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Teams
Built for your whole team.
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Trusted by all verticals.
Mediums
Measure any type of ad spend
Use Cases
Many Possibilities. One Platform.
AI and Automation
The Always-on Incrementality Platform
The speed and frequency in which the marketing industry comes up with new terms is staggering. It’s often an industry which moves so fast that we joke that a year in advertising should be counted like dog years ☺
This speed of innovation, size and growth of the industry, and the opportunities for improvements makes it difficult to differentiate a hype from a trend.
New mediums that came into our lives: Connected TV (CTV), creators (influencer), podcasts are not a hype anymore. These are valid new mediums that advertisers would be missing out on if they have not yet added those to their strategic marketing mix.
In today’s marketing world, digital advertising has become the gold standard. It spoils marketers with data and precision, allowing us to track user behavior with impressive granularity. However, as the digital landscape grows increasingly saturated, marketers have begun to realize that expanding beyond the confines of purely digital platforms is crucial for sustainable growth. With consumers engaging across various channels—both online and offline—successful brands are those that venture into new mediums and integrate cross-platform strategies.
This article explores how cross-platform marketing works, its key benefits, and the challenges marketers face, offering a survival guide to navigating this complex but essential landscape.
Cross-platform marketing refers to advertising strategies that go beyond a single medium, integrating various channels to engage customers more holistically. Marketers can no longer rely solely on traditional or digital advertising to reach their target audience effectively. Whether you're running ads on TV, online banners, social media, or even billboards, the most effective campaigns combine multiple platforms to ensure a cohesive brand message.
This approach isn’t simply about where ads are placed but how they are purchased and measured. A comprehensive cross-platform strategy ensures that you can reach a wide variety of customers, regardless of how they consume media. For example, while TV ads may be suitable for brand-building, digital platforms like Facebook or Google Ads provide more direct response opportunities. As marketing channels become increasingly fragmented, the ability to seamlessly integrate and measure success across these different platforms is what defines cross-platform marketing.
Broadened Reach and Engagement
One of the most significant advantages of cross-platform marketing is the ability to increase reach and engagement across diverse audiences. Not all consumers engage with the same media—some may spend hours on Instagram, while others may still be drawn to traditional platforms like radio or print. By diversifying across platforms, you can ensure that your brand message reaches as many potential customers as possible.
Cross-platform marketing also helps increase the frequency with which your message is seen, making your brand more memorable and reinforcing your messaging to various audience segments. Studies have shown that consumers are more likely to take action after multiple exposures to a marketing message, particularly when those exposures occur across different channels.
Stronger Brand Identity and Trust
A successful cross-platform campaign helps build a strong brand identity and trust. The ability to deliver consistent messaging across multiple platforms ensures that your brand remains top-of-mind for consumers. Companies like Apple or Nike, for example, use this strategy not just to introduce products but to continuously remind consumers of their existence and relevance. This approach helps build long-term trust and loyalty.
Moreover, a well-executed cross-platform strategy allows marketers to target different audience segments more effectively. A campaign may reach mass audiences through TV ads while simultaneously targeting specific demographics through social media influencers or digital display ads. This creates a broader but more personalized consumer experience.
Improved Incrementality and ROI
Contrary to popular belief, digital marketing alone does not always provide the best return on investment (ROI). Often, campaigns that focus solely on measurable, digital metrics like clicks or impressions fail to capture the broader value of brand-building. Cross-platform strategies, however, can drive incrementality by reaching new audiences that digital marketing alone might miss.
Focusing solely on digital performance marketing can sometimes cannibalize organic results. By expanding into other platforms, marketers can enhance the overall value of their campaigns, driving true incremental results that go beyond simply “moving the needle” on short-term metrics like return on ad spend (ROAS).
Measurement Complexities
One of the most significant challenges in cross-platform marketing is measurement. While digital platforms offer precise tracking, offline channels like TV, radio, or out-of-home (OOH) advertising are much harder to quantify. For example, while TV ads can help build trust, they lack the precise attribution capabilities of digital platforms.
Causal data science is a modern solution that enables marketers to measure the impact of all marketing activities, even in cross-platform settings. This approach compares actual results with predicted outcomes, helping marketers understand the real effect of their campaigns across various mediums.
Fragmented Media Buying
Another challenge lies in media pricing and buying across different platforms. Unlike the standardized pricing models in digital marketing (e.g., CPM or CPC), other platforms like TV and print operate under vastly different pricing structures. This makes it difficult for marketers to compare costs and optimize budgets across platforms. Additionally, mediums like TV or print rely heavily on factors like seasonality or audience reach, often leading to a more subjective pricing model that requires negotiation.
Platforms such as VIBE.co and Roku Ads Manager democratize media buying for CTV, allowing a buyer to start a TV campaign similarly to how they would have launched a campaign on Meta Ads, or Google.
Consistency in Messaging
With so many channels to manage, ensuring consistency in messaging becomes a challenge. It’s critical that each platform delivers a cohesive brand message while still catering to the unique audience characteristics of that medium. Misalignment between channels can dilute your message and confuse consumers.
The marketing landscape is more fragmented than ever before, and while this presents challenges, it also offers significant opportunities for brands willing to take the plunge into cross-platform marketing. By developing an integrated strategy that spans various platforms, marketers can broaden their reach, build stronger brand identities, and drive greater incremental value.
To navigate this complex landscape, marketers must focus on building a consistent, measurable approach that leverages both the art and science of marketing. Ultimately, the key to success is flexibility: being able to adapt and optimize across channels while staying true to your brand’s core message.
So, what does your marketing strategy look like today, and how can you evolve it to thrive in a cross-platform world?