Behavioral Targeting & Branding – Smart or Trendy?
Mass marketing is sooo last millennium. Or at least sooo 2003. With the re-emergence of online advertising, behavioral targeting (among other tactics) is “all the rage” with brand advertisers. Consider the Effective Targeting report published by Jupiter Research earlier this year: “71 percent of advertisers planning to use behavioral targeting have objectives concentrated on branding, while 56 percent have goals focused on driving online sales.” And I always thought behavioral targeting (BT) was primarily a tactic for hardcore direct marketers.
So why is it that brand advertisers have taken to BT? By responding to demonstrated affinity, companies can ensure their branding is delivered to the right place, the right time, and the right ears (read: little-to-no-waste). Not to mention stand out from the 5000 plus marketing messages consumers see every day. This formula first builds awareness and then equity over time. Or as Andy Chen put it, “Customers pledge their allegiance to brands because those brands make the effort to know them” (Behavioral Targeting and the Loyalty Exchange).
All this musing begs the question: is BT really more efficient than good old fashioned demographic targeting? And is it possible to be too efficient — i.e. does BT limit reach and create a frequency capping/tracking nightmare for advertisers? Consider this example from advertising.com’s Audience LeadBack (AL) program. With AL, advertisers are able to place pixels on contextually-relevant sites. Users’ specific actions are then tracked within the network such as “researched a car.” The Cookie values — i.e. tracing specific actions — allow advertisers to target users after they exit these sites and visit others within the network.
Is this efficient? Absolutely. Is it effective? Depends on who you ask. There are a few potential problems with this methodology. First off, we know nothing about the consumers to whom the ad was delivered, only that they completed a desired action. In this case, “researched a car.”
More importantly however, this method of BT completely excludes consumers who may be in the market for a car, but have not “researched a car” within this specific network during the scheduled flight date of the campaign. Even with advertising.com’s (or any other networks) extensive reach, this methodology is significantly limiting.
Yet another thing to consider is the buy’s effective CPM. Broad targeting — buying ROS or even specific sites within a network solely based on demographic data — may be significantly less expensive than a BT CPM buy.
Then what’s the answer? BT is not a silver bullet for brand advertisers, but it certainly should be considered part of the equation when engaging in an online advertising campaign. Ultimately, the question isn’t whether or not to use BT, but rather what are the right actions to track (e.g. “researched a car”) and what metrics should you use to measure the campaigns effectiveness (e.g. impressions, clicks, response to a promotion, etc.).
Bottom line: try it for yourself.
Reader Comments.
No comments yet
Leave a Comment
Article Sponsor
More Features
-
Loading ...
Latest News
- Funding in Brief: $10M for Spongecell, $8M for Prolexic February 9th 2012 ADOTAS – Rich media ad company Spongecell has raised $10 million [...] more »
- Google AdMob Axes Minimum Bids, Targeting Fees February 9th 2012 ADOTAS - As of Feb. 15, Google will change its [...] more »
- Infographic: HootSuite Analyses Social Media Impact of Super Bowl Ads February 7th 2012 ADOTAS - So, it’s the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, [...] more »
- Facebook to Serve Mobile Ads in Coming Weeks February 6th 2012 ADOTAS – According to a Financial Times report, Facebook will [...] more »
- Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile February 6th 2012 ADOTAS - During the Super Bowl yesterday, mobile ad network [...] more »
- Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for Mobile February 3rd 2012 ADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech [...] more »
- Weird Study: Mobile Purchasing While in the Bathroom on the Rise February 3rd 2012 DM CONFIDENTIAL - According to 11mark, three-quarters of Americans with mobile [...] more »
Features
- Attribution Online: Introducers and Influencers and Closers… Oh My! February 9th 2012
- With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name February 9th 2012
- Rethinking the Online Advertising Ecosystem, Part One: Independent Publishers February 8th 2012
- Case Study: Social Ad Effectiveness February 8th 2012
- Video: “Build an SEO Foundation” Excerpt February 8th 2012
Spotlight
Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for MobileADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech firm Sponsormob has remained relevant in an industry characterized by [...] more...
Reader Favorites
Classifieds
- PS Technical Writer - SEO Data Analyst
- Interactive Project Manager
- Media Buyer
- PHP Software Engineer (Facebook Platform/Social AP
- SEO/Marketing Internship at Green Education Startu
Recent Comments
- Rick Noel: Nice post Mike. A few years back, we ran a large CPA campaign through an
- With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name – ADOTAS | ShopComs.com: [...] With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a NameADOTASADOTAS – It's no longer important how
- Domain Outlook : Latest Domain News » Blog Archive » With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name - ADOTAS: [...] With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a NameADOTASADOTAS – It's no longer important how
- With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name: [...] and Microsoft have little to worry about over names like UnitedThis and UnitedThat. The
