With all of the retargeting options available to online retailers now, the creation of banner ads has become a regular task for creative teams. Coming up with fresh creative can be a challenge but knowing that our audience visited our site can make it a little easier. Better yet, if we know that they visited a specific category of product and we are able to target just those visitors, we have an even better chance of creating something that will attract their attention. The more we know about our audience, the better able we are to design an advertisement for them.
This retargeting technology is amazing but what if we could know exactly what someone was looking for at the moment in time that we were able to deliver them a banner ad. Imagine how we could surprise or delight them with a creative that speaks to what they are thinking at that moment. A banner that can read your mind.
Believe it or not, this mind-reading banner delivery technology actually exists. And, it’s available through the SLI Systems Merchandising Console. Now, you might be thinking oh yes, we already use that. You may for instance be using it to deliver a branded header banner for your specific branded search terms. And that is a fantastic use. But, what else could you do? What ways might you surprise and delight your customers with a graphical message that really speaks to what they are looking for?
I challenge you to put on your guerrilla marketing hat and create a banner campaign that’s unique, engaging and thought-provoking. For fun, I grabbed my guerrilla marketing cap and came up with these ideas in about 30 minutes. While these may not be the most thought-provoking, imagine what your creative team could to with more time.
For this exercise I thought about the creative from the perspective of a person searching for “rubber ducks” on the Century Novelty website. All of these ideas could be interchangeable with other products. Think of each idea as if you were going to create 50 or more individually targeted banners based on high volume search terms. The key here is to think like a guerrilla and create a campaign that is at a large enough scale to impact a significant number of your searches. This way, you’ll have a better chance of generating some buzz and a much better idea on how well it influences sales.
Duck Love – Feature a photo of a staff member of your company holding their favorite type of rubber duck and include a quote about what they love about this duck. Be sure to include the person’s name and position at your company. This will send the message about how passionate your entire company is about the products you sell and coincidentally the products your customer happens to be searching for.
Duck Deals – Surprise your customers with a “Surprise Search Coupon” for extra savings on rubber ducks. of some larger than usual percentage off rubber ducks. For added customization make the coupon code the exact term you are targeting.
Grade A Ducks – When your value proposition is based on having the highest quality products, create a series of ads that feature these products with a message like “Highest Quality Rubber Ducks Money Can Buy.”
Duck Duck Goose – Identify the most complimentary product to a rubber duck and feature it as a cross-sell item. A message like, “Shopping for a Rubber Duck? Well, don’t forget the Goose to go with it” could help drive additional sales and increase your site’s AOV.
Duck Calls – Give your customer service team a compliment and create an ad that promotes how knowledgeable your call center staff is about rubber ducks. Include your phone number and encourage your customers to talk with a rubber duck expert now. This will give your shoppers confidence that they have found product experts for exactly why they are looking for.
Duck TV – Create a short product video about your best selling, top rated, most liked, etc. rubber duck and promote that video in the banner. The video would give you an opportunity to show your rubber duck expertise and provide a more personal experience.
5-Star Ducks – Find your top rated rubber ducks and feature a compelling quote from an actual rubber duck review. Include an image of the rubber duck reviewed along with the 5-star rating.
Sea of Ducks – If you stock a wide variety of rubber ducks as Century Novelty certainly does, trumpet your great selection in the banner with a specific message of exactly how many varieties of rubber ducks you have to choose from.
Disappearing Ducks – Create urgency to buy with a banner that features a rubber duck that is in short supply or in high demand and stress how a very limited quantity of these special rubber ducks are left.
I hope that this inspires you to get your own guerrilla marketing brainstorm session going and launch an even more engaging keyword-targeted banner campaign with the SLI Merchandising Console. When you do, be sure to share your ideas and success with others here by posting a comment below.
