Sequential Messaging: Storytelling on Digital Marketing

In today’s digital world, consumers are bombarded with ads across devices. It’s also difficult for them to notice it or even remember it. Also, showing a single message to your audience might not get traction and build engagement.

So how does a brand communicate with their audience effectively and build interactions?, that’s when sequential messaging comes into the picture.

What is Sequential Messaging?

Sequential messaging is a marketing technique of telling a story to your audience with a sequence of messages related to a particular product or a service. 

These ads appear across devices such as mobile, tablet & desktop, helping brand build a deeper relationship with their audiences.

Types of Sequential Messaging?

  • Display Sequential Messaging
  • Video Sequential Messaging
  • Programmatic & DCO Sequential Messaging (leveraging data points)

How does Sequential Messaging Works?

In sequential messaging, you craft different messages and create ad units for each message. These messages can then be defined in a sequence and shown to users one after the other which build the storyline of your product or service.

Let’s take an example and understand this!

Below is a case study of sequential messaging campaign which we did for a real estate brand and it helped us to boost conversions.

We did a display sequential messaging campaign through programmatic and this is how we developed a story about the real estate project we were promoting.

The first ad unit starts with probing message, where we were trying to find the audience who were looking for a home in Baner, Pune (India)

Sequential Messaging Example

The second ad unit message teases the audience with a message, “Your Paradise Awaits You”, which builds in curiosity about the property. 

Display Sequential Messaging

The third ad set message highlights about the luxury aspect of the property with interior visuals. 

Sequential Messaging Example

The fourth ad set communicates about the high rise of the property.  

Sequential Messaging Display

The fifth ad set communicates about deal while buying the property, which is a pull factor.

Case Study Sequencing Messaging

The sixth ad set message communicates about the users who have bought an apartment in the project. It also highlights testimonials alternatively so that it builds trust within the audience targeted.

Real Estate Sequencing Messaging

With the help of sequential messaging we were able to identify users who were looking for property and communicate different aspects about the property while they were browsing on the internet, leading to higher conversion rates. 

Let’s have a look at another example for an ecommerce brand!

Below is a case study of Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) sequential messaging which we did for Flipkart, targeted to the users who visited a product page but did not transact. In this scenario, we communicated different attributes of the product to the users and encouraged them to transact with the power of sequential messaging.  

Flipkart Sequential Messaging Campaign 

We researched and realised that most of the users while buying a phone look for camera, capacity, performance, display, reviews and price points. So we defined the sequential messaging campaign with these aspects to the users who visited Samsung Galaxy J7 pro product and did not transact. 

The first ad set communicates about, “Best Camera for Low Light Pictures”

Ecommerce Sequential Messaging

The second ad set communicates the performance of the phone, including memory and display, which are one of the key factors while buying the phone.  

Sequential Messaging Examples

The third ad set talks about the ratings and reviews, and also it states that it is the most sold phone in the last 24 hours 

Sequential Messaging Campaign

The fourth ad set communicates about lowest price, exchange, buyback and extra discount, which encourages the user to consider the phone. 

Sequential Messaging for Remarking

If the user is still taking time to buy the phone, the fifth ad set offers him a special discount which does the final job of sequential messaging. 

DCO Sequential Messaging

The sequential messaging approach helped us to drive more CTR’s and increase the conversion rates drastically. 

Video Sequential Messaging

Video sequential messaging is sequencing with the help of video format.Video sequential messaging is available in YouTube ads and can also be done through programmatic video ads. 

Below is an example of Youtube video sequential messaging campaign which we did for Evolve Back Resort, Coorg. 

The first ad set communicates about coorg being a green paradise and chikkanahalli estate in coorg

The second ad communicates about the elegance of the resort property. 

The third ad set communicates about the land, the harmony of tradition & luxury within the property 

The fourth ad set communicates about the different aspects in detail about the resort

Video sequential messaging is very impactful as each video is a message in a story format, and video sequencing helps to continue the story to a specific user when they are on video properties. 

How to use Sequential Messaging effectively?

In order to define an effective storyline & drive more conversions, focus on the below aspects:

Engaging Messaging

The messaging of all the ad sets should be engaging and impactful. You can use emotional messaging, humorous messaging or probing messaging, depending on the type of product you are marketing. 

Highlight Value Proposition 

When you are building your story sequence, try to focus on your value proposition, because that’s going to make you stand apart from the competition and it will encourage users to consider your product or service 

Highlight Attributes

Make sure you highlight the attributes of the products effectively in the sequence, which gives users and idea about the key aspects of the product or service. 

Leverage Data Points

Leverage data points and start the sequential messaging journey from there. For eg: You can start the journey from where the users have dropped off, for ecommerce – you can start the journey from where the users have abandoned their cart. You can also create different segments basis visitors interactions on the website and then use these data points to start the sequential messaging story. 

Conclusion

Sequential messaging is one of the most effective digital marketing techniques which helps to boost sales in new user acquisition and remarketing. The success of sequential messaging will depend on what story you are communicating to your audience, basis different attributes of the product or using different data points of the users journey on your site. So get started with sequential messaging today and increase your sales & relationship with your customers!