Not that long ago, the presumed foundation of any successful advertising campaign was based on the principles of reach and frequency – namely, get a message in front of as many people as you
can as often as possible and your work was done. These mass media campaigns focus on bombarding consumers with brand message at all turns in order to get brand awareness and market exposure.
While reach and frequency focused campaigns may be effective for some branding efforts, the “shotgun” approach they employ is generally wasteful in terms of time, resources and money
because, apart from reaching consumers who may find a message relevant and meaningful, there is also generally a huge percentage that do not.
Digital media channels offer an unprecedented
opportunity for marketers to more accurately target audiences and to match brand and campaign messaging with individual consumers who not only will find a message personally relevant but will be more
likely to convert. By identifying offer specific targeting criteria, marketers and advertisers can home in on just those points of behavior. This means that an advertiser looking to sell cat food can
look for online consumers whose behaviors and areas of interest indicate cat ownership instead of targeting ‘everybody’ simply because they have a pulse.
Audience targeting is
still in its relative infancy. However, we are already seeing a significant increase in online advertising that is reaching consumers with the right message at the right time and in a meaningful
way. I predict that before long ALL advertising will be based on using specific targeting criteria to reach the right person as well.
Rob Spider Graham, Training Craft