Consumers Twice as Likely to Click When Contextual Targeting Is in Play
Friday, 31 March 2006
Engage consumers' interest and they'll click your ad - and among the best ways to pique their interest is to link ads to subjects consumers care about.
That's the principal finding of a new nationwide survey of consumer attitudes online, conducted among 1,000 adults in late January by market researcher Synovate for Traffic Marketplace, the ad network division of Vendare Media and a premier Internet ad distribution network. Three out of five adults prefer contextual targeting – more than double the number who respond best to demographic, geographic or behavioral targeting.
When asked about the type of targeted online ad they are likely to respond to, 62 percent of consumers cited contextual (i.e., "a subject of particular interest to you").
That is more than twice the 28 percent of respondents who said they engaged based on demographic criteria (i.e., "a specific group you may be a member of").
While local is all the rage – at least in terms of search – just 24 percent of those surveyed said they respond most to geographic targeting (i.e., "businesses in your local community").
The study also found that18 percent said they were most apt to respond to behavioral targeting (i.e., ads based on "your past behavior on a given website").
Affluent Are More Open to Other Types of Targeting
The market remains fluid, however. In what may be an indication of the state of consumer sophistication about targeting in general, fully one-third of respondents weren't sure or had no opinion on what method moves them most.
"When you present advertising on top-of-mind topics, consumers respond," said Lynn D'Alessandro, Vice President, Sales, for Vendare Media's Traffic Marketplace. "Contextual advertising matches your messaging with pages on related topics, and you can't really get any more relevant than that."
Although contextual advertising is consumers' number one choice across the board, it's far from the only way to reach the affluent, well-educated consumers that advertisers prize. Those with annual household incomes above $75,000 and those with post-graduate degrees are roughly twice as likely to respond to demographic, geographic, and behavioral targeting as their counterparts at the bottom income and educational levels.
Women are slightly more likely to respond to contextual targeting than men (63 percent to 60 percent).
"Targeting isn't an either-or decision, so it's best to mix and match targeting tactics – especially when it comes to educated, prosperous consumers who simply won't respond to messages that aren't personally relevant," D'Alessandro said. "If your messaging says 'we know what's on your mind,' plus 'we are you,' 'we are where you live,' and 'we are ready to handle your online needs,' you have four good shots at reaching your best customers."
Other Key Findings
Among other findings of note:
· Contextual targeting varies according to racial makeup: 72 percent of nonwhites respond to relevant subject matter, against 60 percent of whites.
· Those employed part time are significantly more likely to respond to demographic targeting than those in any other employment category (by as much as a 15 point margin)
· Demographic targeting is nearly twice as important to those in the 35-44 age bracket as to those ages 18-24.
· Geographic/local targeting is second only to contextual among those in the West, while demographic targeting is relatively more appealing among those in the Northeast, the Midwest and the South.
· Behavioral targeting was three times more popular among the 35-44 age group than with the 18-24 crowd.