by Michael McLaren , Op-Ed Contributor, June 30, 2020

Interest in “Content Personalization” has reached an all-time high among brands, with agencies following suit, according to this week’s analysis of advertiser and ad agency content consumption indexed by Bombora for MediaPost.

This week’s analysis, based on data collected June 22, reveals marketers are realizing now is the time to ramp up content production and dissemination. In today’s world, irrelevant content can be very evident, and can tarnish your brand over time. It’s mission critical that whoever is communicating a message assures the customer that their concerns and feelings are recognized and taken seriously, and that this type of messaging extends to customer service teams, your website and social channels.    

What else we’re seeing:  

 

* It’s not uncommon for a business to reanalyze and refocus the definition of their target audience over time. As companies double down on building their brand and integrating their marketing efforts around “moments that matter,” in favor of broad-based messaging, we are seeing increasing intent among brands interested in “Demographics” and “Local Marketing” with less of an emphasis around “Targeting” for the time being. 

 

* The stunning spike in “Enterprise Search” comes as no surprise in our current scenario. Companies taking steps to permanently move their previously on-site workforce to remote positions post-COVID 19, will be looking to equip their organizations with an enterprise-wide search capability that provides employees with the most relevant information for the task at hand.

* Intent for “First-Party Data” among brands has declined sharply since May 24, but increased among agencies since the first week in June. Agencies may be attempting to make the most of client data while brands could be focused elsewhere. Intent for third-party data has declined for both groups, perhaps due to price. 

* Intent for “Customer Experience and Engagement” among brands rose sharply mid-May, plateaued, and then dropped off precipitately the week of June 7. While proprietary research from B2BI has shown that CX is a top concern among B2B brands in today’s environment, these dips could reflect reprioritization of topics like “Brand Voice,” which has risen sharply among both agencies and brands since late May. This timing coincides with the murder of George Floyd and subsequent worldwide protests.