You’ve spent years perfecting a new product or service. You’ve spent months putting together all the building blocks to ensure its launch is a success. The worst thing that could happen is that all that hard work is rendered dead on arrival.
But only poor campaign planning can guarantee poor awareness or purchase levels. In truth, many savvy advertisers and marketers are turning to smarter methods for awareness building. Specifically, they are using an advertising concept called targeted advertising.
But what is targeted advertising, and how can it boost your revenue? Read on in our helpful guide to maximize your customer engagement.
What is Targeted Advertising?
Unlike traditional media like television commercials, targeted advertising is data driven. And it is fueled by data collection about audience segments’ online behavior.
The concept is a means of digital promotion that relies on insights about the customer base to better serve them. Specifically, it eschews old methodology of “the greater visibility the better.” Instead, it favors a more intentional and insights-driven approach.
Targeted ads use data gleaned from an internet user’s online activity. This helps build a focused and relevant audience base. By interpreting data from a user’s activity online, the user is pooled with others similar to them. In turn, a company can better understand what the user is looking for and how they might best be served.
This means that the old scattershot ad campaigns of yesteryear are a thing of the past. With targeted digital advertising, marketers can leave most of the disinterested audience at the door. Once the audience is segregated, the targeting begins. Marketers can effectively only pay to advertise to those most likely or willing to purchase.
Does Targeted Digital Advertising Work?
With proper behavioral targeting, advertising does show a great deal of promise. Why pay to drop a million leaflets over a city and pray when you could hand a single leaflet to a qualified customer? Targeted digital advertising is about quality over quantity.
And audiences seem to prefer it, as 52% of customers say they see its merits. Moreover, targeted advertising has also shown a greater conversion rate, when compared with traditional advertising.
Truly, when considering campaign types, those with the budget are smart to consider targeting their advertising.
How to Begin Targeting in Your Advertising
The key to a solid targeted advertisement is data. Without this, you’re effectively flying blind. But the good news is there are countless outfits who are willing to part with demographic behaviors and insights (for a price).
But before you part with a single dollar, it’s important to identify who exactly you’re going after.
Know Your Specific Audience
Take stock of your products and who they are best suited for. Surely your board of directors would want to say, “anyone who’s willing to pay!”
But the smarter play here is to identify those who are most likely to want to purchase your product or service. Once you start to think about your ideal customers, you may be surprised to find some patterns emerge.
Plan Your Approach
With your target audience in place, you can then begin to devise your outreach methodology. Your potential customer demographics are going to dictate a lot here. After all, where a college-bound young person versus a retiree spend their time online is going to vary greatly.
Either way, your strategy should include a mix of web properties and content types to maximize visibility. This way, you can optimize your content for the place where it will be seen. Consider how different content is presented on social media platforms, web banner advertisements, and long form articles. A one-size-fits-all approach here will not succeed!
Iterate
Reaching an audience can be tricky. But the great thing about digital advertising, and about targeted advertisements specifically, is they can be tinkered with.
Consider running A/B Tests with your content to identify a campaign style that works. Try different taglines or feature images. You can even tinker with colors, sizes, and more. There are countless variables to consider.
When in doubt (or when your campaign isn’t working to your liking), adjust it. This is what makes targeted digital advertising so effective!
Work With a Trusted Advertising Partner
Navigating the jungles of online marketing can be daunting. Though it may feel like it, you don’t have to go it alone. When you bring on a tested resource, you can maximize your reach and iterate your marketing campaign to success.
AllOver Media has experience helping clients of all kinds perfect their audience engagement and advertising strategy. We partner to create personal, actionable, and effective advertisements for all kinds of companies and industries.
