A number of ad networks have introduced local targeting into their mix of advertising solutions in recent years. However, many online retailers have yet to embrace the power of advertising to their consumers on a local level. I thought I would take a few minutes to provide a few ways local targeting can work for you!
Living here in sunny Arizona, we have the fortune to experience t-shirt and short weather for a majority of the year. In fact, you can see people here in Phoenix strolling around in shorts well into December.
So how does this tie-in to local targeting you might ask? Retailers, both online and offline, begin taking summer clothing off the shelves as early as August when temperatures in states like Arizona are still in the triple digits. As a result, you will see long sleeve shirts and jackets on the shelves of Abercrombie & Fitch or
Banana Republic when the thermometer in Phoenix reads 110 degrees.
Email notifications and online ads support this strategy as they tout fall and winter lines of clothing, all the while consumers in warmer states struggle to find clothes that meet their immediate needs. This results in lost opportunity to segment their market and target different products to different geographical regions.
The introduction of Local Targeting allows online retailers, who have warehouses filled with summer clothes, to begin directly targeting metropolitan areas and their respective consumer bases. While coats and scarves might be good for those living in New York or Seattle, ads that highlight sales on bathing suits and shorts can still be leveraged to those warmer cities like Phoenix, Dallas and Albuquerque. Treating a consumer the same at a national level is, in my opinion, a huge loss of opportunity and potential retail sales.
You can also leverage the power of Local Targeting by tying it to consumer data that you already collect. For example, if your data shows that people in New York City and Los Angeles tend to buy more electronics like iPods and computers, while customers in Chicago and Omaha purchase more big-screen televisions, adjust your marketing campaigns for those products to target those specific geographic regions.
Simply put, you have the information on your consumers to make smart decisions on your advertising and turn the ability to target these consumers into immediate sales. Consumers want to be catered to and Local Targeting is one more tool to help you achieve your revenue goals.
Geoff Gieron
Director of Advertiser Management & Services
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