Understanding Digital Advertising

Before digital advertising, businesses using traditional media got used to not knowing how well their advertising was performing. While you can target your audience based on radio formats, TV networks and newspaper or magazine options, and you can always add in QR codes or ask your customers where they heard or saw you, digital advertising provides entire dashboards of tracking from impressions to click-throughs to trends of website visits and so much more.

Frankly, the level of granular and precise detail that can be captured, as well as the fact that you can target your audience at that same level of detail can be a bit unnerving.

Don’t get me wrong, traditional media is still extremely important in a marketing mix, but to get your ad in front of consumers who are already showing interest in, looking for, and are ready to make a commitment to what you have to offer, digital advertising is the tactic that will give you a strong return on your investment.

POLYGONING
Polygoning technology is fairly new to the scene, and it really freaks our clients out. Not only because of what it can do...but also because of how well it works! Quite simply we create polygons using the coordinates on any physical location and then target those individuals that have entered the polygon today or even in the past.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
Have you ever thought, “Dang it, there were a lot of people at that event last month that were my perfect target. I wish I could have been in front of them.” Or, what if you could have the chance to advertise to everyone who has been in your store in the last two years and could give them a great reason to come back. Or, what if you could market to everyone who has been to all your competition’s locations the last couple years and encourage them to come see you instead! That’s polygoning!

When you start the digital marketing discussion it’s very similar to a traditional campaign. Who is your target? Where do we find them? How far will they travel to get to you? Are they ready now? After reviewing your target audience and goals there are several types of digital tactics to consider:

TARGETED DISPLAY
Targeted display ads allow advertisers to select specific demographics, interests, behaviors, or other criteria to reach a particular audience segment. This ensures that the ad is shown to people who are more likely to be interested in the product or service being advertised.

By targeting a specific audience, advertisers can tailor their ad content to resonate with that audience’s preferences, needs, or desires. This relevance increases the chances of capturing the attention and engagement of the target audience.

HOW DOES IT WORK?
First, we decide what location you want to target. It could be determined by zip codes, county, state, city, radius around an address, etc.

Now we look for people who are looking for you. Through search targeting, we serve them your ad after they type in relevant search terms on search engines or on websites/apps, based on the criteria you set.

Using contextual targeting, we can see that they are reading information online that is related to what you do, even if they didn’t search for it and begin serving them ads.

And of course, we add in retargeting. We have all been exposed to this. You know when you search for something online and visit a website to learn more. Then everywhere you go online you see ads for that type of product or business! Well, that’s what Targeted Display digital advertising does for you as well. Once they have been to your website, we really want to stay in front of them.

Important to note. We don’t buy specific websites we hope they go to; we capture the individual when their searching and online journey matches your target criteria, and then once captured we follow them wherever they go next online.

STEP #1:AUDIENCE BUILDING

We pick the dates and locations where your targets have been in the past. Your location, your competitor’s locations, past occurring events, etc.

STEP #2: CAPTURE MOBILE DEVICE IDS

Almost all those people who were in those locations have cell phones. A cell phone has a Mobile Device ID just like the VIN number on a vehicle. We capture the ID from all those phones who were at the locations in step one.

STEP #3: MATCH PROFILES TO IDS

Now that we have those Mobile Device IDs we can upload them into social media platforms. Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook then find the profiles that correspond with the IDs.After capturing the consumer on their phone’s social media and mobile apps, we continue to reach them when they open their Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook apps on their laptops, desktops and tablets.

STEP #4: MARKET DIRECTLY TO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

Just like that, you can talk to all those people from the past. We will put your ads in front of them on their social media feeds, on the apps they use and the websites they visit on their phone’s browser.

These are just two of many digital tactics that you can use. There are others like Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Over-the-Top video content (OTT), Connected TV (CTV), IP Targeting, YouTube targeting, and the list goes on and on!

One of the many benefits of digital advertising is that you can get very detailed reports about where your impressions are being served, how many are clicking through to your website, how long they are staying on your website and how many different pages they look at on your website.

But just like traditional media, that old saying comes in to play. We can lead the horse to water, we just can’t make it drink. The biggest difference with digital advertising is, we can bring you a lot more of the RIGHT horses who are already thirsty for YOUR water!

TIM KOLLING | Partner and Marketing + Media Strategist | Compass Marketing & Advertising Partners