Behavioral Targeting – More Focus To Your Online Advertising

The goal with any successful advertising campaign is to present relevant advertisements to the audience that is most likely to be influenced and take action. The more information you can gather about your audience, the better equipped you’ll be to gain the most exposure and generate the most interest when placing your advertisements. With that being said, the use of technology in online advertising allows marketers to take their audience analysis one step further to increase the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Behavioral targeting is a technique used by advertisers to anonymously observe user online behavior (how many times a user visits a section, the kinds of information that interests them, their keyword searches, etc.), group users into different audience segments based on online tendencies and behavior, then serve the most relevant advertisements to future like-users who have exhibited similar behavior. By focusing their advertising towards the website users and not the websites they visit, behavioral targeting creates greater efficiency in online advertising with the intent to convert more of website browsers into buyers.

There are three components required for successful behavioral targeting. First, there needs to be a system to capture user’s online behavior across multiple websites. Second, a distribution network of websites is needed where targeted ads can be delivered to users based on learned behavioral patterns. And finally, a sophisticated technology is needed to make the entire process work. Some popular behavioral targeting service providers such as Google’s DoubleClick, Tacoda, and Revenue Science are shaping how behavioral targeting can help organizations gain more return on their online marketing investments.

The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, AOL, Reuters, ESPN, and Weather.com are just some of popular websites utilizing behavioral targeting and audience segmentation to successfully display online advertisements.

The process of behavioral targeting has some online users and advocacy groups concerned regarding privacy issues, but through ongoing education and product constraints, behavioral targeting service providers are staying within the boundaries of legality. The key component for proper behavioral targeting is to collect data and information that is vague in nature and not personally identifiable.

Also, studies show that users actually prefer targeted advertisements, especially online. In a recent study published by ChoiceStream, a leading provider of personalization for the web and TV, 70% of respondents said they were interested in receiving personalized advertising via the Internet. A separate May 2007 consumer study from Revenue Science, JupiterResearch, and AOL claim that 63% of online consumers say they pay more attention to ads that fit their specific interests. So behavioral targeting is hitting its stride and making an impact with website users.

Behavioral targeting is not a new practice; it has actually been around for years. However, as time goes by and more sophistication and segmentation is being put towards the analysis and placement of more targeted advertisements; the better your online advertisement results will receive.