How to use the same tactics top stock brokers use to make smart internet advertising buys

By now, you’ve probably already curtailed your traditional advertising spending (TV/radio, local print and even DM), as costs have continued to increase while effectiveness and ROI for these media have continued to slide. Like most dealerships, you’ve heard about the need for a strong digital presence and even the need for your own web-generated content.

So you’re putting more of your advertising dollars on the web – but is that enough? Just like any other medium, internet advertising is no magic bullet that will cut through all the clutter, your competitor’s messages, and hit your target consumer every time.

When putting money down on digital advertising, dealers are still susceptible to the same pitfalls of old media – how to target your consumer and how to track who sees what and what happens when they do?

In the past, web-based advertising was handled through online advertising networks that place ads where they needed ads placed, usually based on the advertiser’s budget and the cost-per-click of the ad space.

This process does not consider the many factors that make a smart buy for the advertiser. Using online advertising networks, advertisers have little say on where or when their ads are placed; and no say about the content their ads are placed next to. The advertiser is left wondering

A more recent trend of web advertising brings together available advertising space into “trading desks” – much like how Wall Street and other financial traders create a trading center that is more accessible – and more competitively priced – for buyers.

The theory behind trading desks is that they put the power of the ad buy back in the hands of the advertiser. He or she can see an aggregate of what options are available across many sites and content providers, and can target his or her market using a variety of placements according to viewer demographics, time and length of ad run, and key performance indicators. Moreover, advertisers have more flexibility in keeping space and time between their ads and their competitors’. Advertisers can also monitor and even change their message during the campaign for even greater control and results.

Trading desks are just one example of “demand-side” platforms that industry expert Jake Gardner will be discussing at the 16th Digital Dealer Conference and Exposition.

Focusing on making your ad dollars work smarter (and go farther), Gardner will share the tools used to make smart digital ad buys, and track advertising effectiveness. He’ll show you how demand-side tools, like trading desks, can help you manage multiple media options, and will explain the key performance indicators you need to know to make smarter – not bigger – advertising buys across the web and social media.

A Los Angeles native, Jake Gardner has spent the last decade in the advertising world. He is the founder of Stanmore Media Group, a digital marketing company focused on finding advertising audiences in the online world.