Cartvertising, IndoorMedia’s shopping cart advertising program, places your business on the baby seat and nose portions of grocery store shopping carts. You can think of these custom-designed, full-color advertising campaigns as small-scale billboards that turn your business into a local celebrity!
Shopping cart advertising is an affordable, high-profile means for local businesses to advertise, build trust, and create brand recognition. Combined with our blend of targeting, repetition, and exposure, it’s an easy decision to invest in Cartvertising today. Read on to learn why Cartvertising is so effective and how to get started.
How Cartvertising Brands Your Business
Repetition
The more frequently a consumer sees your brand, the more likely they are to remember and call on your business when they need your services. This isn’t just a theory. Repetition, also called effective frequency, is the number of times a person must see an ad before he or she takes action.
As far back as 1885, Thomas Smith wrote in his guide, Successful Advertising, that customers needed to see an ad twenty times before purchasing a product. While that seems a bit extreme today, it is generally accepted that the more frequently an ad is seen, the better your results.
With shopping cart advertising, every trip that a potential customer takes to the grocery store results in another opportunity to cement your brand in their mind. When a customer grabs a cart from the holding area, places something in the basket, or walks by another shopper, your ad is in plain sight.
Statistically, the primary shopper of a household visits the store an average of 1.7 times per week. That means your message is reinforced more than 80 times throughout the year!
This crazy amount of repetition is one of the highlights of choosing shopping carts as your vehicle for in-store supermarket advertising.
Targeting
To be profitable, advertising needs to reach the right potential customers. Narrowing your ad’s distribution to your most valuable customer base is called ‘targeting,’ and it’s especially important for local businesses.
Grocery stores naturally cater to a localized demographic. When people shop for groceries, they usually visit stores within 3 miles of their homes. For advertisers, this provides a great opportunity to build your brand in front of a local audience in the same area where your most likely customers live.
For example, a Real Estate Agent can target new homebuyers in a particular neighborhood by displaying their ads in the grocery stores located within 3 miles of that neighborhood.
Furthermore, if your audience extends past a neighborhood or two, supermarket advertising supports regional or even national targeting! So you’re sure to reach your audience no matter where they live, work, or shop.
Exposure
How your ad is delivered and presented to customers is called exposure. Exposure makes all the difference when it comes to keeping (or losing) your audience’s attention.
Think about annoying website pop-up ads and how their brash presentation makes you want to click away immediately. This intrusive exposure is comparable to finding take-out menus stuffed under your windshield or running into an all too aggressive employee pestering you to come to their kiosk in the mall.
Grocery store advertising, on the other hand, is un-intrusive. Rather than interrupting customers, you’re just inviting them to shop while they’re already shopping! Shopping cart ads are placed directly where consumers look: the literal vessel of their shopping experience. This placement ensures that your brand is front and center during their entire grocery store trip without pestering or annoying them.
Moreover, most grocery stores do everything they can to set a relaxing mood so customers stay in the store as long as possible. In doing so, they ensure that the average shopper is spending about 47 minutes in the store every time they visit.
With shoppers spending this long in stores just inches from your advertisement, it’s guaranteed that your ad will make an impression on them. This constant, subliminal messaging cements your name in the shopper’s mind. So when they see your Facebook ad or hear your radio spot they’ll think, “Oh, I know them!”
When looking to build brand and reputation, critical elements for trust, this kind of obvious but not intrusive exposure makes Cartvertising one of the smartest moves your company can make.
Is Cartvertising Right for my Business?
One of the best benefits of supermarket advertising is that you receive an implied endorsement from the grocery store chain. Because consumers look to grocery stores as a pillar of the community, they often assume that the shopping cart advertisers are hand-picked by the store. This “success by association” goes a long way, especially for small businesses looking to develop a strong, respected brand.
Even though the store does not hand-select their advertisers, supermarket chains are selective about the types of businesses they allow to advertise in their stores. The ad is a reflection of the grocery chain itself, and only professional businesses in respected industries make the cut.
Businesses that are a good fit for the Cartvertising program include, but are not limited to:
- Real Estate Agents
- Home Improvement Contractors (e.g. roofers, HVAC, painters, landscapers)
- Lawyers
- Dentists/Orthodontists
- Insurance Agents
- Car Dealerships and Auto Repair Shops
- Healthcare Providers(e.g. doctors, chiropractors, dermatologists, etc.)
- Mortgage Companies
If you don’t fit into one of these categories, not to worry! We have thousands of happy customers that come from a wide range of industries.
How to Get Started with Cartvertising
It’s easy; Cartvertising Marketing Consultants will walk you through every stage of the process.
- Assess Your Market
- Choose Placement and Percentage
- Design Your Ad
- Monitor Results
Assess Your Market
The key to a successful advertising campaign is setting a strong foundation. Before all else, we will identify where your ideal customers are located, assess your competition, and determine the grocery stores in your service area that will give you the best competitive edge. IndoorMedia partners with over 70% of major grocery chains in the USA and Canada. We’re sure there’s a grocery store near you that reaches your target market.
Cart Placement & Percentage
There are two primary locations to purchase Cartvertising ads.
Baby Seat Ads
These ads are displayed on billboards mounted to the backrest of the baby seat. Both sides are available for ad placements and can be broken down into several options for purchase. Depending on the portion of the baby seat that is purchased, you will also select the percentage of carts where the ads will be installed.
Nose Ads
These ads are displayed on billboards mounted to the very front of the shopping cart. Ads installed on the Nose can appear on the inside, outside, or both sides. They are purchased by number of inserts, and are available in 60 or 120 approximate insert counts.
Not all placements will available at every grocery store. Make sure to check with your local IndoorMedia Marketing Consultant to determine what is available in your area.
Design Your Ad
Our in-house graphic designers will work with you to create a beautiful, eye-catching ad.
So, what makes a good Cartvertising ad? For starters, keep it simple—stick to one obvious message. The goal is to make a strong first impression that shoppers will remember, so avoid cluttering your ad with too many selling points. If everything stands out, nothing will stand out. Instead, highlight one central message that will stick in the shopper’s mind.
Ideally, your ad should answer these five questions.
- What is my business’s name?
- What do we do?
- Where are we located?
- How can you contact us?
- What makes my business special?
Find inspiration with these examples of effective Cartvertising ads.
Monitor Results
Finally, IndoorMedia prints, ships, and installs your ad. Your campaign has officially started and it’s time to let the new customers roll in! Keep in mind, shopping cart advertising is a subtle, subliminal form of advertising. The goal is to brand your business and keep your name top-of-mind for local customers.
That means there likely won’t be a rush of new patrons. Instead, you will see a slight, yet steady increase in brand recognition and new business over the course of your annual campaign.
Start Today
Our simple, turn-key program puts your business front and center with your ideal customer. To speak with a Cartvertising Marketing Consultant about store locations, impressions, and advertising rates, fill out our form for a free consultation.
By Talitha Turkin
