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MARKETING: Introducing Precision Targeting for Online Advertisers
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Gumtree has today announced that it will be the first South African platform to introduce a precision targeting product for online advertisers. The product Vicinity Offers, enabled by technology partner Vicinity Media, will allow brands to target potential customers based on their specific location and readiness to purchase.
“We’ve accepted that taking a generic approach doesn’t work when applied via email or other communications, but there is still a tendency towards digital spam,” says Veruschka Khan, Head of Sales for Gumtree South Africa. “That is, conventional push, mass-marketed execution campaigns that has no bearing on a buyers’ state of mind or location. Mass marketing offers an extremely low response rate but we still apply those principles to digital marketing, which is the single most powerful influencer on consumers’ discretionary spending. As a marketer, you won’t realize a fraction of that potential until you adopt a customer-focused, conversion-based strategy.”
Gumtree will be the first platform to introduce an online advertising product that changes this. Vicinity offers will allow advertisers to laser-focus their digital adverts based on a browser’s interest and search behavior, location and purchase intent. “It is right time, right place, right frame of mind advertising,” says Khan. “Other sites offer targeting, but none are offering this narrow a focus. There is no need to reach all 4 million Gumtree visitors if only a thousand of them are willing to buy what you are selling at any given moment. This innovation targets a buyer when they are ready to buy what you are selling.”
The offer is enabled by Vicinity Media, a technology company that focuses on extracting information from ecommerce sites and printed catalogues via tags that allows the advertiser to hone in on customers with a very specific shopping profile that are busy searching for very specific items. Spark Media will act as the sales house.
“Let’s say Joe’s fridge has broken and he goes to Gumtree to compare prices or browse for a bargain. He has his heart set on a specific brand. An ad pops up indicating that a retail store two blocks from his location is selling that brand of fridges and that he can apply for store credit by following the link. It’s a win-win for the retailer – who are meeting Joe at the exact moment he wants to buy – and for Joe, who is really looking for a fridge in his area. This is especially relevant for national retailers who want to target locally. This product allows these advertisers to custom their offers to specific suburbs if they choose to, reducing wasted ad spend.”
The strategy works well for driving traffic to bricks and mortar stores in specific areas, encouraging online commerce as well as the promotional conversion activities. “Gumtree users are both tech-savvy and aspirational shoppers. They are highly aware of brand names and comfortable using their mobile phones and computers to shop and interact. They are the ideal audience for digital marketers, but precision targeting is not just about changing platforms, it’s all about shifting your strategy to a leaner and more effective model.”
Interested parties can reach Khan on vekhan@gumtree.co.za
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