Blending brand affinity with behavior
The future of programmatic targeting will balance brand and behaviour to identify the most receptive audiences.
Today’s complex online media ecosystem will force advertisers and their media agencies to adopt more sophisticated, blended targeting approaches in 2017. The focus will be on driving brand effectiveness with critical behavioral and demographic components.
Programmatic targeting, done well, empowers advertisers to serve their media to audiences who will be most influenced – attitudinally and behaviorally. Done poorly, this targeting can be intrusive, creepy, off-point and ineffective.
In 2017, marketers will focus on finding the right balance between precision and intrusion. Advertisers and their agencies will align on the components of effective targeting based on brand affinity, interests and the appropriate demographics. We will see a shift away from simplistic blunt-instrument targeting based on a single input – be it behaviour (websites visited, items in a shopping cart), demographics, or stand-alone brand affinity.
Most marketers now understand that post-purchase targeting misses the opportunity to influence the consumer before they have decided on a brand. Effective targeting will successfully harmonize mid-cycle path to purchase variables with the requisite interest-based and demographic variables, and empower advertisers to identify the most addressable audiences for media activation. This shift in approach will help marketers and their agencies focus on brand effectiveness from the moment the media begins.
Marketers who do this successfully will amplify the power of their digital creative and influence the most appropriate and receptive audience for their brand.
#GettingMediaRight implication:
In markets where the right data platforms exist, marketers should explore how to integrate brand affinity data into their media buying, beyond just behavior.