Digital Marketing Strategies: IMC and Online Advertising

Chapter 6: New Media and Other IMC Options

Note: The formula for calculating CTR will be provided on the exam paper.

Targeting Strategies

• Contextual Targeting: Placing advertisements based on the content of the page.
• Behavioral Targeting: Based on user history (visited sites).
• Geographic Targeting: Based on zip codes, Designated Market Areas (DMAs), time zones, and GPS coordinates.
• Daypart Targeting: Based on the time of day.
• Affinity Targeting: Reaching users on their favorite websites.
• Purchase-based Targeting: Profiling the customer based on buying habits.

Rich Media Advertising

Online advertising that utilizes a range of interactive digital media, including streaming video and audio.

Tips for Display Advertising (Plummer et al., 2008)

• Color Psychology: Red, blue, green-yellow, and green are key colors to capture attention.
• Visual Contrast: Contrast between foreground and background produces a visual spectacle.
• Simplicity: To hold attention, use simple executions with a clear focal point rather than advertisements that shake and flash.
• Visual Hierarchy: The eye is drawn first to motion, then to the copy in the ad.
• Placement: The top and left areas of pages are the most important on the monitor, following an F-shaped reading pattern.

Characteristics of Email Advertising

• High level of intimacy with the consumer.
• Once permission is acquired (opt-in), companies can build a continuous, interactive relationship with consumers.
• Relevance is key to success.
• It is the most popular form of direct response marketing.
• Low cost.
• Scalable: Can be sent to multiple people at once.
• Supports rich media integration.

Characteristics of Digital Video Advertising

• Allows for greater interactivity than text-based banner ads.
• Audiences are more receptive to professional, shorter videos.
• Disadvantage: Potential for repetition and interruption.

Pricing Models

• Cost Per Thousand (CPM): Used for exposure.
• Cost Per Click (CPC): Used for engagement.

Viral Marketing

Commercial publicity passed on by users through pre-existing social networks.

Characteristics

• Usually put into circulation (“seeded”) by advertisers with implicit or explicit requests to forward the message.
• Relies on customers to transmit content digitally.
• Passed on from user to user in a “word-of-mouth” fashion.
• Often creates or reflects “zeitgeists” and “cultural memes.”

Advergames and In-Game Advertising

• Advergame: A free online game primarily developed for promoting an advertiser’s brand or products.
• In-game Advertising: The placement of an advertiser’s brand within a commercial game.