Ever been up a creek without a paddle? Now imagine a paddle salesperson showing up right when you need them.
Personalized targeted advertising can work like this. By connecting the right message with a consumer at the right moment, it can have a major impact on purchasing decisions.
Dynamic creative optimization helps advertisers deliver personalized ads at the perfect moment. Here’s how to use powerful DCO solutions to create effective ads.
What is dynamic creative optimization?
Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) is a display ad technology that customizes ads in real time using customer data to serve personalized ads to each user. The goal is to deliver hyper-relevant content to the viewer.
DCO platforms respond to real-time data—like location and browsing history—enabling advertisers to match ad content with the viewer’s profile, behavior, and context. For example, an artisanal mustard company might display a grilling-themed ad to epicurean dads after they purchased hot dogs on a warm summer afternoon.
How dynamic creative optimization works
Data is the foundation of DCO. DCO campaigns segment audiences based on age, location, browsing history, interests—even real-time factors like weather or time of day—to deliver the most relevant ad content for each segment. If you sell portable personal air conditioners, for example, a DCO tool could target users at high noon on the hottest day of the year.
To create DCO advertising campaigns, advertisers build an ad template and library of creative content—images, videos, voiceovers, and copy—each tailored to different audience segments. The DCO platform then uses real-time data to select and dynamically assemble the most relevant ad creative for each segment. This way, advertisers enjoy a simplified creative production process, as the platform generates multiple ad variations from a single asset set.
Once live, DCO technology uses multivariate testing—simultaneously testing multiple variables—to experiment with different asset combinations and optimize ad content. DCO ad servers typically provide native analytics to help advertisers see which creative elements resonate best with viewers. This data-driven approach enables informed, real-time adjustments to ad design throughout the campaign.
How to create a DCO campaign
- Set campaign goals
- Choose a DCO platform
- Collect data
- Create buyer personas
- Build an ad template
- Generate assets
- Set rules for your DCO campaign
- Monitor performance
Building a DCO ad campaign involves selecting a platform, compiling data, and creating campaign assets. Here’s how to create impactful ad experiences:
1. Set campaign goals
Establish clear campaign objectives to guide creative direction, and set key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure campaign effectiveness.
2. Choose a DCO platform
Research ad partners and select a DCO ad server—where you build your ad template and monitor campaign performance.
Popular DCO platforms include:
If you have a data management platform (DMP), look for a tool that’s compatible to simplify data integration. A DMP helps collect, organize, and analyze large data sets from various sources, making it easier to create customer segments, which you can use to better target your marketing campaigns.
3. Collect data
Collect data on your target audience. Marketers typically use a combination of first-party and third-party data to build a comprehensive understanding of their customer base.
Gather first-party data from owned channels, like your website and CRM platform. This data provides information about customer behavior including past purchases, browsing behavior, and engagement patterns.
To supplement this information, partner with a third-party data provider, like Neilsen or Oracle. Data and research companies can supply broader insights into target audience behavior and interests.
4. Create buyer personas
In your DCO platform, use audience data to build detailed buyer personas, fictional representations of the various audience segments your advertising efforts target.Buyer personas often use demographic, behavioral, and geographic data.
- Demographic data includes age, ethnicity, and income.
- Geographic data reveals where they live and spend their time.
- Behavioral data provides information about the user’s preferences and activities—their shopping habits, hobbies, and interests.
Consider each buyer persona’s pain points. Ask why they need your product and how it can help solve their problems.
5. Build an ad template
Your DOC platform uses ad templates to build dynamic ads. These often include headlines, calls to action (CTAs), ad copy, and imagery or video. Consider which creative elements are static and which are variable—static elements remain the same in every ad, and variable elements change depending on the target audience. Common static elements include brand logos and company names. Photos and taglines are often variable.
If you’re planning to display ads on multiple channels, think about how ad elements look in various formats and on mobile devices.
6. Generate assets
Use your audience research and buyer personas to build a library of ad content. Create a variety of assets for different audience segments. Asset libraries often include multiple artwork options, images of different products, taglines, and CTA variations.
Target your messaging to connect with specific audience segments. For example, if your buyer personas include “Spunky Mom Who Loves to Knit” and “Sarcastic Daughter Who Likes Pop Punk,” you could create one set of colorful, optimistic assets to appeal to the mother and a separate set of moody, ironic assets to appeal to the daughter.
Include a variety of options for each dynamic element in your ad. The more creative assets you upload, the greater the number of dynamic ads your platform can generate.
7. Set rules for your DCO campaign
Your DCO platform lets you set a series of if/then rules to determine which version of which ads to show each user. Think of this process like building a decision tree. It goes something like this:
- Has this user visited your site before?
- If so, serve a retargeting ad.
- If not, serve a prospecting ad.
- Has this user demonstrated an interest in knitting?
- If so, serve an ad with colorful creative assets.
- If not, has this user demonstrated an interest in pop punk? If so, serve an ad with moody creative assets.
8. Monitor performance
Measure campaign performance against your KPIs. Use your DCO platform’s analytics tool to see which content combinations are succeeding and adjust your ad creative based on your insights.
Revisit and update your buyer personas as you gather more information about your audience, and what resonates with them.
Dynamic creative optimization FAQ
Why is dynamic creative optimization important?
Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) lets advertisers distribute personalized, engaging ad content to relevant audiences based on their preferences. Using a DCO platform to display tailored advertising messages in the right context can improve ad performance and boost conversion rates.
How do you use DCO?
To build a DCO campaign, marketers create a library of creative assets with multiple versions of each ad element. The DCO platform builds dynamic content by assembling different combinations of these assets to appeal to specific customers. The platform delivers optimized DCO ads to the audience based on user behavior and context.
What is the dynamic creative optimization process?
The DCO process involves building an ad template and creating multiple versions of ad content to appeal to different audience segments. A DCO platform combines these dynamic elements to create and deliver personalized ads based on user data.
How does dynamic creative optimization work?
Dynamic creative optimization tools assemble personalized ads from a collection of pre-made assets. DCO ad servers use real-time technology and user data to deliver relevant messages to your target audience.
