How can you use display advertising to target specific industries?

One key idea I've found super effective in my experience with display advertising is retargeting. It's like a friendly nudge to those who've already shown interest in your product or service. For instance, you could use testimonials or case studies in your ads for retargeting. It's a great way to remind them of your unique value proposition. Or, you could offer a special deal - a discount or a free upgrade. The goal is to capture their attention and then convince them to click on the ad. It's all about being relevant and persuasive.

Display advertising is a versatile online advertising method that leverages visuals like images, videos, animations, or text to promote products, services, or brands across various digital platforms. These ads find placement on websites, social media platforms, mobile apps, and email newsletters. The primary goal of display advertising is to boost brand recognition, attract potential leads, channel website traffic, or inspire desired actions like conversions. Leveraging the power of visual content, display ads play a pivotal role in the digital marketing landscape.

Nowadays we have automated options to help us target better, right? Wrong. automated targeting is good for awareness stage but if you want to target proper audience, you'll have to spend a lot of time in audience persona creation. Luckily VCPM campaigns offer variety of options to locate your target audience. my suggestion is to create a lookalike from existing audience.

Here's the thing - B2B folks are looking for value and relevance. They're not impulse buying a pair of sneakers, they're making decisions that impact their business. So, your ads need to speak their language. Highlight your unique value proposition, show them how your product solves a problem they're facing. And you want to be really specific here to the industry you are targeting. Show them you've solved their industry-specific problem many times before. A good way to do this are case studies and testimonials from the same industry. Nothing says "we're legit" like a glowing review from a fellow industry professional.

Another angle to consider is cross-industry targeting. Let's say you're selling a product that's useful for filmmakers, but it could also be handy for photographers or event planners. By expanding your targeting to include these related industries, you're not just sticking to the obvious. You're tapping into a whole new pool of potential customers who might not have discovered you otherwise. It's like finding a secret shortcut in a video game - suddenly, you've got a whole new world to explore. And in advertising, that can mean a whole lot of new customers.

You'll need ads for different stages of the buyer journey. For B2B, this usually involves lots of retargeting. And display ads do especially well for that. Think about it - you've got a potential customer who's already interacted with your brand. They're familiar with you. Now, you can use retargeting to show them industry-specific testimonials or case studies. Stay on top of their mind until they are in need of your solution. It's like saying, "Hey, remember us? Look at these other folks in your industry who've benefited from our product/service." It's a powerful way to build trust and nudge them towards conversion. Just a thought...

Split testing is your best friend when it comes to comparing ad performance across different target audiences. Set up separate campaigns for each audience, then you watch the magic happen. You're looking for key metrics like linkCPCs, linkCTRs, and the volume and cost of conversions. If an ad or a targeting option isn't pulling its weight, turn it off. Then, take that budget and give it to the ads and targeting options that are performing best. You can also test campaigns across ad platforms. E.g. Google Ads (higher intent), LinkedIn Ads (accurate contact details), Meta Ads (lower costs but lower quality). And allocate more budget to the platforms where your ads perform best. E.g. Meta often works well for retargeting. Hope that helps!