AUTHOR: Marshall Akita
Understanding how to make the most of your digital marketing budget is essential to success in the 21st Century consumer landscape. With the right information, digital marketing can help you reach your target audience with better accuracy and efficiency than any other medium, but done poorly you might as well be pouring your budget down the drain each month. Here are some tips and statistics to help you reach your goals for your digital budget.
DON’T rely on click-through ads
When is the last time that you really and truly clicked through a web ad and purchased something? Don’t remember? That puts you in the vast majority of people. In fact, only .06% of display ads across all formats (including mobile) were clicked at all (Source: Google), and of those mobile click-throughs, 50% were accidental according to GoldSpot Media. Of course, none of that matters if nobody sees the ads in the first place. With ad-block software usage up 41% in the past 12 months (Source: PageFair), the window for traditional digital advertisement is getting smaller and smaller. In order to reach your target audience, you need a way to engage them when they aren’t browsing the internet.
DO think outside the box (computer)
If traditional digital is no longer sufficient, how can you ensure that your digital marketing budget is well spent? Digital out of home (DOOH)—any digital advertising that reaches the consumer outside of the home—allows you the ability to reach your customers at the time of decision making, generating a much better success rate than traditional digital advertising. In fact, in a Nielson study, four out of five brands experienced up to 33% increased sales by utilizing digital out of home marketing strategies. DOOH combines all the advantages of digital—its easy, responsiveness, adaptability, and modern approach—with proven formula for generating sales.
DON’T annoy potential customers
An Adobe study found that 33% of respondents don’t just dislike traditional digital advertising, they find it “intolerable.” Sure digital marketing is quickly becoming the best way to access your customers, but it is also quickly becoming the best way to alienate them. Don’t waste your marketing budget turning customers away! Instead, you need to find a way to make your customers feel like they are getting something from engaging with you.
DO keep your customers entertained
If you don’t remember the Old Spice “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign, go look it up, then come back. Now that you’ve returned, think about why you liked that ad. It’s funny; it has personality; it stands out. Not all entertaining ads have to be funny, but there is a good lesson to be learned from these ads, namely that customers don’t want your ad to generate value for them. One of the best ways to do this is to educate your audience—give them content that they will learn from, and they will come back to you again and again.
DON’T waste time and money on a non-target audience
Not all CPMs (cost per 1000 impression) are created equal. While traditional digital advertising may seem cheap, it is important to consider exactly what you are getting for your money. Even with efforts to target advertising, most customers simply don’t want to engage with online advertising (remember that .06% click-through rate from above? That is with so-called ‘targeted’ advertising). In terms of cost per impression, traditional digital advertising looks brilliant. Not so in terms of cost per sale.
DO advertise to a 100% target audience
The pet industry is a bit special because there is one place where you are guaranteed to find a 100% target audience—the veterinary office. An Arbitron study found that 97% of people believe that televisions that offer a combination of education and advertising are good things to have in the veterinary office, and that 82% actually plan on watching the screens when they are in the office. In addition, the average viewer in the veterinary hospital makes over $50,000 per year. 47% of viewers remembered the ads they saw on a DOOH system in a medical practice, and 19% made an unplanned purchase after seeing advertiser messages on hospital screens. If you want to get your message out to your target audience, put yourself where they are!
About Pet Cause Media
Pet Cause Media is the national leader in veterinary pre-education and digital out of home marketing in veterinary offices. We work closely with our veterinary and sponsor partners to ensure full compatibility and maximum results. Visit our website (petcausemedia.com) or contact Marshall Akita (marshall@petcausemedia.com) for more details.
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