Today, businesses have many choices of where to invest their advertising budget. The digital options – referred to as paid media – could include streaming, search engine, social media, or banner ads. They are all excellent choices and can be highly effective. However, it can get very expensive.
Another option is available through owned and operated (O&O) digital channels. These platforms are anything a company owns and has complete control over, such as the company website, branded social media accounts, email lists, or branded apps. (For instance, McClatchy owns over 30 news publications whose websites have ample ad space available.)
As cookies are being phased out, the benefits of marketing on owned-and-operated platforms can improve marketing success by providing greater control and more specific audience targeting at lower costs through a singular channel (especially if they offer a self-serve ad placement). Let's look at the benefits of owned and operated ad services in more detail.
The Benefits of O&O Platforms for Marketing
A considerable part of building and maintaining a successful brand is customer relationships. When you use paid media, you entrust that relationship to someone else – and pay a premium for that trust. Using owned and operated digital channels is a good financial move because they tend to have less overhead, bringing in a greater return on investment (ROI). Because you can either place ads yourself on a self-serve platform or go through a single contact, you get more say over your ads and benefit from their expertise.
Offers Greater Control Over Branding
Consistency of voice across ad formats inspires trust. It presents your brand as a credible company. You can control your branding by going through one entity to ensure consistency across various ad formats, creating seamless brand experiences. No matter where your customer encounters your ad, they will recognize a familiar style and voice.
Another advantage of O&O platforms is a greater ability to tailor your message to your audience. Let's say you want to entice customers who haven't purchased in the last month to come back. You might offer them a limited-time offer or discount code. If you want to increase sales on a particular item or introduce a new line, you might target customers who have purchased similar items in the past.
You aren't confined to only ads to get your brand in front of your target audience. Many companies choose to post branded content that provides value to customers. Sponsored content often has more impact because the customer views them as informative rather than a sales pitch.
Cater to a Known Audience
Owned and operated ad services know their audience and how to cater to them, offering you insight into customer preferences and behaviors. They can back these up with data and analytics that give you a blueprint for effectively reaching your target audience. One example is intent data. Intent data tell you about the research your potential customer has been conducting, giving you insight into the types of purchases they intend to make.
Have you ever noticed when you start searching for possible vacation locations, you begin to see ads for travel sites, vacation homes, flights, rental cars, and related travel resources? You may even get competitors vying for your business by trying to one-up each other with discounts. That is because companies use your intent data to give you more relevant ads based on your interests.
Can Manage Distribution and Engagement
O&O platforms make managing your marketing content easier while providing a more effective customer experience. It provides a central hub for distributing and updating content. You can also stretch your marketing dollars by taking advantage of cross-promotion across other marketing channels. Why is this valuable?
Most large organizations have multiple websites and apps where they can advertise. The larger the company, the more complex and time-consuming managing content and customer engagement can be. Remember, you want to attract and maintain your target customer pool, not alienate them with too many of the same ads or ads that don't speak to their specific buying habits or interests. These digital platforms let you seamlessly choose the most effective content at the right time, using display and native ads for a combined effect.
Owned and Operated Digital Platforms Offer Advantages for You and Your Customers
Keeping your brand top of mind for your customers in a competitive field is why marketing is so important. Today's digital marketing comes with the looming worry of constantly changing algorithms that impact ad visibility which could impact ad efficacy. No company can afford to throw money away on expensive or ineffective ads. You must choose wisely to reach your audience effectively while maximizing ROI.
McClatchy is a large platform with multiple channels and the expertise to coordinate ads across them. They make it easy for companies to leverage owned and operated ad services with McClatchy Ad Manager, their self-service advertising platform. You can manage your campaigns with features like real-time reporting, tailored audiences, and multi-channel ads. To learn more about how you can benefit, check out AdManager today!
If you’d like to learn more about how McClatchy can help conduct larger campaigns, please reach out! We have representatives on standby to help answer any questions.
