CheezeDMG has been planning, buying and optimising online campaigns since 1999. From this experience we’ve built a bespoke database of results which gives us a huge amount of information about what works, and equally important what doesn’t. We use this knowledge to fast track online programmes, whilst minimising the cost risk to clients and increasing returns. That’s why we achieve an average ROI of 20 across our client base.
We have senior relationships with all the important publishers and we work with many of the smaller, niche ones too. In 2008 we negotiated over £4 million of additional value for our display advertising clients. That’s an average saving of 70% against rate card costs.
CheezeDMG Display Top 10 Tips
In 2008 CheezeDMG bought one billion impressions on display campaigns which has provided us with a huge database of results from which we can analyse what works well and why. We can therefore provide great advice to our existing and new clients on what makes an effective display campaign.
Here’s our starter for 10!
1. Understand the objectives of your campaign
It sounds simple, but really knowing what you want to achieve from a Display campaign is key to its success. You can use Display Advertising for different means, from pure awareness through to changing opinion, through to driving sales. What you want to achieve affects everything from the creative through to the phasing and the placements.
2. Understand, negotiate and then negotiate a bit more
Understanding the dynamics of the online marketplace and the publishers can ensure that you are buying power is at its best. Make sure you fully understand the margins you can afford to pay and then make sure that you select placements that can deliver to your targets. Added value can also mean that you can test more placements without investing more of the marketing budget. Auditing the site yourself before committing means that you should have a better understanding of the amount of consumers visiting and the content available. This ensures that you have a better understanding as to what you are buying, and shouldn’t end up with a placement that doesn’t cut the mustard.
3. Re-assurance
Look for networks that are IASH approved, this means that they adopt a code of conduct meant to encourage best practice among online advertising sales houses. Check traffic figures that are quoted by using tools such as Neilson and Hitwise. Does the website work across all browsers? If not do you really want to be displaying creative on a site that isn’t functionally visible. Does the publisher employ best practice regarding pop ups and sound – are consumers asked for their permission to accept these?
4. Who are you talking to…?
Targeting your consumer online is arguably more important than offline marketing, as there are many more ways in which you can identify where your customer is online. Starting with who is your target customer you can then look at where your potential consumers are spending time online. It’s very easy to assume for example that when someone is shopping for car insurance that they are on financial sites, but the truth is that these consumers are probably using the internet in the same way as they do on a day to day basis – so there are many more opportunities to capture their attention. There are many planning tools that can enable you to identify the more niche sites that could be a honey pot for your consumers too.
5. Don’t discount network buys
Many advertisers have the opinion that Advertising Networks are cheap and nasty, well we don’t agree! If used properly Advertising Networks can enable you to target your consumers in a sophisticated manner, whether it is by only showing your creative at optimum times or by targeting consumers that have a specific interest or demographic. Network buys can be incredibly good value and can you can even run them on a CPA (cost per acquisition) model.
6. Keeping an eye on things
When a campaign is live that is just the start, now the real work begins. At CheezeDMG as soon as a campaign is live we are constantly checking to see if the impressions are delivering at the rate that we have planned and making sure that the clicks are converting through to consumer interactions. If you want a campaign to work it’s important that you share the performance with the publishers on a regular basis whether that’s through their own tracking or manual reports, ensuring that they are doing all they can to meet the campaign’s objectives too.
7. Creative
Good creative can make sure that online campaigns perform as efficiently as possible. Not only is the creative representing your brand online, and therefore should reflect the brand identity, but it also convinces the consumer to come and try your brand. So good creative online is not only that which stops the consumer in his tracks and grabs his attention, but it’s also one that makes the consumer do what you want him too, be it visit a site or buy a holiday.
Good creative needs to grab the user’s attention deliver a compelling proposition and amongst all that get across a clear message.
Display Advertising gives you the opportunity to deliver targeted messaging depending on where the consumer is in the buying cycle. So perhaps you could send an offer message to someone who has been on to the website but not converted or a ‘hurry book now’ message for a consumer who has downloaded a brochure.
If you have a product where pricing can change quickly, dynamic banners may be the solution, where product and pricing can be changed by a feed rather than developing multiple sets of creative, the choices really are endless!
8. Dip your toe in
Test, test and test again. That’s our motto when it comes to finding great performing placements. We continuously test new placements, new formats and new creative. What works for one brand or product doesn’t necessarily work for another brand, so it means that you need to establish your own successful placements. Even if something hasn’t worked before, as the internet is an ever changing place, it may be worth re-testing and changing either the creative or the targeting.
9. Small (and simple) can be beautiful
Don’t discount some of the smaller or simpler placements such as text links and buttons. Sometimes these less prominent placements can achieve great results on targeted websites and will more often than not cost less.
10. Display Advertising impacts other media
We’re all very familiar with the supposed ‘halo’ effect, where one media has a knock on effect to another. Here at CheezeDMG we are able to track the impact of Display Advertising on other media, so we understand how Display can increase branded and non branded search. So make sure that you can track and understand the benefits that your Display is having on all of your advertising and sales channels.
For more information or to discuss your Display Advertising plans and requirements and how we can help, get in touch:
Tom Griffiths
Email: tom.griffiths@cheezedmg.com
Tel: 01473 236892
Mob: 07760 209403
Twitter: @tomgriffola
