How Internet Ads Work or "I am Watching You!"

Probably the single most frequent question I am asked is some variation of “How does Internet advertising work?" "Why do I keep seeing the same ad on multiple web sites? Are they following me?"

Yes they are. 

Here is a link to an interesting slide show that walks you through the progression of how ads are served up to you on web sites.  “The very best marketing comes from observing consumer behavior and inserting your message into their behavior.”  And today’s ad servers follow this principle to the letter… 

As soon as you visit a web site, the ad server is looking at you.  Not you specifically, but it is looking at the cookies on your hard drive, building a profile of the individual who uses the computer.  Every web site you visit drops a cookie (a small piece of code used for tracking) on your computer.  In most cases, it is your profile that determines which ad is place on a web site during your visit.  Visit a lot of health related sites and you are likely to see ads for medical practices.  Looking at the latest fashion?  Ads for Nordstrom’s, Zappos and even Amazon will show up.

Search retargeting works much the same way.  Ad servers pour over your search history and serve up ads based on your actions. 

If you prefer some to maintain some privacy, it is a simple process to eliminate these cookies.  Here is the link showing you how to delete existing cookies on a PC.  However, keep in mind that if you delete all cookies, you may find that a web site requiring a user name and password will ask you to provide your credentials every time you visit.  No more automatically recognizing you when you appear.

This same link will also show you how to block cookies from being placed on your computer.  The downside is that many web sites today simply will not allow you to visit their site without allowing cookies, so there is a tradeoff.   A more practical approach will be to follow the rules for Customize Cookie Settings which allows you set up specific web sites to allow or block cookies. 

Visit the link to slide show and let me know if you have any questions.

Targeting Difficult to Find Consumers

Targeting Difficult to Find Consumers

 

The Challenge

A leading fashion retailer was looking to engage a very specific target:

• Hispanic Females
• Age 18 to 49
• Income below $40,000
• Spanish speaking dominate
• Living in a major metropolitan area within 12 zip codes

The Strategy

 

Use the PNS multi-layer Targeted Display program to reach the targeted consumer:

• Geographic targeting to isolate the desired zip codes
• Demographic targeting to identify Hispanic Females, age 18 to 49, with income of $40,000 or less
• Target web sites primarily with Spanish Content 
• Overlay behavioral targeting focusing on shopping interests
• Use Keywords and Phrases to dynamically insert ads into articles that contained content matching the Keywords Utilize Mobile Advertising

•Hispanics Lead as Web Users Who are Truly Mobile-First

A/B Testing

Two sets of creative were used:

• One set of creative was focused on branding with a special price on a fashion item
• The second creative promoted a Register to Win a Valentine’s Giveaway
• The campaign was launched with 50% of the impressions targeted to desktop, 50% targeted to mobile
• The creative message between the two platforms were identical

 

 

Results

 

The first objective was to out perform a national average CTR of 0.05% - 0.08%, then optimize weekly towards better results.

 

After the first week we learned:

• The Mobile response far outperformed Behavioral, Content and Keyword Targeting 
• Average CTR for the overall campaign was 0.40%
• Mobile 0.46%
• Keyword 0.16%
• Content  0.11%
• Behavioral  0.00%*
  

Creative  

Across both platforms the “Register to Win” creative performed well:

 

•Mobile   0.38% CTR

•Desktop    0.37% CTR

 

However, the Mobile platform (0.37%) clearly outperformed the desktop (0.12%)  with the branding creative

 

 Findings

 

The mobile results clearly validate the research showing the propensity of  Hispanics to use mobile access for the internet over desktop

• However, the creative using “Register to Win” resonated with all consumers
• The branding creative works best on the mobile device

The PNS Digital optimization reallocates impressions based on predetermined results. In this case CTR. While the initial plan was to allocate the impressions 50% / 50% between desktop and mobile, the short campaign timeline (7 days) required us to push impressions to the mobile platform due to superior CTRs. 

From a research prospective it would have been interesting to see if the results held up if we forced the 50% / 50% distribution plan. But campaigns are measured by results, not research!

More to follow as the campaign unfolds.

 



Take These Predictions to Las Vegas and Win a Fortune!

 

New year, new research.  Here is the outlook for spending on advertising in San Antonio for 2014 and beyond.  This information is derived from Borrell Research .  Borrell tracks local market spending in more than a 100 business segments and projects advertising and promotional spending levels for each of these segments down to the local market.  They are best known for tracking digital spending.  If you would like to see this data on a single business segment (health, education, tourism, retail, etc.), just let me know and I will send it right over.  These numbers represent Local spending only – advertising dollars generated and spent in San Antonio.

Total Spending By Medium In Millions

 

At a glance, the trends for most mediums shows modest growth over the three years projected. 

·       By 2006, Cable TV, Cinema, Local TV, Newspapers and Out of Home show growth over 2013.

·       Direct Mail, Directories, Other Print and Radio show decreases in spending. 

·       Telemarketing remains flat over the four years.

The largest growing category is undeniably Online.  Where is the online growth coming from?

Online Spending in Millions

 

·       The two growth categories are in Targeted Display and Online Video.

·       Email and Search are showing signs of declined spending.

·       Static Display is in a free fall.

Think NSA

There are several factors contributing to the growth in these two categories.  Our ability to target ads today is unprecedented.  Combine geography with demographics, behavior, and site content with ad insertion at the content level.  Does your client fix roofs?  Their ad can run next to an article on storm damage.  Also “Hands down, search ads beat display ads in click through rates (CTRs).”  Display ads are simply more visually appealing than simple text ads and offer more rich media flexibility.

Video advertising will increase for two important reasons.  First, the targeting available for video now mimics the targeting you achieve with Targeted Display.  Not only can you target consumers by geography, demographics, behavior and site content, you now can target consumers based on story content.  An ad for The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio can run as a pre-roll video in front of a story driven by keywords and phrases – like The Top Three Ways to Baby Proof Your Home. 

Another powerful factor in the growth for Video advertising is the cost benefit.  Retailers are looking at Online Video as a way to move displaced TV dollars because of rising TV rates in the market.  As the rates increase throughout the year, they are faced with fewer spots at higher rates.  Now there are viable online options to keep that money in the market working for them, with some added benefits.  Online video targeting is increasingly more accurate.  Since tracking is online and almost instantaneous, you know the spot was watched and are not at the mercy of ratings (estimates) and postings (history from the previous quarter).  If a spot’s performance isn’t meeting expectations, we can move the ad to a web site that is working better.  This week.  And unlike broadcast advertising, the online nature, with the click through option, allows you to develop creative ideas that would not work on air, but are powerful motivators to encourage online behavior.  “Click on my head now to save $5!”

Now you know the future of advertising in San Antonio.  Book it!