Use audience extension to reach your target audience online

Audience extension advertising campaigns, also known as retargeting, are advertisements that are placed online on sites other than the client’s own.  These ads can be targeting specifically to the client’s target audience and show up on top web sites such as CNN and Auto Trader.

Website browsers such as Google Chrome use cookies to track user data including demographics such as age and location, as well as interests, purchases and more.  When an audience extension campaign is set up, digital marketers can assign certain parameters to the ads, such as show to people in zip codes A, B and C, display to people ages 18-40, etc.

Audience extension campaigns ensure that only people in the client’s target audience are being exposed to their message, which is cost and time efficient. And, because the campaign is charged only when the ad is served, no advertising dollars are wasted on people who would most likely not be interested or being charged regardless of if the ad is actually displayed or not.

And the client picks the budget, so they are guaranteed not to spend more than they want.

Think With Google - free download

Have you visited thinkwithgoogle.com yet?

If you are a marketer, business owner or anyone who wants to keep up with consumer buying trends in the digital world you'll be amazed at the wealth of information there.

Google is by far the leader when it comes to online — well, just about anything. Think With Google has tons of insights on consumer behavior across different audiences and platforms such as how sports fans use YouTube, for example. There is a section on mobile advertising trends including how to design a better mobile experience for shoppers and creating effective video ads.

The tools section features planning tools such as shopping insights; just type in the brand or product you'd like to research into the search bar and a map will appear that shows the areas where the product is popular as well as each quarter's sales results.

Probably most useful to business owners is The Customer Journey to Online Purchase. Select your industry, business size, country, and what channel you'd like to search (organic traffic, paid traffic, referral, etc.) and you'll see percentage results for consumers who are in the beginning, middle and end of the purchase cycle.

Consumers more often use organic search at the beginning of the purchase cycle and direct click is near the end of the cycle when the consumer buys. Knowing what stage your target audience is in will help you to better direct your advertising and promotion focus.

Today I have been reading through the section on Mirco Morments. Did you post back to school photos of your kids on Facebook? Do a quick search for movie times? Those are Micro Moments. People want what they need quickly and easily. If you can anticipate the micro moments for your target audience you can make better decisions when deciding when and where to promote your brand.

There is so much more that I could write about, but why don't you go check it out for yourself? I guarantee you will find something useful there, regardless of your business size, service or product.

Let me know what you think!

Download the free guide "Micro Moments: Your Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile" to learn more.

Brand admiration and how you can achieve it — FREE download

Marketing is not just about planning, creativity, good communication skills and organization — it’s also psychology. Think about the best experiences you’ve had with brands — quick responses to your questions, courtesy, professional, fun and interesting and makes a person feel good about his or herself. Brand admiration is building a brand that customers love and respect.

Brand admiration is important for several reasons. First, customers will want to remain loyal to your brand. They’ll tell their friends and family about the great experience they had with you, and they’ll tend to be more forgiving if you make a mistake. Having great brand admiration increases employee morale, increases profits, reduces competition and provides opportunity for brand extensions.

Sounds great, right? But how do you get there?

Let’s take a look at one of the world’s most beloved brands — Nike. Nike’s television ads are inspiring and relatable. Nike ads have depicted a young child practicing a sport, being encouraged by mom and then growing up to be an Olympian. Or someone deciding to start running every morning because they want to change his or her life and get healthier. Who could not be inspired by those things? And the mom encouraging the child to keep trying really tugs at the heart strings. It’s comforting, it connects on an emotional and personal level, and they really do make you feel like anyone and everyone is an athlete. Their slogan “Just Do It” is short and simple, catchy and embodies the brand.