According to a recent joint report put together by Advertising.com and the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, most online marketers are not optimizing their Internet marketing strategies in a way that adheres to the latest industry developments. And some of the most glaring aspects of online marketing currently being overlooked are the current opportunities for targeted marketing.
Targeted marketing is a method where online businesses and marketing strategists can make a more efficient use of their resources by going after specific subsets of the population. Instead of broadcasting a marketing message to everyone, targeted marketing uses the latest effective Internet marketing strategies to make sure your message reaches the people who will be most receptive to it.
As the world of online marketing develops, it's become easier for companies to implement Internet marketing strategies that can target the certain potential customers based on a range of characteristics. Want to go after males between the ages of 18 and 35? Only want to reach females living in the Southwest USA? With targeted Internet marketing strategies, it's easier than ever to get messages to the people you really want to reach.
But as we hinted, most businesses with Internet marketing strategies are not using the range of targeted marketing options available to them. It seems as if one of the chief obstacles for pursuing a targeted marketing plan is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of targeted marketing and targeted ads. According to the aforementioned survey, only 30 percent of Internet marketers were using targeted display ads. And only 18 percent were using geo targeted ads as a part of their Internet marketing strategies. Despite that, many experts predict that targeted online marketing will see a lot of growth over the next year.
In truth, there are many different types of targeted marketing. That's one reason why it can be so effective. A business can decide to use just one of the many targeted Internet marketing strategies, or all of them. It all depends on what methods they will work best for them. Here are the five most important targeted Internet marketing strategies.
Geographic Targeting: Thanks to the rise of smart phones and other mobile devices, geographic targeting is currently one of the most widely-discussed Internet marketing strategies. Internet-equipped smart phones give marketers the chance to reach consumers where they need a product. Stores can let shoppers know about sales and discounts while those shoppers walk though a mall. Restaurants can aim to have their PPC ad appear when someone searches for a place to eat within a certain zip code.
Contextual Targeting: This is what most people think of when they think of targeted marketing online. Contextual targeting is based on search engine results and specific Website content. With targeted marketing a company that fashions running shoes can have ads appear on Websites that are related to running.
Demographic Targeting: The rise in popularity of social media and social networks has made demographic targeting one of the most crucial Internet marketing strategies. Demographic Internet marketing strategies let marketers tailor their ads and their message to reach a particular group of people, based on things like income, age or gender.
Time Targeting: While few Internet marketing specialists are concerned with time targeting right now, this aspect of targeted marketing should become a more important part of winning Internet marketing strategies. When used in conjunction with things like real time search, time targeting transfers a message to a consumer at just the right time. A good example of a company that has creatively used time targeted marketing is Starbucks, who have used things like upcoming weather conditions to offer customers specials on certain products.
Behavioral Targeting: By collecting information like web-browsing behavior, like pages visited and Web searches made, behavioral targeting can help deliver specifically-targeted messages to customers who are most likely to be interested. With advanced web analytics, Website owners can hone their Internet marketing strategies to target online consumers with a range of different browsing and buying methods.
Right now, behavioral targeting is one of the most effective ways of increasing conversion rates, although that could change as time targeting and geo targeting Internet marketing strategies become more refined and more popular.
Another joint study by the digital marketing group Econsultancy and online ad distribution service The Rubicon Project has found that online businesses that have used targeted Internet marketing strategies have experienced positive results. And further projections show that companies that are taking full advantage of the range of targeted Internet marketing strategies will be primed in the upcoming year to increase their online presence over companies that haven