Any way you slice it, the web is becoming a more customized place. Consumers, publishers, even brand sites are making every effort to leverage technologies and opportunities that afford extreme personalization.
In the social space, sites like Facebook are offering infinite applications designed to enhance users' profiles. In the process, they're affording services based on personal tastes -- like Digg and StumbleUpon -- the ability to expand their reach.
Elsewhere, informational sites like Everyday Health and brand sites like Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches (full disclosure: Jimmy John's is a client) have also been launching new features that facilitate personalization. Everyday Health is now surveying consumers and matching its content to their interests and needs, while Jimmy John's is making it possible for customers to create customized menus and meal plans that suit their dietary needs.
Whatever consumers' needs online are, they can now find them made to order.
Media planners and buyers haven't been excluded from this customization trend. Increasingly, sites are creating highly customized placements in an effort to fulfill their advertisers' marketing objectives.
In part, this is because some premium inventory can be hard to come by. Publishers in sectors like retail and travel are now holding online media upfronts in response to high advertiser demand, following in the footsteps of the automotive industry, which has employed this model for years. Instead of dismissing latecomers or being forced to push their remnant inventory on top tier clients, sites are working hard to offer alternative solutions, including the creation of placements that don't already exist.
Also contributing to customization efforts is the desire, on the part of marketers, for placements that are highly unique. The online space is a competitive place, and advertising objectives are becoming more sophisticated. For advertisers, this means placements must strike that elusive balance between being pertinent and being remarkable. Adaptable and scalable, custom placements have the potential to highlight an advertiser's product and offer it in an unforgettable way.
Take a look at the fundamentals of the custom placement package, and how it can produce value for your brand.
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