Perfect Audience, DataSphere Team to Retarget Local Ad Campaigns

Retargeting is now available for local marketing campaigns after having been primarily used by national marketers.

The practice, which inserts ads that had previously been viewed on other sites, has become increasingly important for online marketing. But it hasn’t been widely applied for local campaigns. High minimum spending amounts and hands on account management had made it impractical. Retargeting specialists such as Retargeter have a $500 minimum and no self-service options.

Perfect Audience, a 13 person San Francisco startup which began life as WindyCitizen, a Chicago-based hyperlocal site, hopes to change this by making retargeting available on a self-serve basis. The company, whose advisors include former ShopLocal head Brian Hand, connects across Facebook Exchange and more than a dozen display networks. SMBs can get started for free, and are provided with a $50 advertising credit.

The company’s big coup is a new partnership with DataSphere, a provider of SMB marketing solutions that it provides on behalf of local TV and newspaper sites. Perfect Audience will market retargeting efforts to DataSphere’s base of 20,000 local advertisers. The retargeting can be applied to advertisers’ own website, or to DataSphere’s video and coupon-driven LocalSaver business directory. SMBs such as doctors, dentists, bars, theaters and restaurants are eyed as potential customers.

“The biggest thing is staying in front of a prospect,” notes Perfect Audience President Brad Flora CEO. “If you are able to stay in front of Website visitors, you will be the first they call when it is time for them to pick up a pair of shoes, press shirts, etc.” Flora estimates that retargeting can boost company sales by five or six percent.