Dads are notoriously hard to shop for, which makes Father’s Day a real challenge for many spouses, partners and kids. Should we take him out for lunch again? Does he really want another tie? Does he have enough socks?
While the family frets over what to get dad, advertisers often worry about how to reach consumers on Father’s Day. Advertisers will have a lot of opportunity this year, as spending is set to reach a record high of $15.5 billion according to the National Retail Federation. So how can brands make sure they’re delivering ads to their ideal audience at the right time and place?
We’ve got some tips for advertisers looking to reach the gift-givers and maximize sales this June.
Talk to Mom
What’s the best way to figure out what Dad wants for Father’s Day? Talk to Mom. And advertisers should, too. In fact, brands looking to build the right audience this Father’s Day should talk to all the women in Dad’s life.
That’s what a large drugstore chain did—with excellent results. Seeking to drive sales both online and in stores, the brand constructed their ideal audience of spouses, partners and daughters by looking at females aged 18 to 34. Then they combined this data with more specific parameters: They decided to reach out to young families who were seen browsing similar content and were located near one of the brand’s stores.
This kind of hyper-specific targeting reduces waste and boosts campaign performance. In fact, the brand found that their campaign resulted in a 47% CTR uplift.
Continue the Conversation at Home
Once a brand has found their ideal audience of thoughtful gift-givers, advertisers should make sure to follow up with the shoppers consistently with a targeted approach.
For example, one hardware store adopted a successful mobile retargeting strategy that helped raise brand awareness and increase foot traffic in their stores. Finding that men generally purchased hardware products in-store, while women were more likely to purchase online, they devised a strategy to reach women at home. First, they identified an audience of fathers who lived within a 20-minute drive of one of their stores. Using their anonymized device IDs, they linked these individuals back to their at-home Wi-Fi. Then, they used this data to serve Father’s Day gift ads to other home devices when they were being used to browse content associated with the females of the household.
The results? Conversations took an average of just 75 hours, and the campaign saw a foot traffic rate of 1.79%. And perhaps most importantly? By negatively targeting any male content on the home devices, there was no chance of Dad having his Father’s Day surprise ruined by seeing an ad for a product browsed by his wife.
Go Where Billboards Can’t
An online gifting store wanted to buy inventory inside a large mall in London for Father’s Day last year, but they realized all the available billboards were located outside. In order to reach shoppers already inside the mall’s parameters, they turned to mobile ads instead to re-target devices that tracked past the billboards, once inside.
They weren’t disappointed: Overlaying first-party demographic data with current and historical location data, they served ads to women and girls located in high-end malls around the city. This was also an example of inverse gender targeting whereby gift ideas for boys were served to girls and vice versa. The retailer raised brand awareness, drove an increase in app downloads, and saw a CTR of 0.84%. This kind of strategy can be used by brands during Father’s Day to inversely target the gift-givers with ads which would usually encourage Dads to buy.
Remember the Last-minute Shoppers
Once brands have found their ideal audience of generous gift-givers, when’s the best time to reach out?
We’ve found that campaigns perform best actually on Father’s Day. That’s why brands should try to spend as much as possible on the final days of the campaign to boost performance rates and reach those last-minute shoppers. Make sure to reserve budget accordingly.
So while families figure out what they’re getting for Dad, advertisers should lend them a helping hand. From inspiring gift ideas to encouraging consumer purchase, brands seeking to increase ad engagement and sales won’t be disappointed this Father’s Day.
