Using Behavioral Targeting The Right Way Gets Results
The use of “behavioral targeting” is coming under increased scrutiny in Washington. In their theories it can rob consumers of their data, their privacy and their dignity. In reality behavioral targeting can be a highly effective and benign tool for getting the right message to the right consumers and give them an opportunity to benefit from a marketer’s offer.
Case in point: a recent campaign for one of our clients was designed to target a specific demographic segment. This segment could be identified by the sites they frequented, while their interest in the Client’s services could be assessed by their searches on keywords. The plan was to run a test by buying sites we knew they frequented (we could target them based on IP addresses) against a behavioral-targeted effort focused on sites visited, words searched and visits to the Client’s website.
The behavioral targeting portion of the campaign required the tracking of non-personally identifiable data that could hypothetically include the name of some sites and some search words – nothing that even if it could be linked to an individual would result in harm - we aren’t talking Social Security numbers or names. And it was not stored. In fact the vast majority of campaigns that use behavior tracking rely on similarly innocuous data.
But why do it at all? Jaw dropping results!
We ran the media. The portion of the campaign that relied on serving ads on relevant sites to visitors with appropriate IP addresses had the higher click through rate. But we all know the limits of measuring success by click-through rates alone. What we were really looking for were conversions on the Client’s site.
The behavioral targeting portion of the campaign delivered conversions at four times the rate of the rest of the plan: an amazingly clear win that went even deeper than out-performing the IP address plan, it delivered on ROI. In fact that portion of the plan paid back the Client’s media investment several times over.
How could it do that? Was it because we all invaded consumers’ privacy? No, results like this could only occur if the Client was offering a consumer what they wanted and needed. There is no other way to generate that kind of response, no matter what data you collect.
No doubt there are a thousand ways to abuse the power of behavioral targeting, as there are for most data-based marketing practices; telemarketing is just one example. However when it comes down to the practical application of media, principles just don’t lead to abuse. They lead to value for the consumer as much as for the marketer.
In this case, the Client answered a request I’ve heard repeated over and over again, in focus groups, cocktail parties and in emails from Jill-Average consumer. “Why can’t advertisers just give me the ads I want, when I want them?” Well now we can, and it’s a good thing.
