What is Targeted Advertising?
Advertisements are tailored to customers by taking advantage of the data that is gathered about them, for instance; their age group, what websites they have visited, and how often they interact with particular websites.
Ad Targeting Best Practices
- Targeted advertising uses data collected about consumers — such as demographic information, browsing history, and website interaction — to create and serve advertisements that match customer preferences.
What is the Role of Advertising Media?
By using the proper types of advertisements, marketers can reach out to various groups of people and interact with them in unique ways. Using social media lets customers start a conversation, while television is used for transmitting a message that only goes in one direction. Thus, media planners must ascertain which outlets deliver the most advantages for the most economical cost. The medium of advertising picked for a particular campaign should be dependent on what the goals of the effort are (whether it is aiming to increase recognition of the product/brand or to generate sales) and how well it connects with the intended viewers.
How Media Planners Can Maximize Impact per Exposure
Media strategists should go beyond just traditional television and banner advertisements in today’s advancing marketing atmosphere. Rather, they need to focus on a person’s outlook on your company. Making the brand experience a priority should be the main concern when creating a media plan and the ad platform should continue to support this focus. A pet supplies company’s media plan could involve television commercials, but the ads should be focused on increasing the bond with the customer. The various forms of advertising should be in agreement with the overall brand plan and announcements. Thus, each type of media should be like a piece of a puzzle that puts together the image of your brand strategy.
It is essential to keep in mind that people come into contact with over 5,000 advertisements daily – hence media strategists should strive to make a maximum impact with each encounter. Forming a special team focused on achieving the best ad position, bargaining for suitable funds and constructing ads that are attractive to the specified demographic is key.
1. Give Consumers Content They Care About
Rather than reiterating information which is already familiar to the customer, use targeted ads as an opening to pass along useful details, give away offers, and show them items of potential interest based off of their shopping and surfing habits. Demonstrate your concern for your customers by providing them with an advertisement that is tailored to their interests.
The takeaway: Consumers want new, fresh content .
2. Keep it Interesting
The use of the word “creative” when referring to marketing is because it should be stimulating, captivating, and most importantly, not dull. Everyone realizes how effortless it is to disregard advertisements, so for a targeted advertisement to be effective, it must be exceedingly memorable compared to the other ones.
The takeaway: Make your ads eye-catching.
3. Set a Cap on Frequency
It’s important to keep in mind that although using accurate ad targeting can be beneficial to your clients, excessive targeting is likely to be detrimental. Think about how you would feel as a consumer if you encountered the same ad on numerous websites.
The takeaway: Don’t bombard your customers with ads.
4. Find the Right Place
Your advertisements may not be suitable for every type of platform. Creating more complex advertisements for Instagram or Facebook should be done since they are more capable of making users stop scrolling and click on them. This could lead them to a new webpage or even to watch a video.
The most important factor to consider with ad targeting is where it is placed, just like determining the correct area for real estate.
5. Pinpoint Your Audience
Identifying your target demographic is essential to any successful advertising campaign. If the ads you are providing to customers are not relevant to their interests, you will not get the desired results in terms of click-throughs. Consequently, it is essential to investigate: Locate tools that allow you to generate tailored advertisements based on particular customer information and also assist you to have an improved idea by recognizing shared qualities among your viewers.
The main point is that no matter how good an ad is, it will not succeed if it is not directed at the appropriate group of people.
6. Don’t get too Specific
From the opposite perspective, it is vital to make sure your advertisements are wide-ranging enough to reach a good portion of your target audience. For instance, crafting an advertisement geared towards redheaded male individuals aged between 20 and 22 located in Kansas, who have golden retrievers and drive electric cars, could be executed. However, such a high level of specificity may mean the ad won’t appear on most social or search sites, and might not be seen by a substantial number of people.
The conclusion: Successful marketing requires balancing carefully targeted campaigns and overly specific advertisements.
7. Think Outside the Box
Constructing ad campaigns that are tailored to a specific group means considering what the individuals in that group desire. Suppose you have a real estate business and wish to assist individuals in both selling their existing residence and purchasing new ones. The people who you should be targeting are those who are looking up local real estate agents or investigating the values of properties in their locale.
It might be advantageous to investigate alternative markets that may be linked to the main objective. When discussing property, this could mean looking for moving cartons, truck and van hires, or storage units that may suggest that customers are setting out to go somewhere. Consider markets that are analogous to your own in order to expand your reach without compromising your core objectives.
The main point: Targeted marketing needs both a deep level of customization and a wide scope of interests.
8. Test, Test, Test
Even the most meticulously planned marketing campaigns don’t always succeed. It is beneficial to do repeated A/B trials to observe which commercial advertisement will show strong results in various situations, and which will not be successful. Once you have determined the likely candidates, you can continue testing them through A/B testing to get the most effective financial benefit.
The takeaway: Nothing works perfectly the first time. Test your ads to improve their performance.
9. Cast a Wide Net
It is likely that a single advertising platform will be the most effective for a new advertising campaign. The caveat? You won’t be able to figure out the right option until you’ve tried all of them. It’s not worthwhile to use up your entire advertising budget on widespread advertising over the web, but it is worth testing out a few advertising platforms to figure out what works best.
In conclusion: Employing larger searches allows you to identify where your consumers are located and alter strategies accordingly.
10. Measure your Impact
If the adverts are perceptible and clicks are arriving, then everything’s working as intended, correct? Maybe, maybe not. It is essential to identify key performance indicators and assess them consistently to make sure that aimed ads are being effective. You can calculate the aggregate worth of sales made as a result of a targeted marketing effort to evaluate if the investment was profitable.
The main point: Follow the figures to confirm that the money allocated for advertisements is reasonable.
Where Can You Publish Targeted Ads?
Brands have a variety of choices for running ads geared towards a particular audience. For customers who have allowed to receive newsletters and offers, using emails to send ads to people who are already enthusiastic about your brand is a great strategy.
In order to spread the word to a larger crowd, marketers may decide to spend money on targeted ads that will be visible on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.
Ads can be dispersed to the 90% of people around the globe who use the web by publishing them to the Google search results specific to their search query or on the Google display network. Google Ads consists of two platforms and the prices for them are determined through an auction process. Marketers state the most amount of money they want to spend for a single advertisement, and Google uses the bid and quality of the ad to decide the cost and where the ad should be placed. Worth noting? You will only be billed for your link when somebody clicks on it.
Prior to posting any advertisements, the strategic purpose and plan for the media push must be determined by media planners. One must take into account the pros and cons of each kind of advertisement in order to arrange their position in the media in the most favorable way and get the highest effect from the promotional effort. Consider the strengths and weaknesses of these five prominent media channels:
1. Video Advertising: Television & YouTube
On the first of July, 1941, the very first legally aired television ad was demonstrated in New York during a Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies match, with more than 4,000 TVs tuned in. Throughout the years that followed, the use of television advertising saw an increase in popularity, just like the massive advertisement industry. Television is currently one of the most widely used avenues for marketers, in particular through connected TV advertising, which taps into viewer data to allow better targeting.
Advertisements that are presented in video format have grown beyond what is typically seen on cable networks and now include YouTube commercials and streaming videos on the web. Media planners are now able to present their advertisement campaigns across the internet on a range of websites with the intention of making contact with viewers online.
2. Audio Channels: Radio & Podcast Advertising
Radio engineering came into existence in the 1800s, yet it was not until the year 1912 that companies started using radio to help spread their business by donating music for free to broadcast networks in exchange for referencing their company. By the end of the 1920s, virtually all American radio stations had started broadcasting programs that were paid for by sponsors. Today, conventional radio continues to be extremely well-liked by people tuning in, as well as advertisers – and with the growth of web radio, it appears as though this audio-only type of marketing will stay in demand throughout the digital transition.
3. Newspapers
Newspapers are one of the oldest advertising channels, in fact preceding the creation of brands. As reading skills became more widespread in the 1500s, promoters in Italy, Germany, and Holland started to advertise in the weekly newspapers. It has been almost 500 years since the beginning of newspapers, yet they remain a powerful platform for advertisers, with around $15.9 billion being spent within the United States.
4. Print & Digital Publications (Magazines)
Magazines first appeared in the 1600s as a means of diversion for the affluent, typically covering topics such as philosophy, culture, and style of life. In the 19th century, the middle class started wanting magazines and publishers began offering them ads to keep the printing costs down and increase their readership. By the beginning of the 1900s, magazines were recognized for reaching specific target audiences and providing businesses with the option of purchasing large ads in vivid colors. It is estimated that approximately $15.6 billion was spent on magazine advertising in 2019.
5. Out-Of-Home Advertising
In the 1800’s, out-of-home advertising started becoming popular. Signs and paintings showing promotions of acts such as Barnum & Bailey spread across the nation. Once the car had been invented, billboards were altered to be able to be seen on roads and major highways to push Coca-Cola, Palmolive, and other companies’ newest offerings. Recently, billboards have changed dramatically and now feature digital components. Digital billboards and other forms of out-of-home advertising have completely overtaken Time Square and other places in the city. At the moment, sensors and cameras are being employed to make advertisement boards more engaging. Although it has been around for some time, billboard advertising is still advancing and remains a prominent type of media advertising.
Pros of Out-Of-Home Advertising
Out-of-home advertising is very beneficial when utilized properly. Using digital advertising can be more affordable than TV or radio ads, and it can make a huge impact on potential customers. Ads that are focused on areas outside of the home are more concentrated, making it simpler for companies to impact how the public perceives their brand and their brand image. Billboards and other outdoor advertising can be tailored depending on where they are displayed and what sort of people they intend to reach in that region. These advertisements have broad outreach, targeting a range of demographics for a single fee. Thus, putting resources into out-of-home publicizing can be a prudent choice for your brand.
Overall Strategy
What is your strategy for this campaign? Media planners should start off constructing a structure for their general strategy before they get into the details of the plan. Do you want to become more well-known or drive more business on Black Friday? The best type of communication platform for your campaign depends on what you hope to achieve.
To boost Black Friday sales, media planners need to build digital strategies which motivate users to do something right away. Alternatively, campaigns intended to build recognition of a brand should span a more extensive time period and make use of a more versatile mix of media outlets for successful results.
