One of Glacier’s most exciting new digital offerings is the programmatic advertising tactic called Dynamic Creative. The product, which is only available for auto dealerships, involves serving ads that display actual vehicles in the client’s current inventory, and only the ones with the same features that the user has recently searched throughout the internet.

A pre-built feed, created from the dealer’s website, integrates the relevant vehicle image and info into the ad being served. This is performed in real time, with the content adjusted to the user based on the keywords used. The platform is able to find the most applicable product in the dealer’s inventory to show the individual, and each ad clicks through directly to the corresponding vehicle detail page on the site, showing full details. Like all programmatic campaigns, once the user is added to the segment, they can be shown the ads for up to 30 days.

Dynamic creative ads are served using the Search+Keyword tactic only, with the relevant keywords generated automatically from the site’s inventory. This means that users do not have to visit the site to be targeted, and an initial keyword list is not necessary. There are two available templates to choose from, with 300×250 examples of each shown below.

[June 4, 2018 edit: Dynamic Site Retargeting is also available, so site visitors can now be shown dynamic ads related to the keywords searched or the pages visited on the client’s site.]

Additional information is needed to build the different ad sizes from the chosen template. Below is what’s required, along with example assets provided by the client for a specific campaign:

  • Template – Carousel Light
  • Headline – We’ve got what you’re looking for
  • Tagline – Priced to sell
  • Call to Action – View now
  • Logo (in .png or .jpg format) –
  • Primary Colour (Price & Headline text; should be dark) – R: 16  G: 66  B:107
  • Secondary Colour (Call to Action button) – R: 240  G: 3  B: 46

To find the precise colours, which is important to ensure branding consistent with the client’s site, please use a tool such as the one found on ImageColourPicker.com

The red and blue colours selected match the colours on the website exactly.

After the required material is received, we will create a set of proofs for review. Once approved, the campaign is ready to go live!

For the above example, if a user within the geo-targeted area searches for “Subaru Forester” on a vehicle website, they could easily be served the following ad throughout the internet over the next several weeks.

A separate visitor to ca.cargurus.com who has recently looked for a “blue Subaru” might see this ad featured prominently on their screen, linking to our client’s car with details matching those used in the search:

Additional notes to consider

  • Provide the website URL as early as possible so that we can confirm that the site is capable of serving dynamic ads. Depending on how it is configured, we may need additional time, beyond the five business days it normally takes, to create the feed. No back-end access to the site is required.
  • On the booking order, indicate clearly under the Campaign Goals if is it a “dynamic creative only” campaign. The “External” Production Method should be selected.
  • The vehicle in the ad changes dynamically based on user interaction – the arrows on the example ads indicate that the user is able to view other similar vehicles in the inventory directly on the ad-serving site.
  • By default, the feed will contain all vehicles on the site. However, if the client wants to focus on a certain section of their inventory, we can adjust the keywords to accommodate this request.
  • If other programmatic tactics are to be used in the campaign, such as geo-fencing or site retargeting, a set of regular creatives must be provided separately.
  • Due to the process by which the feed generates the ads, very little modification can be applied to the template, including changes in font size or image placement.

Online media has become the primary source of information for car buyers, with over half of consumers beginning their purchasing journey online, and so it is more important than ever for auto dealers to deliver an effective digital marketing strategy. The ability to serve creatives dynamically like this demonstrates an advanced level of data-driven targeting. An increased focus on the searcher’s intent creates an even greater opportunity for the right ad to be shown to the right person at the right time. And, for the time being at least, this product has the same cost as our other programmatic tactics, so don’t delay in showing it off to all of your auto dealer clients. Happy selling!

dynamic creative programmatic