Adserver Behavioral Targeting

Most of the exposure of the benefits of Behavioral Targeting (BT) today are seen in the ad-world. Being able to segment users based on their anonymous behavior has been proven to increase click-through and conversion at impressive rates.

Although most of the publicized targeting benefits are network-based, you can segment your with on-site BT using your own users' behaviors.

Below are some interesting segmenting options/examples that can be used for on-site BT:

• Re-targeting This is BT 101. If you know a user already reacted to a certain message, purchased a certain product, or requested some type of info - use this information to up or cross-sell! A user could have started a conversion funnel, and then left to a different section. Re-engage them and deep-link them back to the conversion process.
  
  EXAMPLES:
  • If the user purchased an iPod, show banners for headphones.
  • If a user used the search feature on your site, use that keyword for bucketing.
  • If the user is about to purchase a Motorola cell-phone, allow a competitor to purchase targeted ads to show them a special deal on an Samsung.
  • A user selected the check-out button, but then left when they needed to place their credit card information, offer them a special discount to return to the final purchasing process.

• Specific origins There are many ways users come to your site. Many times, the origin of the visit will tell you immediately what the user is looking for. This is very valuable with search engines and keywords.
  
  EXAMPLES:
  • Use specific search engine keywords to automatically bucket your users when they reach your site: user searched iPod on Google and arrived on your site. When the user returns to the home-page, hit them with a MP3 banner.
  • Integrate your off-site campaigns that are bringing your users to your site with your local adserver. Target them based on the message they clicked when they arrived on your site.

• Heavy user of specific content You can identify heavy users of specific content on your site.
  
  EXAMPLES:
  • If you are a news site, you can create a wall street bucket for users visiting your finance channel more than 10 times in less than a week.
  • Users that searched baseball or that read more than 5 articles about their favorite sports team can be bucketed as sports freaks.

• Web2.0 - watched a video If a user watched a specific video until the end, you know that he/she is engaged with this content-type.
  
  EXAMPLES:
  • If a user watched a tutorial of a certain product - you know they are further down the conversion process.

• Use CRM data for buckets If you have a database on your site and you know other types of information - use this to create advanced segments.
  
  EXAMPLES:
  • Create a bucket for users you make repeat or high-ticket purchases.
  • Use other information, such as payment method to bucket users - offer special discounts (such as free shipping) for users who use a specific credit card.

We have posted integration examples of BTBuckets integration with two free/open adserver systems: Google AdManager, OpenX and Smart AdServer.

Since BTBuckets uses first-party cookies, many of the threats involving network segmentation are not as compounded with on-site Behavioral Targeting.

REMEMBER: These are YOUR users, you know better than anyone how they behave on your site. Increase their engagement and at the same time, increase your conversions.

If you have cases of BT integration with adserver - please let us know.