to easily design, execute and track all of your direct mail efforts.
Our article on determining the best way to source resources and talent to manage new channels can also help you navigate execution. If you are considering Direct Mail, or are looking for more insights on which marketing channels you should be investing in, or how best to execute them, check out our other articles below or contact us at marketingteam@revel-one.com and we will be happy to help.
About RevelOne
RevelOne is a leading marketing advisory and recruiting firm. We do 300+ searches a year in Marketing and Go-to-Market roles from C-level on down for some of the most recognized names in tech. For custom org design, role scoping, and retained search, contact us.
As Facebook and Google advertising costs continue to rise, marketers are looking for additional cost-effective and ROI-consistent channels. Affiliate marketing has become one of those key channels, offering excellent results for fast-growing B2C and B2B tech companies. With an ever-changing ecosystem of small and large influencers, content leaders, and media outlets, a single channel that can span all these opportunities is enticing and powerful.
It’s best to consider Affiliate marketing once you have found product-market fit and your margins are clearly defined and predictable. In this guide to Affiliate marketing, we’ve put together the important insights every marketing leader needs to know before deciding to pilot an affiliate program. We include what media and advertising opportunities an Affiliate program might entail, what you need in order to test this channel, how programs typically function, and the networks, technology platforms, and agencies that will help you be most successful. We’ve tapped our own expertise as marketing operators and our insights working with the top marketers in tech to create this Marketers Guide to Affiliate marketing.
Traditionally, Affiliate marketing consisted of transactional affiliate marketplaces and management platforms that served as a single source for publishers (typically content and coupon sites) to easily connect with advertisers. These platforms make it easy to establish business relationships, share creative assets, track revenue and even handle payouts between the publisher and the advertiser. Two major platforms that are still highly used today include Rakuten and CJ. Today, Affiliate marketing is more broadly and holistically defined as any kind of partnership that can deliver a sizable audience to drive new prospects or new or repeat customers on a pay-for-performance model.
Affiliate partnerships exist in a wide range of categories including content creators, online and offline mass media publishers (e.g. Forbes, CNN, NBC Universal), influencers (large and small), loyalty sites, coupon and deal sites, podcasts, review sites, shopping sites, benefits/rewards/loyalty providers, mobile apps, other brands/companies, registries, referral programs, search affiliates, business development deals, and even online learning platforms and schools.
An effective and profitable affiliate program can consist of 10 of these partners or 10,000. And, while categories of partners may differ, one thing they all have in common is a pay-for-performance model. You can structure these models in many ways — like paying for new vs. returning customers, paying flat rates per lead or customer or a percentage of sales, utilizing sliding scales meant to incentivize volume, and even a custom, tailored rate decided on for each specific affiliate site.
B2C ecommerce brands have led the charge in traditional Affiliate marketing, offering an easy way for publishers and content creators to monetize their audiences with appealing creative options. B2C brands also tend to offer a clear, measurable, and predictable revenue model paying publishers a percentage or flat fee for every product that is purchased as part of the affiliate deal.
But Affiliate isn’t just for B2C. Its coverage across review sites, mass media, and niche publications make it a worthwhile investment for B2B brands as well. Affiliate marketing can also benefit B2B businesses because partnerships can include other B2B businesses who may share the same target audience, but be ancillary (and non-competitive). Or, they can even include business development-type partnerships with industry thought leaders who command sizeable audiences that also match a B2B company’s target customer profile.
Even PR firms are starting to utilize Affiliate marketing. Because of Affiliate marketing’s mass media publisher partnerships, PR firms are now using it as a shortcut, or a supplemental channel for their traditional PR efforts.
A new affiliate program can often take 6–12 months to start seeing meaningful results, so it’s not a channel that can be tested quickly. Companies need to ensure they have an already-established acquisition program in place so the Affiliate campaign can be given the time it needs to prove itself and then grow. But patience can pay off – the affiliate channel often becomes a major contribution to growth for many companies.
Affiliate programs take time to test for two reasons. First, for certain types of partnerships like influencer relationships or niche blog/podcast partnerships, it takes time to identify partners and to engage and develop a relationship with them. Plus, defining a framework and getting a partnership up and running is no easy task. Second, even for turnkey partners, there is a ramp-up period in which new advertisers compete with legacy advertisers (whose products are already proven to drive revenue for the partner) for placement or priority across an affiliate’s assets. In these cases, new advertisers are not prioritized until they prove themselves to be lucrative for an affiliate in a revenue share model.
Understanding the nuance of your company’s acquisition economics is also critical to the success of affiliate marketing as it is based on pay-for-performance models. It’s important to know your lifetime value (LTV) contribution margins and the maximum Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) you can afford. And, that CAC needs to include not just the payout to affiliates, but also technology fees, publisher fees, and perhaps agency fees as well. Getting this wrong and having to reduce your payouts can demotivate or even burn bridges with early affiliates.
Affiliate marketing started with affiliate networks. These transactional networks serve as a marketplace for advertisers and publishers (typically deal/coupon and content platforms) and a transactional platform for managing affiliate signup, communication, reporting, and payouts. Partnerships tend to be hands-off, large in number, and publishers will typically be signed up with your competitors as well. The biggest networks include:
These platforms are less transactional and more robust than traditional networks and aim to provide personalized, yet easy-to-use experiences across media management, affiliate signup, communications, analytics, and payment. They are best for companies sourcing their own affiliates, developing more meaningful direct relationships, or for their agencies who may be doing this for them. These platforms also provide built-in marketplaces for finding new affiliates. Leaders in the space include:
An affiliate agency provides the manpower, already-established relationships, and expertise that most companies don’t already have in order to make this channel successful. Experienced, in-house, affiliate talent has become limited as the younger generation of marketers chooses to specialize in other channels. Often to their detriment, many companies assign a junior marketer to test or manage this channel but are underestimating the time, expertise, and experience needed to engage, nurture, and design a mutually profitable relationship with various types of partners. Agencies are tool agnostic and the leader in this space is Acceleration Partners.
Affiliates can become a highly impactful channel for any type of business. While it takes time and some investment to prove this channel, Affiliate marketing’s pay-for-performance model with a more predictable ROI makes it a relatively efficient, low-risk channel. Our article on determining the best way to source resources and talent to manage new channels can also help you navigate execution.
For marketing leaders looking for more information on Affiliate marketing, or other resources on which marketing channels you should be adding to your arsenal, check out our other articles below or contact us at marketingteam@revel-one.com and we will be happy to help.
RevelOne is a leading marketing advisory and recruiting firm. We do 300+ searches a year in Marketing and Go-to-Market roles from C-level on down for some of the most recognized names in tech. For custom org design, role scoping, and retained search, contact us.
Television has gone digital, with more consumers “cutting the cord” and forgoing expensive cable packages in favor of select streaming services and on-demand viewing. In the marketing world, this means advertising options have expanded beyond traditional TV buys, into more targeted, more attributable, and ultimately more accessible digital options.
But when is it best to explore this channel as a growing B2C or B2B technology company? In a recent article, we recommended Audio as the first alternative channel to test after establishing your online measurable performance marketing channels (SEM, Paid Social and other digital channels) and building a reliable and accountable foundation for new customer/lead acquisition. Now with the more measurable, targeted and accessible TV advertising options we’re about to cover, testing OTT/CTV video advertising is often the next best channel to test.
“Linear TV” is the traditional TV many of us grew up with. Viewers watch scheduled programming at the time it is broadcast over the air, typically through satellite and cable subscriptions—although it can be recorded via DVR or other methods. While the number of paid US TV subscriptions has dropped by 2.7 million in the last few years1, linear TV audiences still make up the largest TV viewing segment. However, this segment will continue to shrink and evolve as more viewing options are becoming available and consumers are moving away from traditional cable and satellite subscriptions—into the new “cord cutters” segment.
“Cord cutters” are simply defined as a person who cancels or forgoes a cable television subscription in favor of an alternative internet-based or wireless service. OTT (“over the top”) and CTV (“connected TV”) together make up this growing “cord cutter” segment. While these two terms are often used interchangeably, when it comes to buying advertising, it is helpful to know the difference between them. OTT (“over the top”) refers to the delivery of TV content through the internet, aka streaming content, via services like Hulu, Netflix, Disney+. CTV refers to internet-connected TVs and devices (like a smart TV, hardware plugin, or gaming console). OTT content can in fact be viewed via CTV, for example streaming Hulu (OTT) through Google Chromecast or Xbox (CTV). OTT is definitely mainstream as 52% of all US adults over 18 use at least one OTT service.
Linear TV is typically bought through Upfronts, where media agencies and buyers purchase or reserve network media directly for upcoming TV seasons, often at a lower price. More recently Newfronts have been offered—the digital version of Upfronts—in which media agencies and buyers can purchase or reserve media for upcoming digital programming with OTT providers like Hulu or Disney+, as well as traditional TV networks on their digital or on-demand channels.
Linear TV can also be bought programmatically, but inventory is relatively low. OTT/CTV however has a higher percentage of inventory available through programmatic buying. Right now about 60% of CTV is being sold programmatically according to eMarketer. In fact, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and Samsung accounted for over 65% of programmatic CTV impressions in 2019. The rest of CTV is sold through Newfronts (mentioned above), or held by networks or service providers and guaranteed for more traditional direct buys.
While programmatic buying can seem like the most economical, easy to execute, and easiest to directly attribute to sales, one complaint around programmatic TV, in general, is the limited visibility into where your ads are actually being shown. The tracking is very different across programmatic TV buying and cookie-based CTV ads as well. Each CTV service has its own system, and OTT content is viewed across multiple devices, which can make tracking difficult.
When it comes to media assets, OTT advertising typically consists of pre-roll ads and other video advertising that is shown to users while watching content, typically in the form of commercials during shows. But because CTV is tied to a device, it not only includes pre-roll and other video advertising shown while a consumer watches content using that device, but also includes advertising placed alongside other apps and shown on the device itself.
So, while CTV and OTT are often used interchangeably, a smart and experienced TV expert or partner will be able to help you decipher and take advantage of the difference.
One of the key elements to running a successful OTT/CTV and programmatic TV campaign is access to inventory, and actively managing the ads through that inventory across every platform and every type of content. We recommend working with an agency to execute your TV advertising. While most agencies do not develop creative in-house, they all will have a short list of vetted creative producers they work closely with to create winning creative together. There are three agencies that dominate the TV buying space right now, they all buy across CTV/OTT and Linear, and can provide full service support:
For those looking to test into TV advertising on a budget—or who are already running TV campaigns but looking for ways to lower their average CAC—we recommend looking into remnant TV media buying companies with access to both linear TV and CTV/OTT inventory. One such agency we recommend is Last Minute Media Deals. Agencies like this, with access to relatively last-minute TV (linear and CTV/OTT) inventory, can secure deep discounts off standard rates—even up to 80% off.
Launching TV can be both costly and confusing. Understanding your options and working with a knowledgeable partner is typically the most cost-effective and efficient way our clients approach TV advertising. Our article on determining the best way to source resources and talent to manage new channels can also help.
For introductions to any of the agencies we have recommended, or if you are looking for additional resources or insights on which marketing channels you should be adding to your arsenal, and how to do it, check out our other articles below or contact us at marketingteam@revel-one.com.
References
About RevelOne
RevelOne is a leading marketing advisory and recruiting firm. We do 300+ searches a year in Marketing and Go-to-Market roles from C-level on down for some of the most recognized names in tech. For custom org design, role scoping, and retained search, contact us.
The world of audio has evolved quickly since 2004 when podcasts became a category and Pandora’s interactive radio service hit the scene just a year later. As more ways of consuming audio content have become available, we regularly get asked by marketing leaders and growth experts alike, “What is the best way to market through these channels, and how should I start testing them?”
First, when thinking about when to invest in audio vs other channels, we typically recommend fast growing tech companies to test into audio after they have established their measurable performance marketing channels. By spending their first marketing dollars maximizing SEM, Paid Social and other digital channels first, marketers can establish a highly measurable and reliable foundation for new customer/lead acquisition, before moving into audio or other broadcast media. We often recommend Audio as the first alternative channel to test since it is cheaper than TV for example, both in terms of media buying and creative, but can still generate larger scale awareness among new customer segments.
As former and current marketing operators ourselves (and as marketing executive recruiters), we’ve put together this short guide mapping out a marketer’s audio options, high-level channel differences and insights, and how best to execute your marketing through this channel as a whole — including the top agencies and executional options our clients rave about and some of which we have used ourselves.
More than 680 million Podcasts are downloaded every month, and According to Buzzsprout, one in three Americans listens to a show regularly. Podcasts aren’t just popular, though. They are integrated into people’s lives, replacing music in the car or their favorite talk show host at night, and come in a wide variety of subjects and formats.
Advertising: Advertisers can take advantage of this ever growing, and diverse channel targeting their audiences by lifestyle, interest and more. Endorsement ads — 30- and 60-second sponsorships voiced by the podcast hosts — are the gold star of podcast advertising, with 52% of listeners saying they are likely to take recommendations from podcast hosts they like (source: Morning Consult). Programmatic models also exist using pre-recorded ads. While this approach to podcast advertising can be more cost effective for your brand, ads are not tailored to the shows where they are broadcast and inventory is typically low.
Audience: Podcasts audiences started out being younger and the early adopters, but are now essentially mainstream.
Over 34 million people subscribe to SiriusXM Satellite Radio, with over 165 channels available in your car, and over 300 channels online across news, sports, talk, comedy, entertainment, and music.
Advertising: Based on your target market and budget, you choose which channels you want to advertise on, however, Satellite radio can only be nationally targeted. Ad formats also include traditional 30 or 60 second radio spots, sponsorships, targeted brand spots, and programming shorts. Host-read sponsorships are available on Satellite, but they are not as popular because of their big price tags and tremendous lead times. There is also a $20K total, $5K/wk minimum.
Audience: Because users pay to listen, satellite radio listeners tend to be more affluent, and older, but specific demographic targeting can be done by focusing your ad campaign on certain channels. Most are listening on the road, but the SiriusXM mobile app is increasingly used by subscribers when out of their vehicles.
Over 100 million people are regular listeners to Pandora, Spotify, and other Streaming Radio channels. According to the RIAA’s 2020 year-end report, about 83% of all music consumption happened on a streaming service. While much user behavior takes place on ad-free subscription services, there are tons of commercial-supported, and sponsored placements available through these services.
Advertising: Most streaming providers like Pandora and Spotify offer free versions of their product where advertisers can choose between display ads and targeted in-stream spots. Because these services partner with big data companies they are able to provide sophisticated audio targeting options, including age and audience affinity targeting, even at the zip code level. Programmatic advertising for streaming makes it easy to advertise on multiple services from one place, instead of having to manage the nuances of each service’s platform for direct buys.
Audience: Streaming listeners tend to look a lot like the podcast audience, although are slightly older than podcast listeners, 56% are aged 21-44 with a median age of 41.
Traditional AM/FM radio is the original audio advertising channel, and it should still be in your wheelhouse as a marketer. According to Edison Research, 39% of all audio consumption in 2020 was via terrestrial radio. That is a huge chunk of the pie. And, because there are now so many Internet radio services like iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and more, listeners are accessing these “local” stations on a global scale through smartphone apps and browser players.
Advertising: Ads on traditional radio stations take the form of traditional 30- and 60-second spots. However, because the inventory permeates each station’s runtime around the clock, there’s often last-minute unsold inventory and fill-in slots, which are a solid and popular way to test into this channel with minimal budgets. If you work directly with iHeart Radio or the other top radio networks on a premium buy/campaign, you can engage their talent (radio personalities) to do custom spots.
Audience: Because(terrestrial) radio has such a broad reach, audience demographics overall looks like the general population, but targeting can be done by specific radio stations and programs on those stations.
Audio is one of the fastest evolving advertising channels. As audio options mature and expand, so do advertising options, agencies, and tools. For example, while just “yesterday,” audio inventory was only sold direct and fragmented across types and providers, Google now offers audio inventory in their marketplace. Google’s inventory partners include AdsWizz, iHeart, Pandora, SoundCloud (global), Spotify, Triton Digital and TuneIn, among others advertisers have the ability to distinguish between music, radio and podcasts, and audio production tools and brand lift tracking are also included as Google clearly is making a play to become a leader in audio advertising, too.
A key to audio is testing into it. Typically, brands work with an audio agency of record that does all aspects of their advertising. However, the biggest agencies sometimes require a minimum investment in the hundreds of thousands. For most startups this is far out of their budget. Engaging an audio freelance expert can be a great alternative. In this model you will own the relationships with the publishers, you are only charged for time spent (for scalable programs this means their percentage of media becomes much lower over time vs. the 15% standard), and you will often get more senior talent managing your relationship end to end.
Our Top Agency recommendations:
Our Top Freelance recommendation:
No matter how you choose to invest and execute audio for your brand, for most B2C companies and many B2B companies, it has become a critical channel to at least test. Our article on determining the best way to source resources and talent to manage new channels can also help you navigate execution. If you are looking for more resources on which marketing channels you should be adding to your arsenal, and how to do it, check out our other articles below or contact us at marketingteam@revel-one.com and we will be happy to help.
About RevelOne
RevelOne is a leading marketing advisory and recruiting firm. We do 300+ searches a year in Marketing and Go-to-Market roles from C-level on down for some of the most recognized names in tech. For custom org design, role scoping, and retained search, contact us.
Company-specific customer research and segmentation are critical to identifying the right channels and targeting best suited to reach your ideal customer audience. While almost everyone is leveraging Facebook and Google, our work with the top tech companies reveals several key acquisition channels many marketing leaders are not yet testing, but should be considering. These include audio, connected and streaming TV, micro influencers, affiliates and even direct mail (still effective after decades).
In future articles, we will dig deeper into how these channels can impact your business and even share leading resources and vendor recommendations our clients have found very useful.
But before you spend your first dollar, you need the talent to test them. We examine the four leading options to help you decide which option may be best for your business.
Outsourcing a new channel to an experienced agency is the most widely used option among fast growing tech companies. It has a lot of advantages, but may not be right for everyone.
Advantages
Disadvantages
In the end, for companies with large enough budgets for a substantial media investment and the stomach, margins, or urgency to work with a significant agency fee, outsourcing to an agency is likely a great option. However, we recommend meeting your account team first to evaluate the individual talent you’ll be assigned.
If one of your team members already has experience in the channel you are looking to test, this option often makes sense. However, this often isn’t the case. Instead, this responsibility is assigned to what amounts to an inexperienced team member you “think” is most capable.
Advantages
Disadvantages
For those on a tight budget, this is sometimes the only realistic option for testing new channels. In this case, we suggest putting your best effort forward and if the initial data shows even a glimmer of hope, gather enough data to make the business case to invest in it properly.
Often considered the ideal compromise between option #1 and option #2, expert contractors can act as an extension of your team with limited commitment or investment.
Advantages
Disadvantages
A talented contractor can be a great option, as long as you avoid some of the issues above. Getting specific on deliverables and expectations and including this in your scope of work with the contractor, will be critical. To help retain insights and historical learnings, ensure your freelancer documents and records everything.
Hiring specialized, full-time talent in-house for a new potential channel makes sense when you have the conviction that the channel can work for you and the resources to fully test it. This includes resources to hire talent in-house and the media spend they’ll need to test and prove out the channel.
Advantages
Disadvantages
When selecting this option, one way to minimize risk is to look for candidates with experience beyond the channel you are looking to test. They may have specialized in this channel most recently, but look for candidates whose backgrounds span other channels and skill sets so should this channel prove unsuccessful, they can still add value elsewhere.
Exploring new channels that have the potential to meaningfully impact your business is something every business and marketing leader should pursue. We offer guides for evaluating and launching several key channels including Audio, OTT/CTV, Affiliate and Direct Mail. Once you’ve determined your next channel to test, utilize the above options to help you decide how to source the talent to execute. At RevelOne, we not only specialize in marketing and sales retained searches, but we can also tap into our Interim Expert Network to place the right interim resource if you decide to go that route. Expert contractors are a fast, reliable, and effective way to accelerate impact.
About RevelOne
RevelOne is a leading marketing and sales advisory and recruiting firm. We do 300+ searches a year in Marketing and Sales roles from C-level on down for some of the most recognized names in tech. We also offer interim and fractional contractor placements to help our clients build dynamic teams. For custom org design, role scoping, retained search, or expert contractors, contact us.
