Facilities Management Marketing: 'right person, right time, right place'... in the right context

5/11/2016 BY Wayne Winter

The idea of delivering advertiser messages to the right person, at the right time, in the right place has been touted as the newest thing by mass-audience websites and digital-automation platforms. And it makes sense for advertisers. But what many digital marketers don't recognize is that as a niche content provider we have been targeting the right person at the right time in the right place for years before targeted digital advertising came on the scene.

We developed and managed targeted reader databases built on user profiles. We delivered advertiser messages based on targeted reader topic behavior. And we delivered the message where the audience was. At the end of the day that is new for mass audience sites, but it is nothing new for the B2B media company.

But what is often missing from the 'right' mantra is targeting effectiveness and the special value of advertising in context. The targeting approach offered by mass-audience sites can be a useful tool when the targeting is accurate. However, it does not offer any message alignment with the surrounding content environment. That is a key difference and is it what makes advertising in the context of a trusted niche-content website uniquely effective.

If you are selling building automation systems we get your message in front of the right users at the time they are actively engaged in reading content about building automation. Marketers, pay attention, as that is the exact right moment to get in front of them. Then add to that, the user is seeing your messaging in the context of a trusted-content brand. That builds a messaging-context trust which mass audience advertising doesn't offer.

For example, if I'm a teenager who happened to like a building automation page because of a post about my new smart thermostat, that's not the right audience. Alternatively, if your ad gets in front of an actual facility manager, is it as valuable to get in front of them two days later at night when they're looking at a friend's cat picture? That might be a good time to sell them some cat food, but it is not the right time to sell them a multi-million dollar building automation system.

Based on our years of digital marketing experience to this industry, we've found that in terms of message resonance, a user touch is far more valuable on a relevant, trusted-content website. If you're selling something to me which relates to my job, it's best to do it while I'm engaged with work-related content.

For B2B marketers getting in front of users while they are on a work related website makes a difference. It allows marketers to reach highly engaged audiences with relevant messaging in the context of business related material from a trusted content provider. That combination can drive exactly the results marketers crave.