‘It’s just going to be a competition of attention’: Why performance marketers are shifting their priorities to build the brand

The moment of reckoning for performance marketers seems to have finally arrived. For years, marketers over-emphasized performance marketing, especially as the return on ad spend became even more important amid economic uncertainty. But as the digital advertising marketplace gets more crowded, expensive and riddled with data privacy initiatives, performance marketers find themselves at an inflection point.

Recently, the focus has shifted back to brand building and awareness marketing tactics, striking a better balance between performance and brand marketing to stand out from competitors. Essentially, advertisers need to boost brand awareness and strengthen relationships with shoppers, according to Nik Sharma, CEO at Sharma Brands, a branding strategy agency.

“That’s exactly why the brand stuff is getting more money,” Sharma said. “Because the challenge now is: How do you become interesting to buy? And you can’t do that by just running Facebook ads.”

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