Behavioral Targeting Advertising
January 28, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
One of the new developments for Gourmet Ads in 2009 is our introduction of Behavioral Targeting for advertisers. Behavioral Targeting is fast growing in popularity and is certainly where the advertising dollars are flowing. Many in the advertising industry predict that behavioral marketing may be the future of advertising because of the high levels of engagement.
Gourmet Ads allows advertisers to use behavioral targeting as part of their campaigns, customising the campaign targeting to a consumer based on their behavioror by action. We use Adify’s Behavioral Targeting platform running campaigns globally. Learn more about Behavioral Targeting by Gourmet Ads.
eMarketer.com predicts that Behavioral Targeting Advertising is set to quadruple in the next 3 years with spending on behavioral targeting will increase to $4.4 billion by 2012, up from just $775 million in 2008, with online video a major driver of that growth. With the recent economic environment this figure could be much higher, as advertisers look for channels that yield a high return on investment.
Although the prediction on Behavioral Targeting Advertising growth by eMarketer.com is very US centric, we believe this will be a global trend across industries. When combined with some of our existing campaign targeting options, behavioural targeting allows you to reach your target consumer, cost effectively compared to other advertising mediums.
Learn more about Behavioral Targeting by Gourmet Ads.
Gourmet Ads iPhone
January 26, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
We’ve today put the final touches on the Gourmet Ads iPhone site allowing people to browse the Gourmet Ads website while on the Safari browser on the Apple iPhone. With millions of people (including many of our clients) now on the iPhone it was important to us provide a dedicated site.
If you’re on an iPhone the site will simply identify that you’re on the iPhone and serve the optimized version of the site. This allows you to browse significantly faster especially if you’re on EDGE or 3G connections and even faster if you’re on a Wifi connection. The Gourmet Ads iPhone site is centred around the blogs we write as they change regularly. But those that need to revert to the normal Gourmet Ads website, on every page there is a link which will direct you there.
So how do you load the Gourmet Ads iPhone site? Simple browse to www.gourmetads.com and the site will automatically load the iPhone version for you.
Facebook Advertising vs Gourmet Ads
January 24, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
This week I had a client who was developing his 2009 advertising budget and asked me about advertising on Facebook and if he should allocate budget. He said that the CPM rates are very low and that was his biggest attraction, not so much the platform. I thought it would be important to share our response to him and the path we took to provide a greater media buy for our client.
Facebook, as with most social network advertising has seen extremely low click through rates since the platforms were developed. This was something that Google actually predicted and have seen themselves. There’s evidence to show that people are more likely to click on advertising when they are actively looking for products and services or researching a particular topic such as recipe or a wine review.
The trouble with advertising in social networks is that people are actually socializing online. They are engaged with the content of their friends, learning about what they did or where they are and even chatting with them. Even though the advertising is located in the best real estate of the page it literally doesn’t get seen by the user.
There is no doubt that Facebook has a greater reach than Gourmet Ads. But how targeted is the advertising? I’m not talking about Geo Targeting because I know that Gourmet Ads would deliver the same result, but I am talking about reaching a real foodie or real wine connoisseur. Many of the sites that Gourmet Ads represents attract a specific foodie or wine connoisseur audience naturally. Now compare this to someone putting Food or Wine as an interest in their Facebook profile. Sure the campaign maybe targeted at that keyword but everyone likes Food and Wine!!!!!
So what did we recommend to our client?
- Create his own Facebook user profile and evangelize his product
I felt this was very important, because he can easily communicate to his audience or niche and talk about his product. I also recommended that he establish a Twitter account as well. - Continue to brand advertise at key peak times with Gourmet Ads (Black Friday, Christmas etc)
Our client sells an expensive kitchen product which isn’t an emotional purchase buy. It’s something that you buy once every 10-15 years, so we believe that throughout the years that he run branding campaigns around the product to drive sales at these peak times. - Undertake Behavioral Targeting Advertising
We are currently undertaking some research on what Behavioral Targeting options are available to him and how he can target potential customers. - Become one of our remanent partners
We’ve suggested that he look at totally untargeted, wide reaching advertising campaigns which runs all the time. We’ve offered a low CPM rate with no guarantee on impressions. If the network sells out at a premium his advertising is put on hold.
I guess the final element of having a relationship with Gourmet Ads is that you have a relationship with Gourmet Ads. We’ll work with you directly to make sure your advertising campaign is working. We’ll help optimize it to reach the conversion rates you need to succeed online.
To learn more about Gourmet Ads and how we can optimize your advertising campaigns, download our Media Kit or contact us.
Local Online Advertising
January 24, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
When you think about local advertising the first thing that probably comes to mind is advertising in your local newspaper. Unfortunately these days as newspaper sales and readership is rapidly plummeting, advertisers are transitioning to online in order to reach local consumers. That might seem odd at first since the internet is so global, but as we discussed in a blog on that topic last month, geo targeting allows you to focus your online advertising campaign to the precise local area you want to reach. With geo targeting, advertisers can target local online advertising campaign by the country, state, city or even right down to the suburb you want to reach.
This is extremely valuable for the small business that only operates in a limited area or even a large chain supermarket that wants to focus on one particular location that needs a sales boost. If there was one location that wasn’t performing up-to-par they could geo target that local area and run a special promotion or coupon.
As the internet has become more expansive, it has at the same time become increasingly more personal. Consumers rely on the internet as a source of communication and news more and more, hencve the reason newspaper sales are down. Even the coupon section that used to sell a lot of papers doesn’t have the draw it once did, because consumers are looking online for their coupons as well. That is just one more reason for businesses to consider local online advertising as opposed to newspaper advertisements. In fact, with a geo targeted online local ad on a vertical advertising network like Gourmet Ads will be much more cost-efficient than radio or even television ads.
CPG Marketing Going Online
January 23, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
The other day I stumbled over an interesting quote which I found interesting; “To date, most CPG marketers have been reluctant to move a significant portion of their marketing budgets online because the internet is not a primary sales channel for their products,” said Carolina Petrini, SVP of consumer packaged goods solutions at comScore. “However, many brands have found success by attracting a wide audience online through effective promotions and site activities that appeal to consumers’ lifestyles.”
She later went on to say, “Savvy brand marketers are beginning to understand the importance of the online channel as a means of engaging consumers, which will ultimately lead to offline sales,” She couldn’t be more right. CPG marketing experts are finally realizing the importance of keeping their brand in front of consumers and that a large majority of them, especially the main grocery buyer, spend more time online than they do in front of traditional media like the TV.
Since the main grocery buyer is usually a woman and oftentimes a busy mother, she doesn’t sit down during television commercials even if she does watch TV. What she will do, however, is look for new recipe ideas online to feed the family. CPG marketing ads that are placed right next to these recipes are a much better way to keep your brand in front of your consumer so that they will think of them when they head to the grocery store.
Modern consumers lead busy lives and many have become conditioned to ignore commercial advertising on TV or even TiVo it right out of existence, but online recipe ads have a way of complimenting the consumers experience, because they really do want to know what brand to buy—they just want to decide when to think about it rather than having it forced on them during their favourite television programs.
Advertising your CPG products next to recipe ads online means giving them your message when they are most receptive to it—right before they head to the grocery store which makes Gourmet Ads the ideal platform for advertising your consumer packaged goods. To learn more, download the Gourmet Ads Media Kit.
Time to Beef Up Advertising
January 21, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
If there has ever been a time for beef associations around the world to beef up their advertising, now is the time. In today’s MediaPost there’s an article titled Restaurant-Goers Warming To Poultry Entrées. The article talks about how restaurant diners are deciding to choose poultry (or cheaper vegetarian) dishes over the beef dishes for two main reasons; health and cost. Not only is beef considered more expensive, it has the perception that it’s not good for you compared to poultry.
So it’s fair to say that if this is happening in restaurants, then the same is happening in supermarkets all over the world. So it’s time for beef industry associations globally to beef up their advertising and encourage consumers (and diners in restaurants) to choose the beef entree. When beef sales drop off, cattle farmers suffer and with places like Australia in dryer than ever conditions the cattle farmer is the one that goes broke not the restaurant or supermarket.
If you’re a beef association and looking to beef up your advertising, then contact Gourmet Ads and we’ll deliver you a digital marketing campaign that will cost effective and generate beef sales and keep your cattle farmers in business.
Trip to New York City
January 17, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
I’ll be heading to New York City from the 29th January to the 6th of February visiting media buyers and media planners at advertising agencies discussing their media plans for 2009 with Gourmet Ads network.
Apart from just New York City, I’ll be heading up to the Connecticut during one of the days as well (at this stage it looks like the 3rd of February).
My diary is already starting to fill up, but if you’d like to catch-up while I’m in New York, contact us and we’ll work out a time to meet.
Cheers
Benjamin
Competing with Major Brands Online
January 14, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
It can be easy for a smaller company to assume that they will never be able to truly compete with the big brand names online. There is no doubt that the big companies are going to be able to outspend on display advertising on popular websites, but is this type of spending something that small companies should envy? Would it create results for them even if they could afford it? The likely answer is no. The best strategy for a smaller company is to target a particular niche and then focus your advertising campaign on them.
Take for example a small boutique brewery. It doesn’t make sense to try to compete with a mjaor brand like Budweiser or Heineken by placing ads on sites that have nothing to do with beer. This tactic works for the big boys because they have the budget to throw their nets out wide and see what they can pull in. But for the small brewer a more narrow focus is much more cost effective. Placing ads on sites where a beer connoisseur is likely to see them makes a lot more sense.
The focus should be as specific as possible. For instance, you would place an ad for a low carb or light beer on a food and wine website and possibly even next to online recipes for lighter, healthier meals so that the people most likely to buy a low carb or light beer will see your ad. For a new lager or stout you would want your ads to be focused on sites for beer enthusiasts on beer websites and blogs. By placing your beer advertising in front of a highly targeted market you are going to get the biggest bang for your advertising buck. After all, your goal isn’t to compete with the big companies; it is to get as many consumers as possible interested in your product to generate brand awareness.
If you’re a smaller business and want to reach a niche market that will offer long term growth, contact us for a digital media plan.
Online Grocery Sales to Grow
January 13, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Recently we wrote a blog about how Online Grocery Stores can obtain new consumers by advertising online – See Advertising Groceries Online. To support our blog, I found the above chart (From Forrester Research – September 2008)above which indicates Online Grocery Stores will achieve incredible growth, almost double in fact, over the next few years. Of course, for this to happen there are some obstacles that must be overcome including:
- Online stores are perceived as a second choice for shoppers
- Online retail is becoming increasingly seasonal
- Online shoppers rarely browse—which means they aren’t being enticed by deals
Let’s look at these obstacles and their solutions one by one to see how your online grocery business can look forward to exceptional growth in the few years:
The first obstacle to overcome is making online grocery shopping a primary choice for consumers. Most consumers have developed the habit of running to the grocery store for their shopping needs even though an online grocery store could prove more convenient and economical for them in the end. Convincing them to channel their grocery shopping dollars online is a matter of making them more aware of this option (brand advertising) and that is best accomplished with a targeted online advertising campaign.
The next obstacle to overcome is the seasonality of online retail. Many consumers turn to online shopping during the holidays and will consider online grocery shopping for their holiday items as well. Helping them consider online grocery shopping year round means keeping your online grocery ads in front of them year round. Since you want your consumers to purchase their groceries online, it makes sense to reach them with targeted online advertising.
And finally, you need to get your online shoppers to browse your store so they can be enticed by your many offerings. Getting them to click to your online grocery store whether or not they are ready to shop can be invaluable in accomplishing this goal.
Targeted online advertising with Gourmet Ads can help you overcome all the above obstacles so that shoppers will consider online grocery shopping as their first choice year round and will browse your store to increase their spending so you can lead the expected growth in online grocery sales in the future.
Learn more about Gourmet Ads online advertising solutions for Online Grocery Stores – download our Media Kit.
Quantcast
January 8, 2009 by Benjamin Christie · Leave a Comment
Many in the advertising industry, particularly in the US refer to Comscore for their statistic and metrics in regards to analysing website and advertising networks. Unfortunately for most, a subscription to Comscore is very expensive, but great alternative to Comscore is Quantcast which uses pixel measurements to count and rank sites.
Quantcast is a new media measurement service that lets advertisers view audience reports on millions of websites such as Hulu, National Geographic, Fox, Fast Company, Digg, CBS and Martha Stewart to name just a few.
Gourmet Ads aggregates the traffic from all food, wine and beer sites we represent into Quantcast. Although we use our adserving software from Adify to forecast pages and individual users for clients, Quantcast offers those looking to evaluate Gourmet Ads independent statistics from ours.
Apart from the graph above which represents traffic, Quantcast also provides information about the audience. Some of the demographics data provided by Quantcast include sex, geographic location, salary, children and other interesting information which helps media buyers and and media planners in the analysis of advertising networks and websites.
