• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, July 10, 2013

Publishers Clearing House (PCH), known for taking chances on emerging technologies, has found a way to build audience segments and mobile ad-targeting technology based on its own data. Its subsidiary, Liquid Wireless, on Thursday will officially roll out the Liquid Targeting Platform.

The ad-targeting platform service runs on a cost-per-acquisition model using mobile ad networks like AdMob, Jumptap, and Millennial Media that serve ads across the Web to drive traffic back to PCH. It builds on survey data that PCH customers answer before opting in to the sweepstakes.

The first-party consumer data collected from PCH landing page questioners segment traffic into categories. The targeting parameters range from age, gender and location to device, carrier, household income and more. All data gets validated using trusted third-party sources, while maintaining consumer privacy. The information helps drive targeting, based on marketing goals and ROI. The consumer clicks on the ad, fills out the questions and is rewarded with a sweepstakes entry.

Liquid Wireless has several campaigns running for clients, such as All Web Leads, and Lexington Law, which focuses on credit report repairs.

Lexington Law runs a mobile lead generation campaign through Liquid Wireless. After initiating more than 40 mobile campaigns through another company with little success, the team tried again through Liquid's platform.

The company tested five audience segment "buckets," a pool of traffic, pausing three to eliminate non-performing campaigns as each reached about $1,000 in spend two weeks into the campaign. Lexington Law poured the remaining budgets into the two ongoing campaigns "generating $13,000 in revenue each," said Chris Copeland, account manager at Liquid Wireless.

PCH also launched two apps: Sweeps, and VIP. The former pushes notifications, making it easier to get information on entries, along with a countdown clock notifying players when the next entry becomes available. The app also provides hand-picked offers and free apps that are featured on the "Deals" wall.

The VIP app for smartphones and tablets offers three exclusive promotions daily to encourage multiple visits throughout the day without the reliance on a traditional email push. The app uses native functionality, such as the reminder service, to alert customers to new promotions. The entire experience and chance to win happens on the mobile device, and if a consumer does not win instantly, they are driven to Search and Win or Liquid Wireless for a second chance.