Whether or not you follow the industry news regularly — you probably know there’s friction between advertisers and shoppers. While some advertisers are reluctant to clue shoppers in on exactly how advertisers track their buying habits, shoppers often feel uneasy by how specifically targeted the ads they see are. We’re sure that many of you remember the Target debacle — the store analyzed data so well that they knew a teen shopper was pregnant before her father did. The answer to this issue? Advertisers should give greater transparency. There is an opportunity to leverage transparency, and use it to your advantage, rather than seeing it as a threat.
Shoppers will be more responsive to an advertisement if they know its origin, and why it has been targeted towards them. Instead of cloaking targeting practices in ambiguity, advertisers will benefit from being more transparent about how they target shoppers and, possibly, even more importantly, WHY this benefits said shoppers. By educating shoppers, advertisers can effectively do away with any fear that the shopper might have and, instead, make room for understanding.
Ultimately, this will establish a solid sense of trust between the shopper and the advertiser. When shoppers feel they can trust a brand, they’ll be more likely to invest in them, become a word of mouth advocate for them and, ultimately, create a stronger relationship with them. On the other side of the coin, advertisers fear transparency. Why? Will it discourage shoppers from using their product or service? In reality, — it could, instead, encourage loyalty.
If shoppers understand where the content they’re being shown is coming from, they’re more likely to interact with the content or advertisement because they have more trust in the advertiser. They don’t feel like they’re being duped or manipulated. Instead, they’ll know that they’re deciding for themselves that the advertisement is something they’re interested in, something that’s worth their time — thanks to the advertisers’ analytics!
Just because this practice isn’t the industry norm, doesn’t mean it’s wrong or weird. Truly innovative minds disrupt industries and make a change. Advertisers can leverage transparency and use it to their advantage if they are willing to do so. While advertisers shouldn’t be expected to spill every last detail of the business plan, keeping shoppers in the loop when it comes to issues affecting them and potential purchase decisions is important to the business as a whole. Transparency is key to creating a sustainable brand and a business model that shoppers will trust.
Really great advertising happens when the advertiser and shopper work together in a symbiotic relationship — they both have something to give and something to get. When trust is established, we’ll see both the advertiser and the shopper thrive and win.
About Hivewyre:
Hivewyre is a forward-thinking programmatic advertising company. Their private data cooperative allows advertisers to share first-party audience data and build targeted campaigns for prospecting new customers based on their competitors’ unconverted shoppers. Hivewyre advertisers have access to fresh, exclusive data that will never be sold to a third party. With over 500 retailers and over 100 million monthly in-market shoppers in our co-op, our distinct advertising strategy allows you to combat rising search engine PPC & PLA costs and the ever-expanding online marketplace growth. In addition to access to the exclusive data, co-op members benefit from full-service account management and detailed reporting of the return from advertising spend. To learn more about Hivewyre, visit www.hivewyre.com.
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