Tapped Mobile targets local campaigns with new partnership

Pairing with B2B ad tech platform Chalk Digital, Tapped is aiming to capture both small and medium businesses, as well as agencies putting more spend into location-based advertising.

Toronto-based ad tech solutions provider Tapped Mobile has paired with Chalk Digital to provide advertisers and agencies with a new ad-buying and targeting platform. This is the first time Chalk Digital, which creates B2B solutions and operates out of San Diego, has partnered with a Canadian company.

“We see this as an opportunity for the small and medium businesses that have a budget of $10, $20, maybe $50 per day,” Jed Schneiderman, president of Tapped Mobile, told MiC. 

Chalk Digital’s technology allows advertisers to create mobile ad campaigns on a self-serve basis by uploading their assets to the platform, selecting a geographic area and executing an automated buy based on budget. There are three tiers of buys — some owned-and-operated space on apps, some through a private marketplace and some through a programmatic buy. In total, Chalk founder Craig Hagopian estimated that it monitors 100,000 apps globally.

Both Tapped and Chalk are expanding their own markets with the partnership. For Tapped, Schneiderman said the company is used to serving larger agencies who buy ads for big-budget clients. However, he said the move to an accessible platform for smaller businesses made economic sense.

“We know that 90% of Canadians are employed by a small or medium-sized business,” he said. “And in our own research, the businesses know that digital is important, with how much they spend on Google, Facebook and to a lesser extent Twitter and LinkedIn. It made sense to deliver that in a self-serve fashion.”

It’s mainly targeted, he said, at businesses like car dealerships, real estate agents and quick service restaurants.

But because Tapped still wants its agency clients to benefit from the partnership, Chalk created a new version of the app that also tailors to agencies. Hagopian said the targeting technology will help agencies execute more location-based campaigns. “There are a lot of agencies that yes they have those larger clients, but they also have the smaller, local clients, and we want to give them the tools to help serve those clients.”

On top of its work in the U.S., Chalk works with Dentsu in Asia.