Get Innovative to Target Prospects Online & Offline

Most would agree that digital has quickly taken over the world of marketing and advertising. The entire purpose of marketing is to get people’s attention – and more than ever before, people are paying the most attention to platforms and content on digitally-connected devices. For example, most people don’t watch traditional TV commercials anymore – if they are watching traditional TV at all and aren’t able to fast-forward through commercials, they use their phones to entertain themselves during that time instead.

The transition to a digital-first world has forced marketers to get creative and begin to target customers in new ways. Two very popular digital marketing tactics are SEO and SEM, which both center around a website’s appearance on search engines. Research shows that most people use a search engine before visiting a website, so these are clearly important and useful tools. But what are you doing to advertise your business outside of search engines? And further, what are you doing to target and advertise to prospects based on actions they take offline? The four tools that make up Targeted Digital Advertising strategy can help fulfill both of those marketing needs.  

Website Retargeting takes digital advertising away from the search engine by targeting online users who have visited your site in the past. Ads can even show specific units that the user was looking at on your dealership website to entice the potential buyer and remind them of the purchase they were considering. The goal of Website Retargeting is to keep awareness of your brand at top of mind for past visitors, people who have demonstrated a clear interest in your business and encourage them to return.

Behavioral Targeting takes digital advertising off the search engine as well. This tactic targets online users demonstrating behavior that signals an interest in the units you sell. Online users on outside websites reading content or conducting on-site searches using keywords that match your business are showing a high likelihood of interest in buying from a dealership like yours. The goal of Behavioral Targeting is to encourage online users who are clearly in the market for what your dealership sells to choose to make a purchase from your dealership.

Geofence Targeting uses digital strategy to advertise to people online based on locations they visit in person. This tool serves digital ads via mobile device to people visiting specific locations, neighborhoods, event venues, and more that are relevant to your dealership. For example, the most obvious choice for a targeted location would be the competing dealership in town. In this case, the goal of Geofence Targeting would be capturing those visitors’ attention, diverting them away from a purchase they may be considering at the competitor’s location, and driving them into your dealership instead to make that purchase.

Video & OTT/CTV Advertising presents a unique opportunity to target people using a traditional marketing platform in a non-traditional way. These days, many people stream video content on platforms like Roku, Google TV, and Xbox instead of watching live TV on local channels. Video & OTT/CTV Advertising allows you to serve ads, much like commercials, within this streamed video content. The goal is to gain attention and increase awareness of your brand for the millions of people watching today’s version of TV.

All four of these tools work in powerful and innovative ways to help you reach people on different platforms both online and offline. Exposure on search engines is important, but your digital marketing strategy shouldn’t stop there. Targeted Digital Advertising helps create an end-to-end digital marketing suite that drives results for your dealership.