Have you ever tried to tell a joke in the middle of a crowded room? No matter how well you deliver the punchline, it gets lost in the noise. The listener wants to laugh, it’s not like your joke is irrelevant. They simply can’t hear you. And the only thing worse than a repeated joke is an explained one.
That’s how some advertisers are feeling lately. Between political ad spend, March Madness, and the ever-present competition for audiences’ attention, reaching the right people is frustrating at best. Add to that the upcoming competition for eyes during the Olympics, the room is only going to get louder.
So how do you reach the right audiences in a crowded market? And more importantly, how do you get those people to take the action you want? It sounds simple, but it all comes down to focus. Not narrow strategies, but a focus on the most important factors to your success.
Let me explain.
Improve ROAS by Segmenting Audiences Based on Real-World Behavior
While online behavior helps segment audiences, offline (or real-world) behaviors are much more reliable in terms of real business results. When building your advertising strategy, use the large audience segments for awareness campaigns, but get very specific about who you target in conversion campaigns. That means using retargeting campaigns, of course, but also using audiences’ past purchasing behaviors to inform who sees what ad and when.
For example, if you know your location is close to a popular gym, and you carry energy drinks, consider segmenting your target audiences by those who have visited that gym, for the hour window after classes end. When you’re competing for attention, specificity wins every time.
Build Omnichannel Advertising Strategies To Boost ROAS
Another way to get specific about who sees your company’s ads is to think about the different channels your ads are published on. Ad strategies with a single ad type served on a single channel won’t be enough to break away from the competition and get audiences to buy your product.
Winning strategies require multiple ad types, including text, audio, and visual ads, plus direct mail and out-of-home advertising. Reaching audiences across their various screens throughout the day will help give your ads the best chance to reach the right audiences and stay top of mind for them.
Of course, your business might have a channel with a strong Return On Ad Spend (ROAS), and you should continue to invest there. But as competition increases, ROAS may drop. When that happens, companies tend to throw everything at the wall to see how they can get back to their targets. Instead of scrambling, plan for the fluctuation by investing in an omnichannel strategy. (Read more on how to Boost ROAS.)
Remember the Goals of Each Advertising Campaign
Finally, remember that ROAS can be calculated in a few different ways, depending on your goals. Your advertising campaigns should work together, and therefore a single ROAS does not mean the entire strategy is ineffective. Especially when hundreds of companies are competing for a limited number of ad placements, ROAS can fluctuate. Before launching your campaigns, consider what range you can tolerate for ROAS across platforms and across audience segments. Remember that all the campaigns should work together towards your real business goals, like visits and purchases.
With a holistic view and strategy built before you launch, you’ll have a better idea of when you should optimize, and when things are working exactly right for your goals.
Let GroundTruth Help You Reach the Right Audiences
GroundTruth helps marketers turn real world behavior into real business results. If you want to learn how to segment audiences based on their past purchases, reduce excess spending on your campaigns, and boost your ROAS, contact us today.
