Get Local With On Site Messaging By Using The SmartAd Server

Posted on 27 August 2009 by Patrick FlanaganNo Comments

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Locally tailoring the content of one’s online weekly ad site is good business as it increases the relevance to the user.  To meet this need, ShopLocal built out our own localized version of a content management system (CMS) that we call the SmartAd server.

Some typical use cases of the SmartAd server that retailers seems to gravitate towards include:

• Store grand openings
• In-store events
• New competitors showing up for the first time in a local market
• Related marketing messaging that they want to integrate and tie in
• Driving awareness & usage of specific features within a SmartCircular site

At a high level, the SmartAd server offers the following features.  This means each unique each unique piece of content that is served can…

• Have a unique set of start and end dates associated with it that are separate than the overall circular promotion(s)
• Have a unique click-thru URL associated with them
• Have a pre-determined ranking or order assigned to each content slot
• Accept the following file formats:
  • .gif
  • .jpg
  • .swf (ie, Adobe Flash)
• Geo-target content at the following levels:
  • National – all stores
  • Regional – select sets of stores
  • Local – individual stores

Below are four (4) live example SmartCircular sites that are currently using the SmartAd server.  There are many others, but this is a good representative list to illustrate how flexible the SmartAd server can be.

1. Target
2. Staples
3. Toys “R” Us
4. Best Buy

Target deploys four unique content blocks that all pull in content from the SmartAd server, one of which is a data driven dynamic widget that pulls in active Target catalog front cover images

Staples has been a long time user of this functionality and has had some real fun with this by creating market and store level promotions to insert so as to really go local with the messaging.

Toys R Us typically uses these SmartAd server content slots as ways of driving attention to other onsite areas or features.

Best Buy uses an interactive horizontal scrolling carousel to help manage many concurrently live SmartAd server pieces of content.

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