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Behavioral Targeting – A Technique to Increase Conversions, Sales, and Reach

The words “behavioral targeting” might not mean much to you, but you’ve probably already been able to visit hundreds or even thousands of sites on the Internet that have used this technique on you—with measurable, if not great, success. Behavioral technique made a lot of waves when it was first implemented, and continues to do so, especially since a lot of big-name sites and companies are using it to increase their site conversions, sales, and reach.

Behavioral Targeting Header

What is Behavioral Targeting?

Behavioral targeting is defined as “a technique utilized by advertising companies and online publishers to increase their campaign’s effectiveness.” In other words, behavioral targeting is a useful tool in getting your site’s visitors to take notice, click on an ad, or make a purchase.

How does Behavioral Targeting Work?

There are two different types of behavioral targeting that may be applied: onsite behavioral targeting and network behavioral targeting. Onsite behavioral targeting is usually used by news or content sites to provide relevant articles or content to their visitors. This technique requires extensive user analysis and using applications to assess the characteristics of site visitors like web analytics tools in order to generate various user classes. The search and browsing history of any new visitor is then pulled once the site is accessed. Using this information, the user is then classified into a certain user class and is shown customized and pre-selected content, based on the user profile that he or she has been assigned to.

On the other hand, network behavioral targeting is the technique that is most applicable to advertising companies. Since these ad servers display their advertisements in various sites all over the web, they are able to generate a probable demographic makeup of internet users. This technique still makes use of user search and browsing history in order to determine what type of ads to display to a certain user based on his or her user class, and to a certain site, based on its niche and target audience.

Behavioral Targeting to Increase Conversion

Often, you will see both types of behavioral targeting techniques on a single site. Onsite behavioral targeting takes care of what content to show you, while network behavioral targeting takes care of what types of ads to display. Publishers often make use of ad networks in order to gain revenues from their sites. However, most ad servers only pay the publishers based on the number of clicks on the ads, and not just on the number of views or impressions.

Behavioral Targeting Data

When a user visits a site and is drawn to it because relevant content and interesting articles are being displayed at the homepage, then the user will most likely stay on the site for a longer period of time and browse more articles and pages. Doing so will refresh and display contextual ads, with one or two or more appealing to the user, resulting in an increased number of clicks and revenue for the publisher.

Behavioral Targeting to Increase Sales

You will notice that sites like Amazon and eBay display “recommendations” or “featured items” that are related to previous searches that you’ve done (either on the site or somewhere else) or that are related to other items that you have viewed or bid on. Chances are, some of the items in the recommendations list will catch your attention because a relevant product is being featured and shown to you. It might not be something that you’re really looking to buy or it may be a variation of what you’re looking for, but it was brought to your attention because of behavioral targeting.

This is precisely the reason why many online stores and retailers make use of this technique, because it helps them increase their sales and boost their revenues as a result.

Behavioral Targeting to Increase Reach

When your site publishes feature articles and content, the one thing you need the most, aside from the content itself, is readers. Without site visitors, your website won’t be worth very much. This is why it’s important to not only attract users to your site in the first place, but it’s also just as crucial to ensure that they get the best user experience so that they will keep coming back for more and recommend the site to their friends and loved ones.

By constantly providing your site visitors with fresh, original, and relevant content, you will be able to gradually increase your audience and reach and ensure that you will be able to keep your site up and running for a long time.

Written by CrazyLeaf Editorial

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