Plan Your New Media Strategy

Do you know the elements that create the perfect Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) media strategy? This was the subject of Script to Screen’s #ThoughtLeaderThursday webinar on November 19, 2020 when our guest was Havas Edge Vice President of Business Development, Nikki DeLaSalle. You can now watch the webinar for free on-demand on this page, or on our YouTube channel. 

What makes a DTC media strategy different from a more traditional media buying plan? Whether you call it DTC, Performance Marketing, or any of the other names it has, the focus is on buying media where a prospective customer’s eyes are most likely to be. It relies on leveraging in-depth customer data with a focus on results, emphasizing selling instead of just branding. 

Our Guest

Nicky cut her teeth in International Performance Marketing UK, spending the first few years of her career marketing US brands internationally. Nicky’s role within Edge is introducing clients to their robust, integrated suite of Performance Marketing channels. Nicky brings 18 years of Performance Marketing experience and has a robust understanding of the world of advertising; from online and offline media to fulfillment and to customer service while not forgetting international distribution.

Different Media Strategies

The essence of an effective DTC media strategy is similar to how a digital marketing strategy works. There is a focus on reaching out to a specific customer demographic and hitting it with targeted advertising designed not just to brand, but to create an immediate sale. The results are trackable and the money generated from the sale justifies further spending levels and can be reinvested into the media campaign.

In a traditional television campaign, the goal is to find as many potential viewers as possible to create the biggest branding awareness opportunity possible. Any data generated is more broad and not very specific. Results are generally both indirect and not viewable for months after a campaign has aired.

What Sets DTC Media Apart

The biggest difference is that deploying a DTC media strategy, a business can have the reach and new customer-finding ability of television, but with the detailed metrics and sales focus of a digital campaign. It isn’t limited to a single medium, either — a campaign can be aired on traditional television platforms like broadcast, cable and satellite. But it can also air over OTT platforms like Hulu or Peacock; on digital platforms; even in other media like podcasts. 

A Customer’s Journey

Your customer is not going to be sitting still throughout their day watching one particular platform that your advertising may appear on. They are going to be moving throughout their day, consuming media in a variety of different ways. At 8 AM, they’re watching their morning shows, or reading their morning news sites, before listening to a podcast in their car. By 10 AM, they’ve settled in at work and are maybe listening to a streaming music service, or watching videos online. At lunch, they are reachable through various apps on their mobile devices. 

Then they are back at work, back in the car, before being reachable again at home on all their various devices.

A core component of a DTC media campaign requires knowing when your potential customer is going to be watching what programming on which device, and then ensuring that customer gets your contact through superior, cost effective, experienced media buying. It is all about using detailed data to reach where your most likely customer is going to be, then tracking their purchasing journey.