imageYesterday M&M Global published an article I wrote entitled ‘Don’t Miss the Target Online’ about the growing importance of online targeting as the global media landscape becomes ever more complex and fragmented. In the article, I compared an offline example of how the changing demographics of an area could impact billboards in the vicinity, with a similar challenge facing digital advertisers. (Read Don't Miss the Target Online).

However, despite the similarities, in the online world the pace of change is even faster. As the channels through which advertisers speak to their audience multiply, the importance of using the most effective techniques to reach the right people must remain front and centre of any campaign.

When it comes to targeting, there are a lot of options available to marketers, but the below serves as a useful at-a-glance guide. There is also a useful video available on the Microsoft Advertising site on how to find your audience online.

image· Profile targeting, for instance, uses Windows Live IDs for example to let advertisers select consumer targets by important categories such as gender, age and region, and reaches larger audiences at lower CPM. It creates brand awareness and favourability and refines the focus for higher impact.

· Category (or contextual) targeting puts ads where consumers are already, which is great for reaching customers in the consideration phase and meeting lots of customers in an appropriate place.

· Behavioural (or audience) targeting reaches customers based on what they are passionate about online, and what they are already searching for.

· Re-messaging is proven at building brand effectiveness and enables advertisers to alter the message depending on previous behaviour.

Some of the campaigns I’m particularly proud of include Lastminute.com’s ‘lastminute good stuff’ campaign with Microsoft Advertising, which drove conversions by re-messaging consumers who had already visited the site, offering deals based on earlier searches on lastminute.com. The re-messaging work we did with BMW was also impressive, achieving a 46 per cent awareness levels amongst the target audience within four weeks.

Read the full article here, I hope you find it thought provoking and informative.

Thanks,

Laurent Delaporte (Vice President EMEA, Microsoft Advertising)

 

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