Targeting—and therefore the opportunity for more effective advertising—may be passing marketers by.
Nearly one-half of specialized marketers told Advertise.com and the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) in August 2009 that remarketing or retargeting was the advertising technology they thought was the most underutilized. Other forms of targeting, including geo-targeting (18.3%), were also being underused.
Just 30.5% of marketers surveyed had used retargeted display ads in the past, but the majority of those who had reported those ads had a greater impact.
In a survey of publishers worldwide conducted by Econsultancy and the Rubicon Project, nearly one-fifth said they did not offer any form of targeting at all to improve the value of their ad inventory. While about one-half offered geographic and contextual targeting, and demographic targeting was available from 37%, relatively few gave advertisers behavioral targeting capabilities.
Some publishers indicated in the survey that they were skeptical of behavioral targeting and often misunderstood how it worked. Those with experience of the technique, however, indicated an increase in the value of their ad inventory.
Similarly, advertisers polled by Econsultancy and the Rubicon Project who had used behavioral targeting experienced positive results, but others lacked awareness. The research firms warned that marketers using behavioral targeting would likely overtake ones avoiding it.
“We know that retargeting can boost ad response up to 400 percent so it’s definitely something online advertisers need to stay informed about and use more strategically,” said Daniel Yomtobian, founder and CEO of Advertise.com, in a statement.
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Check out today’s other article, “Local Appeal for Mobile TV.”