Backcountry.com said it will be making display advertising space available on its website, becoming the first specialty outdoor online store to run ads. The program is available first to Backcountry.com's vendors and partners, but will open it up to “customer complementary” advertisers shortly.
Backcountry.com said the program offers exposure opportunities to Backcountry.com's one to four million unique monthly visitors who engage in 10 to 35 million page views per month. It will also allow advertisers to reach its niche audience of hardcore outdoor enthusiasts. “Most people still use the internet as it was originally intended: a research medium,” said Dustin Robertson, Backcountry.com's chief marketing officer. “Having customer-complementary ads on our sites can enhance the customer's shopping experience as well as provide the customer with more brand and product information opportunities while they are in their research phase.”
Advertisers can buy inventory available on a navigation level basis (e.g., Men's Clothing, Women's Clothing, Hiking) as well as on all Product Detail Pages. Potential advertisers will also have the ability to send traffic to any destination URL they choose; from their own site, to a smaller retailer or to a custom campaign. “We would much rather have our customers exit to a vendor site to learn more about the products they are researching than go anywhere else,” said Robertson.
In an interview with B.O.S.S., Robertson said vendors have so far reacted positively to the move. “We've just started to reach out to our vendors about the program, but so far response has been very positively,” said Robertson. “The vendors recognize the value in the audience impressions and CPM but mostly in having a branded marketing presence that is hyper-targeted to an active customer at an influential point of the purchasing process.”
Apart from Backcountry.com vendors, Robertson said potential advertisers could be resorts, movies, events and other businesses looking for exposure to the outdoor enthusiast. “We'll also see our endemic vendor partners using the space to advertise their special events and promotions outside of Backcountry.com,” said Robertson.
Robertson said Backcountry.com will keep a close eye on the net promoter score, conduct a/b testing, and closely monitor customer comments to make sure the program is not impacting the shopping experience for its customers.
However, he expects customers will ultimately benefit. The program is in its “embryonic stages.” Reps are in the process of introducing vendors to the availability and costs. “The internet is about research,” said Robertson. “Because ads are targeted and help the customer on their path of discovery, it's another tool for our customers to learn more about the topic and/or products they are interested in.”
