Done are the days when companies used online display ads solely for direct response advertising. Whether they’re using social, video, Web or email advertising to reach their customers, many firms have discovered a new way to utilize their display campaigns, and that is for branding purposes.
The rise of branding through display advertising adds just one more incentive for major companies to consider investing in display advertising. Here are three reasons why display units bring so much to the table in terms of branding:
1. Reaching the right audience
The rise of programmatic technology has given advertisers an uncanny ability to target individual customers based on various demographic information, ranging from geographic location to Web browsing history. This is perfect for advertisers looking to generate interest in their brands, as they can craft specific messages to customer groups that are highly relevant to their needs, thereby bolstering engagement and recall.
“Depending on the size of your ideal audience, targeted advertising can still be done on a relatively large scale,” Retargeter explained. “While some tools, such as site retargeting, are limited by those who have previously engaged with your brand, others are not so restrictive.”
Recall is a core metric of branding efforts – companies want people to remember them after they’ve seen an ad. Because pertinent online campaigns can have significant recall rates, display ads are perfect for branding initiatives.
2. Drive action, not clicks
Many display advertising campaigns are judged by their ability to drive clicks. However, when it comes down to it, generating clicks isn’t the end goal of companies, simply a means to the end – they want people to convert. Clicking just gets people to the next stage in the sales funnel and doesn’t guarantee the viewer will become a buyer.
However, as Retargeter noted, branded display ads can drive meaningful action. When people remember the brands they see in ads, they’ll more likely think of those companies when it comes time to make a purchase. This translates to all channels, so even if a customer only saw an ad online, they may still buy from that brand even if they’re shopping offline in a brick-and-mortar store.
3. Broader reach
Many brands have been skittish about the rise of real-time bidding and programmatic technologies. Although these tools make their lives much easier in a number of different regards, ranging from improving efficiency to automating time-consuming tasks, there are still a few question marks surrounding RTB.
For example, one fear is that is that programmatic technology may result in an ad appearing in an inappropriate place or associated with inappropriate content. If advertisers had their way, their display units would only appear through the most trustworthy, family-safe publishers in the ideal content slots.
Fortunately, publishers are taking steps toward addressing the matter by leveraging tools that allow them to utilize offline data to create audience segments. This allows them to improve transparency and accuracy with campaigns. Conde Nast, for example, is using LiveRamp, a data on-boarding tool, that is helping to bring together customer relationship data with online digital marketing applications to improve the efficiency of advertiser ad spending. LiveRamp even extends to mobile, improving accuracy that much more, AdExchanger reported.
The fact of the matter, however, is that this fear will limit results more than it hinders them. Programmatic technology can help brands reach pertinent customers regardless of where they live on the Internet, whether it’s by appearing on ESPN’s homepage or in an email sent to niche subscriber base. Failure to capitalize on this in-depth targeting ability can actively hinder campaign results, specifically when brand exposure is a goal of advertising efforts.
