Personifying Digital Advertising

It isn’t always easy to explain the different digital products and services that Mudd Advertising has to offer to an interested client. I’ve tried quite a range of diagrams, analogies and comparisons. Just as each situation can call for a different combination of services, each client might relate best to a different explanation of what we are working to do for them. One way I’ve tried to simplify these ideas is to compare some of our digital services to ideas with which brick and mortar retailers have always been more familiar. When a client asks for search, display, retargeting or pre-roll video ads, often they have an idea of some type of labor for which they would like a digital counterpart. It can work well to use those ideas in your explanations. Let’s look at a few of the more common digital services in terms of their physical, employee counterparts. Search engine advertising is a great example of how a digital service is doing the work online that a person might perform in a physical store. Your search ad is the employee who sees you looking around and asks, “May I help you find something?” Of course, attention to your site’s searchability is invaluable in this regard. But a little help getting the customer to the right item can be a great help. Better still, this employee doesn’t need to be impartial. He gets a little incentive to help the customer find your particular product. I’m looking to “buy new convertible near me.” “Excellent; let me help you with that.” You get a different service when you hire display advertising. Display ads are the employee who sets up a promotional case next to something else that shopper might be looking for. You sell stocking caps? She’s putting up a case of those caps next to a wall of jackets. Selling lawn mowers? She’s building a display case of your mowers next to the landscaping equipment. Selling new Jeep Wranglers? Display advertising is showing up next to articles about mountain climbing. She finds out what else your customers are likely to enjoy and bids on those placements to get shoppers to consider your product. It might not be what the customer came in looking for, but if there is reason to believe they could appreciate it, she’s getting the display in the right places. Pre-roll video is actually quite similar, but this employee gets a little more of an opportunity to help you experience the product. He’s the sample man. He’s set up in front of the chips, offering you a bite of dip. You’re looking for a video about wedding planning, and he’s giving you a sample of wedding cake from your bakery. Maybe shoppers aren’t in the market for cake, today, but pre-roll video believes, when that time comes, the customer is more likely to buy your cake. A viewer stopped in to see information on family vacations, and was treated to a sample of your Subaru Outback. He’ll remember how that Outback tastes when it’s time to buy. Along with display ads, we also serve those who have been to your site reminders that they were interested in your product. Think of the cashier who observed a customer looking at a new wallet. “You seemed interested in that billfold. Would you like me to grab that for you?” When a person is considering a new truck, for instance, retargeting ads show up here and again after they’ve left your site. “Remember you were considering that Chevy Silverado? Here’s a link back to a great place to buy it if you’re still interested.” Visitors who see these ads have given you a very clear indicator that they might be in the market, and before they buy something else, we want to remind them they liked the truck on your lot. Hiring any one of these employees is bound to help your business grow. Hiring the entire team puts you in a great position to bring people to your site, show them what you have to offer, and remind them what they liked when it’s time to buy. They work very well together. These are just a few of the more common services we offer at Mudd Advertising. Get in touch to hear how these and other digital products can work together for you.