Since Sydney Poitier's starring role in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, much of the guesswork in the targeting of media on the web has been reduced to a closer approximation of "look-alike demographic clusters"....otherwise known as Behavioral Targeting or BT.
But BT is,for the most part, anything but precise. BT suggests surfing performed on the web appended with purchase behavior will, when driven by an algorithm, effectively place the PC (not person) it tracks in a demographic bucket.
Unfortunately, many non look-alikes will also be placed in that demographic bucket by proxy. WHY? Because BT is based on assumptions.
BT marketing efforts are often focused on retargeting .... reaching those consumers that visited a site, then abandoned the site. Up until now, all retargeting efforts focused on banner ads reaching those anonymous visitors. Very often, that strategy reaches exisitng customers as well .... resulting in advertising waste....or worse, sending the wrong message.
Today, and far into the future the business will be about data. Data that performs more effectively than cookie based tracking. Data that will be collected and refined with the transparency that consumers demand and deserve. Data that will be more stable and reliable. Data that will move beyond the banner into hyper-targeted e-mail, postal mail and personalized TV spots which will, in turn, drive up ROI.
There are one or two organizations crafting models that will make today's BT performance seem like two tin cans and a string compared to the iPhone.
Interested in more details? Drop me a note for more input.
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