Brands are constantly trying to find ways to outdo each other and gain market share. Ironically, sometimes outdoing the other brand is as simple as bidding for your competitor’s keywords. Wix has taken this approach and is leveraging competitor content. If you go on YouTube to look at a WordPress tutorial, you will likely be served a Wix ad before the video. You might even notice a Wix ad above the Up Next section in the sidebar. Wix’s strategy is simple: target consumers looking for how-to website videos by highlighting the platform’s easy drag-and-drop interface. Wix is hoping that viewers who are looking at the WordPress tutorials are frustrated with the more complex back-end of WordPress and are inclined to switch. Wix is clearly trying to reach the users at the right place and the right time.
It’s important to note that Wix seems to be bidding only on YouTube WordPress keywords. This makes sense as users searching WordPress tutorials are more likely to be frustrated by the website as opposed to people just searching for WordPress on Google. Finally, in order to improve the image Wix’s brand, the company has hired a celebrity endorser, Karlie Kloss, to be featured in the persuasive ad. By including this celebrity endorser, Wix is signally that its services can be used for professional looking websites that don’t require a developer to create.
What are some brands that you have noticed bidding on competitor keywords? What was the medium?