How and Why Behavioral Advertising Works - What This Means to You
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It shouldn’t surprise you that behavioral targeting is trickier than it first appears (and it certainly doesn’t appear that easy to begin with!). Some marketers may have touted it as a panacea, but that’s one thing it clearly isn’t. As I said in my first article on the subject, behavioral advertising isn’t for everybody.
In that sense, though, it’s no different from any other form of advertising. As Sullivan said, it depends on the goal (and probably the budget) of the advertiser. Would you advise a hardware store to advertise in a nationally-distributed magazine? If it’s a mom-and-pop operation, probably not, but if it’s Ace Hardware or Home Depot, absolutely, assuming it’s the right audience. And if the mom-and-pop hardware store has a web site and is looking to expand its business, that magazine ad might be something to consider down the line.
The same thing holds true for behavioral advertising, but there’s another variable to work with. We now know from the BL Labs study that certain fields do better with behavioral targeting, while others do better with contextual advertising. This is something to watch for, and any advertising campaign that includes behavioral targeting as one of its elements should take this point into consideration when it is planned.
Interestingly, BlueLithium’s study may lend strength to an approach that was suggested by the Tacoda study. If you’re thinking of trying behavioral targeting, you might want to try a contextual advertising campaign first, and then follow up with the behavioral one. There’s a number of reasons for this; it will help you gain reach and some recognition, which can’t hurt. But it will also give you some base numbers to compare with the behavioral campaign, so you can get some idea of where it will benefit you most to invest your marketing dollars.
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