COVID-19: Advertising Strategies to Help Your Business During These Uncertain Times

We recognize that our partners and advertisers are in uncharted territory and business needs are shifting. We are here and ready to help your business during this uncertain time, and will help and support you wherever we can.

One area in particular where we can help is enabling businesses to stay visible to keep revenue coming in during these uncertain times.

Here are some thoughts on how we can help:

STRATEGY 1

Drive Online Sales and Track Conversions

Many retailers and other brick-and-mortar stores are closing their locations to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. For them, online sales will now be more important than ever before. Simpli.fi can help advertisers drive online sales by reaching consumers where they are spending the most time. Today, that is at their homes consuming media across multiple screens—including the big screen in the living room.

In the current circumstances, advertisers can utilize Addressable Geo-Fencing to drive awareness of their e-commerce business by targeting consumers at the household-level with mobile, video, and/or OTT/CTV ads. For example, a clothing retailer that has temporarily closed its brick-and-mortar stores can target relevant households with ads relating to their product and/or service offerings (including sales, promotions, etc.). Along with driving online sales, the retailer can also leverage Addressable Geo-Fencing to showcase to customers how it’s serving the community during this difficult time.

STRATEGY 2

Increase Drive-Through & To-Go Traffic

In a significant increase in their measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, the federal and state governments have issued guidelines calling on Americans to avoid social gatherings of more than ten people. This has resulted in the temporary closure of many bars and restaurants—particularly their dining rooms. Many are offering drive-through services as well as to-go and delivery options to keep their businesses afloat.

How can you get the word out that you are still open for business, but operating with limitations? Advertisers can utilize Simpli.fi’s Addressable Audience Curation (AAC) tool to target an addressable audience and drive awareness regarding temporary hours of operation, drive-through or take-out policies, and/or delivery services.

For instance, a fast food restaurant could target households based on the number and age of residents, and target those households who live within postal codes near their restaurant with mobile, video, and/or OTT/CTV ads.

STRATEGY 3

Increase Monthly Subscription Renewals

In keeping with the themes of spending more time at home and social distancing, subscription-based services have an advantage under these circumstances. Are you a Video-on-Demand subscription service such as Netflix or Hulu, or a meal-delivery subscription service such as Hello Fresh or Blue Apron? Now is your time to get your brand name in front of your customers and promote memberships and/or renewals.

During these pressing times, consumers are looking to access services that don’t require them to leave their home. Other advertisers that are likely to benefit from this strategy include CPG brands looking to promote subscription purchases via Amazon; especially since Amazon is prioritizing delivery on basic essentials at the moment. Our Addressable Geo-Fencing and Addressable OTT/CTV solutions are an ideal way to get your brand in front of homebound consumers with impactful ads across all devices.
 

 
Whether it is driving online sales, drive-through traffic, or increasing subscriptions, Simpl.fi has highly targeted advertising solutions that ensure that your advertising budgets delivered on your goals while minimizing waste:
 

HOUSEHOLD-LEVEL TARGETING WITH SIMPLI.FI’S ADDRESSABLE GEO-FENCE

With the CDC and WHO encouraging the population to practice social distancing and avoid large gatherings, more and more consumers are spending the majority of their time at home. Meaning, the ability for advertisers to help drive awareness by using digital advertising to target physical addresses has now become essential.

• Build and activate a custom household-level audience in real-time using more than 500 offline data variables (including demographic, economic, and political variables) for inclusion or exclusion via full Boolean capabilities.
• Target based on GPS and plat line data from property tax and public land surveying information to maximize precision of addresses being targeted.
• Improve performance of addressable TV, direct mail, and other campaigns that target specific households by extending their reach, improving their frequency, and providing attribution.
• Report and break down campaign performance by ZIP+4 level.
• Target all individuals at the address on multiple devices by leveraging Simpli.fi’s cross-device graph.
• Create granular audiences from CRM systems and other offline databases.

Addressable Geo-Fencing is a perfect fit for any business that has temporarily shut down its brick-and-mortar locations and must now rely on online business to generate revenue. Using address data from first party lists or a custom curated addressable audience, retailers or other types of businesses can utilize Addressable Geo-Fencing to target relevant households with ads relating to their product and/or service offerings (including sales, promotions, etc.)

ADVANCED OTT/CTV ADVERTISING WITH SIMPLI.FI’S ADDRESSABLE PROGRAMMATIC

Nielsen predicts a 60% rise in the amount of video content consumed in U.S. homes due to worldwide health fears. As more and more consumers stream TV content to keep themselves occupied while homebound, advertisers have a unique opportunity to reach their audience in new ways and on more devices within the home.

For example, consider a CPG brand like a soft drink company. With so many people staying home, comfort food like a familiar soft drink will be in high demand. Utilizing the same addressable targeting capabilities as Addressable Geo-Fencing, this solution enables advertisers to target consumers with OTT/CTV ads on both the big screen in the living room and/or other small screen devices within a household such as mobile devices and tablets.

TRACK ONLINE CONVERSIONS TO DETERMINE THE IMPACT YOUR ADS HAVE ON THE BOTTOM LINE

As streaming TV content increases, so will second-screening. 88% of the U.S. population uses a computer or mobile device to browse online while watching either digital video or traditional TV (Nielsen), and this number will only grow the more time we are encouraged to spend at home practicing social distancing.

Advertisers can now measure online conversions from OTT/CTV ads shown on televisions and other streaming devices. During this time of economic volatility, advertisers can attribute an ROI to their OTT/CTV campaigns by tracking online conversions, such as visiting an advertiser’s website, completing a form-fill, adding a product to a shopping cart, purchasing a product, and more.

OPTIMIZE AT THE HOUSEHOLD-LEVEL TO DRIVE PERFORMANCE

During this time, it is essential for advertisers to make sure their advertising is as effective as possible. This means reaching the right person at the right time with a relevant message and minimizing wasted impressions. Simpli.fi offers advertisers the ability to target users based on individual, relevant data elements and then optimize the campaign throughout its duration to maximize performance. Once a campaign is activated, Simpli.fi can then make midflight adjustments to improve performance and reach. The end result is maximum performance and minimum wasted impressions. For advertisers, this means increased cost-savings and a significantly better ROI for their campaigns.

 
With a drastic shift in consumer behavior, we recognize that businesses need to quickly adjust in order to continue driving revenue and reach consumers where they are spending the majority of their time – at home and across many devices. Simpli.fi is committed to standing alongside our partners and advertisers.

 
Interested in learning more? Check out our recent webinar “Advertising Strategies for Your Business” where Simpli.fi CEO Frost Prioleau and CRO James Moore discuss best practices to help businesses navigate through this uncharted territory.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your Simpli.fi representative or email us at hi@simpli.fi. Stay well.