From newcomer to loyal customer: How programmatic helps you connect with new Canadians

A strong newcomer strategy starts with targeting Canada’s next wave of immigrants before they arrive. But the journey doesn’t end there. Consistent and relevant messaging post-arrival is crucial in transforming brand awareness into brand loyalty, particularly among Canada’s vast and disparate newcomer audience. 

A decade ago, I was a newcomer to Canada, and I’ll tell you this: at first, immigrants are a brand-switching bunch in need of guidance. Even if a brand enjoys a high level of awareness among established residents, newcomers like myself will view it with fresh eyes. Brands that take the time to really understand the backgrounds, interests, and needs of newcomers can build stronger connections and become a staple in their new life. 

For example, immigrants tend to have distinct culinary preferences. These could be influenced by religious practices (e.g., vegetarianism among some Hindu communities) or regional influences (e.g., in China you would find Sichuan, Cantonese, or Hunan cuisines).

Smart brands embrace this newcomer mindset. And they recognize that each demographic group is unique: an Indian immigrant has different needs and consumer habits than a Chinese newcomer. Same goes for a permanent resident and a temporary worker.

MiQ’s programmatic campaigns enable marketers to reach newcomers on the channels and platforms they’re using, with messaging optimized based on their media usage and preferences.

Now, imagine the power of programmatic campaigns when we can identify where your newcomer audience has settled in Canada - even down to the postal code? 

Good insights drive the success of programmatic campaigns. That’s why MiQ offers Day-Zero insights to inform decisions around which programmatic channels and messaging to use. 

For newcomer campaigns, we wanted an extra layer of targeting capability. So we partnered with Environics Analytics to tap into Canadian immigration trends using data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

This New-to-Canada dataset gives us access to three details about permanent residents and temporary residents in Canada:

• When they are immigrating (the quarter of the year)
• Where they’re coming from (the country)
• Where they’re settling (from the province, city and FSA) 

From there, we have valuable information for targeting, such as: 

• What neighbourhoods to launch campaigns specifically targeted at newcomers
• What media channels they’re likely to use most
• What proportion of your audience immigrated from a specific country or region
• What areas temporary residents are choosing to reside in

The best part? Through our existing partnerships, these insights can be combined with other demographic and behavioral attributes (like media consumption habits and household size). This gives you a 360-view of your audience. We are able target them more effectively across all media channels that can be bought programmatically - CTV, DOOH, Display, OVL and social. And I think what’s really unique about MiQ is that we’re able to do this while optimizing for the best channel combinations and measuring the impact of channels on driving results.

One of our advertisers, an insurance provider, was looking to target Canadian newcomers across multiple channels (CTV, OLV and display). Using our New to Canada dataset for targeting, it saw a 27% increase in CTR compared to using standard third-party demographic audiences.

Don’t miss out on new growth opportunities for your brand. Reach out here to learn more, and check out part one of our Made for Canada solutions series on targeting newcomers pre-arrival. 

Sachi Gurudanti is the Director of Solutions at MiQ Canada, where she leads the build and execution of cutting-edge data science, analytics, and technology solutions tailored for media agencies and advertisers. Sachi combines deep industry expertise with innovative thinking to drive impactful results. She holds a Master of Management Analytics from Queen's University, Canada, which has equipped her with advanced skills to excel in the dynamic landscape of data solutions.