Retailers Check Out Video Advertising for Back-to-School
The way parents and students approach back-to-school spending is changing. Many of the trusted rules that retailers apply to the back-to-school buying cycle are quickly going sideways due to the state of the economy combined with layaway, longer discount cycles and major couponing sites. Even the National Retail Federation (NRF) forecast for back-to-school spending per child has decreased to $603 in 2011, compared to $606 on average in 2010.
In this marketing landscape, retailers must create a sense of urgency and value. Here are three key ways to tackle this challenge:
Change the Marketing Mix
Retailers have proven to be innovative marketers in a variety of mediums including traditional TV efforts and online ad programs. Making online a bigger part of the marketing strategy is critical. It’s where parents (particularly moms) control household budgets, live and shop. In fact, a recent study of American moms from About.com indicates that online ads drive buying behavior among moms and nearly 40 percent who interact with these ads purchase the related products. Emerging e-commerce opportunities make online an even more compelling channel for retail marketers to reach targeted audiences. BIGResearch and Shop.org reported that online buyers are expected to spend 40 percent more than offline buyers this year. Retailers can win by focusing their ad dollars where the buying power is — online.
Matching Capabilities with Consumers Demands
Shoppers expect engaging ad experiences. Static, low-fi banners are outdated and won’t tempt today’s savvy consumers. Instead, retailers can use online video within traditional display banners to deliver all the things back-to-school shoppers are looking for, from coupons and discounts to product information. Using a primary TV ad as the base of an online in-banner video ad, retailers can include secondary videos about products. Now consumers can access the information and content they need, without being directed to another site.
Establishing local relevance is also part of this new equation. Retailers can use geotargeting to provide directions to get shoppers in the store with less hassle. This will help to increase brand favorability instead of frustrating a mom by sending her across town to a store location, when one was within miles of her home. Traditionally, this kind of dynamic geotargeting has been difficult and time consuming, but now any retailer can add this to an online campaign.
Companies like MaxPoint Interactive, a digital retail advertising platform, offer retail brands hyper-local advertising solutions to drive more purchases in the store. This helps retailers combine localized promotional offers and dynamic store locators with smart ad technology that serves the most relevant overlays to each shopper, no matter where they are.
Boost ROI Where Your Online Advertising Lives
As the NRF survey shows, parents are doing back-to-school product research, comparing prices and hunting for coupons beyond the family computer. More than 30 percent of K-12 and college back-to-school shoppers plan to research purchases on their smartphones. The same is true of planned purchases via tablets. Fortunately, there are new technologies that help advertisers deliver messages on every kind of device. Now, shoppers on smartphones and tablets can see the same ads that they would on their PCs with interactivity and dynamically relevant messaging. Advertisers must be able to do this without adding layers of additional technology or complication through a “build once, advertise everywhere” approach.
Retailers can use an existing TV ad as a base for engaging in-banner video ads that run across devices. Shoppers reap the benefits of relevant ads that are compelling and provide additional information or even coupons, while advertisers see increased engagement and better ROI on their marketing dollars.
With these techniques, retail advertisers can meet consumer needs, increase performance and reach a broader audience through cross-platform campaigns. Now, retailers can reinvent their online campaigns and deliver a new level of return on their advertising investment in the challenging back-to-school season.
Anupam Gupta is president and CEO of Mixpo, a digital video advertising company.
