Have you ever been online and started seeing ads that had nothing to do with you? For instance, a happily single adult suddenly starts seeing baby product ads. It's confusing and off-putting. It's also what happens when a company doesn't appropriately target its ad audience.
Matching your ads to your audiences helps your business grow efficiently. Consumers appreciate relevant ads that steer them in the right direction, such as recognizing their interest in travel and serving up ads for the best travel gadgets or upcoming cruise, flight, or hotel deals. Relevant and helpful ads help keep the business top of mind for the customer when they are ready to purchase.
In this post, we'll explore how companies can find their ideal customers using analytics and reach their target customers with programmatic ads.
Reaching Customers with Programmatic Ads
Having a digital presence and understanding how to target customers online is critical for any business today. Finding your ideal customers relies on identifying where they are online and curating ads to reach them. However, it can take time to craft a successful campaign. That can prove difficult when you are a small business owner who already wears multiple hats.
That's where self-service advertising can benefit you. It's an automated platform that lets you create your ad, choose your target audience, and decide when the ad will be delivered. You can do it when it is convenient for you without having to interact with anyone if you so choose. Self-serve advertising lets you target your audience quickly and cost-effectively while letting you stay in control of your marketing.
Here are some tips for crafting programmatic ads to cater to your audience and reach them where they spend time online.
Target Ads with Analytics
The more you know about your ideal customer, the better results your ads will have. Analytics and behavioral data help you target customers based on their interests and show you where they spend their time online. The insights you gather begin to create a persona that you can use to craft relevant messages that engage the recipient wherever they are online. This approach works particularly well with reaching audiences on apps or with audio.
Analytics data helps you gain insight into which platforms your audience will likely see your ads and gives crucial feedback into how well your ads perform. For instance, you place an ad online using third-party data to determine what websites your ideal customer uses. But once you collect data yourself, you find that your audience is likely to browse in the evenings and adjust your peak windows to get more traffic.
Place Ads on Platforms with Overlapping Audiences
Another tip for extending your reach is to leverage overlapping audiences. Knowing your target customer demographic will give you insight into exposure based on website traffic. After conducting audience research to understand customer interest and which websites they gravitate toward, you can reach similar audiences with related interests. Placing your ads on these mediums and platforms helps reach your target audience more successfully while extending your reach and brand recognition.
Let's look at an example:
Programmatic advertising lets you say who you want to reach, for example, 15- to 18-year-olds. You create your ad, and based on analytics, your ads go to the platforms your target customers frequent most often. Let's say a 60-year-old sees the ad while looking for gift ideas for their grandchild. While they aren't your target demographic, you have successfully reached a consumer with overlapping interests who can also become a loyal customer.
You have the option to have ads populate websites based on demographic and behavioral information or place ads on specific, pre-determined sites. If the site’s analytic data indicates it attracts multiple audiences, you can place ads directly onto the site or on several sites with similar audiences to increase the chances of reaching your likely customers.
Use O&O Platforms to Find Known Audiences
Owned and Operated platforms are wholly owned and controlled by a brand, such as its website, apps, social media accounts, or email lists. O&O platforms know their audience in-depth and can tell you more about where your desired customers spend time. That not only saves you time on research but also saves you money by ensuring your ads reach those who are most interested in what you have to offer.
These platforms give you everything you need to know to target your customers precisely with ease. The result is more engaging, relevant information for the customer and a greater return on ad spend (ROAS) for you. O&O platforms know their audiences incredibly well, which gives you rich insight into your customers from the start. So, instead of relying on third-party data – like in our earlier example – and adjusting course, they can help you connect with them immediately through their trusted and preferred online channels.
How To Target Customers Online Is Easy With the Right Platform
Every business owner knows that organic reach is a slow process. Today's companies can't rely on word of mouth or hoping that the right customer somehow comes across their site in hopes that they'll become a viral success. Achieving your goals for reach and conversion takes understanding who your customer is, their interests and shopping habits, and where they spend their time online. Gathering that information empowers your company to reach the right people and engage them with your message.
If you've wondered how to increase your reach without taking months and spending a small fortune, McClatchy has the solution. Their trusted O&O platform helps you efficiently target customers with programmatic ads, either with help from one of our experts or with the data provided in our AdManager self-serve platform. McClatchy has a deep, well-known local audience and a national reach that can help you increase your web presence.
When you are ready to leverage the power of over 75 million unique digital visitors, 10+ million monthly video views, and a combined 7 million social media followers, reach out to us to learn more.
