There’s never been a more exciting time to be a brand marketer
At first glance, the Supergraphic above (and its YoY growth) will likely scare the pants off you. You have a limited budget to invest in tech, increasing customer acquisition costs, and daily copy-cats eroding your margins. Where do you invest? What’s going to give you the best bang for your buck? What technology will allow you to create engaging customer experiences, demonstrate a compelling ROI and increase the lifetime value of your customers?
Fast times in MarTech: The view from the inside out
Having gone head to head against category leaders in Visual Commerce since 2012, even we were surprised by developments in March as the pace has noticeably picked up. On one hand, we watched a close competitor who had raised an impressive Series A less than two years ago suddenly fold, handing over their entire portfolio to the highest bidders (of course we bid… just not with fresh VC dollars). On the other hand, in a different corner of the market, we watched a fresh newcomer raise a sizeable Seed round (from a consortium of industry vets who are no doubt well informed on the space) on the back of impressive growth in one vertical but whose core value prop and tech are now common place 4 years later. And that’s not to mention the dozens of indy copy-cats sprouting up monthly that are largely reselling lightweight tools.
Brands: How to leverage the frenzy for maximum profit
The level of unprecedented competition can be a huge asset to your brand, if you play it right. Running to the category leader at this stage, before the industry has fully matured, is a recipe for paying through the nose. By now, these teams have seasoned CROs (Chief Revenue Officers) in place with a strict focus on accounts that can be grown YoY (…if it wasn’t already obvious from that opening question on your organization’s revenue). If you had the fortune of selecting one of the front-runners years ago, and have enough brand equity to negotiate grandfathered rates, you’re on solid footing. You have the luxury of working with a growing portfolio without having to foot the bill for the 100-person+ overhead that came later on. For everyone else, information is the leverage you need to negotiate competitive rates wherever you land. It may seem next to impossible to get reliable information out of this maze, but you’d be surprised at what you can learn by maintaining an open channel with multiple teams, especially scrappy startups that keep a close eye on new developments on a daily basis.
The billion dollar question: When are we going to see consolidation?
It’s inevitable but not something we’re likely to see in the next few years. What is almost universally misunderstood about social media marketing and advertising is that it’s a level playing field and the underlying platforms that make it all possible don’t discriminate: their goal is to see healthy competition, product innovation, pricing pressure, and ultimately accessibility to new markets. While finding tech partners that can help the social networks scale their business offerings is important to them, they’re far from rooting for a category leader or consolidation. It’s possible that one day the comprehensive suite with the best tech will suddenly court mainstream audiences with friendlier pricing but I don’t see this happening soon. Even in such a scenario, there will always be room for startups that can move faster to capitalize on new opportunities and the advice above still holds: startups are your best friend in obtaining leverage, industry insights, and favourable pricing.
