In my conversations with top performance-focused marketers, the No. 1 question is always, “What can I be doing better?”
Meta designed the “2022 State of Disruption Report” to be the answer to that question. Now in its fourth year, this report shares what the best looks like for performance-focused advertisers, with actionable insights and recommendations that you can use to adapt, advance and thrive in the coming year. When Meta wrote the first report in 2018, Instagram Stories were a brand-new creative format and a robust signals strategy hinged on the Pixel.
Much has changed since then, but the core DNA of disruption still holds true. Top disruptive companies must be responsive to shifting consumer needs, agile in adapting to new constraints and ruthlessly focused on what creates the most value for their businesses and customers.
Here are the top five takeaways from this year’s report.
1. Provide a platform for values expression
Be flexible along with your consumers to allow for personal and individual experiences and identities.This next generation of consumers is all about expressing their full selves and living out their values. Brands that reflect and evolve with these consumers will be the ones that win.
Top disruptors will continue to connect with consumers through values-based brand building—Rothy’s, Thrive Causemetics, Grove Collaborative and Bombas are great examples of this.
2. Be where your customers are
An omnichannel, frictionless and personalized experience is more important than ever before. Explore new channels—such as Reels, wholesale, retail, even augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)—to meet customers where they are and remove friction where you can, creating an experience that fully reflects their needs.
The creator ecosystem and social shopping have also changed customer expectations significantly. Creators are now a powerful way for a brand to show up as a referral from a trusted person instead of a polished ad. Showing up authentically through these new channels will also help you scale to net new audiences, while maintaining your performance-marketing KPIs.
3. Build for the long term
Find your niche, have a clear strategy for why it will matter to tomorrow’s consumers and embrace it. Aim for sustainable, long-term growth and high-quality long-term value (LTV) relationships while moving fast to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
Most companies Meta works with are still learning how to truly value LTV, along with what truly creates a high-value long-term consumer relationship. The brands that know this dynamic can be more confident and competitively invest heavily in the channels that drive high LTV.
4. Embrace a performance growth framework
During these times of rapid changes for digital marketing, the Performance 5 framework encapsulates the best of what disruptors are doing on our platforms. Know the five high-level strategies inside and out and implement them to stay agile and accelerate performance gains:
Account simplification: Consolidate your account structure and reduce complexity. Simplifying accounts gets you on the fast track to learning and can drive immediate performance in your direct response campaigns.
Leveraging creators for direct response outcomes: Reach new audiences and drive sales by building trust through branded content ads. One way to get started is Instagram’s new Creator Marketplace.
Creative diversification: Continually testing formats, concepts and assets can help you reach new audiences, combat audience saturation and creative fatigue.
Conversions API quality check: Setting up Conversions API creates a direct and reliable connection between Meta and your marketing data to efficiently target and drive ads performance. This is the ultimate foundation of performance marketing.
Business results validation: To help advertisers manage limits on data-gathering and cookie usage, Meta recently transitioned from a Pixel-based tool to a conversions API-based (CAPI) lift solution so you can see the impact of your marketing. It’s important to regularly run incrementality lift studies to ensure the true causal effects of your marketing investment.
5. Test, learn and adopt
Strategies for emerging solutions like AR ads and Reels take experimentation to see if they’re right for you and your brand. Experiment and learn constantly to understand the right ways to use them.
Each of these takeaways relates to a key principle that anchors successful disruptor strategies: the relationship with the customer. No matter what surfaces, technologies, regulations or constraints arise, businesses that focus on sparking and sustaining seamless connections with customers are the ones that thrive.
