Retargeted online ads 'prove' brand value
Tuesday, September 28 2010 by Kate Billinghurst
Internet consultants may do well to retarget adverts at their customers that have previously attracted visitors to their site, perhaps as part of their wider email marketing strategy.
A study by comScore has indicated that adverts which are targeted at consumers based on specific online behaviour are not as effective as those which are retargeted to specific users that have previously shown an interest in a website.
The research revealed that retargeted adverts generated the biggest lift in search queries related to the brand, while managing to maintain a moderate cost - the third lowest when compared against the six other approaches.
Overall, retargeting offered a 1,046 per cent lift in search queries, which compares very favourably to the 514 per cent lift achieved by the second-most effective strategy, based on online behavioural audience targeting.
In terms of search, retargeting also proved itself far more effective than contextual targeting related to the content of the page on which ads are displayed (130 per cent), high-visibility adverts on premium publishers (300 per cent) and cost per click (100 per cent).
However, highlighting an existing problem experienced by email marketing campaigns and some other mediums, retargeted adverts proved weak in terms of reach, receiving the fourth-lowest score.
Anne Hunter, comScore vice president of advertising effectiveness, suggested that despite the success of the practice, it should be deployed "responsibly and in a manner with which consumers are comfortable" in order for it to remain "highly effective".
She added: "Only when marketers are equipped with the accurate information on performance, can they truly optimise their advertising campaigns."
Ms Hunter is understandably keen to emphasise the complexities and sensitivity required when formulating an online marketing strategy for a specific brand.
This notion was echoed in an online engagement study published by Nedstat earlier this month, which highlights the need to take a practical approach to measuring online engagement, where standard performance metrics and analytics are not a sufficient measure on their own.
Commenting on the study, Nedstat senior vice-president of digital business analytics innovation Michiel Berger explained: "For many of our clients, online success cannot be directly expressed in terms of 'conversion rate' or 'online revenue', their performance indicator is 'engagement'."
Living Streams "Improving clients' profitability through better use of the internet".
URL - http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/9/comScore_Study_with_ValueClick_Media_Shows_Ad_Retargeting_Generates_Strongest_Lift_Compared_to_Other_Targeting_Strategies
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