The term “targeting” refers to a mechanism used in advertising that allows business owners to segment their target visitors from the general public. These target visitors meet a set criteria. Targeting helps to enhance advertising efforts, making them more effective and more cost-effective. In this article, we offer a brief overview of targeting in marketing, including how it is done and why it is an important strategy for business owners to follow.
Business owners invest a great deal of time and money on advertising. As such, they want to ensure that they are getting the greatest return on investment possible. Targeting toward a specific audience that fits certain criteria can help to ensure that business owners are getting the maximum return on investment possible, thus increasing their conversions and their success.
How Targeting Works
With targeting, the following occurs:
- A business monitors its audience in order to gather information. This monitoring includes keeping track of the interests and needs of consumers, their behaviors, the actions they take, and so forth.
- This information is analyzed to make conclusions regarding the preferences of their target audience. This can include the interests, preferences, preferred methods of communication, etc, of the audience.
- Based on this information, advertisers can devise marketing materials that specifically cater to their target audience. In doing so, they are more apt to reach their audience, which can lead to more conversions and more success.
Types of Targeting
There are several types of targeting that advertisers can make use of. Some common examples include:
- Geotargeting. Advertising is done according to the geographical location of a specific audience.
- Theme-based. This includes creating advertisements that are designed around a certain topic.
- Contextual. Marketing messages are based on the interests of the audience.
- Behavioral. Marketing is designed based on the behaviors of the audience, such as the way they gather information, their favorite places to visits, their preferred methods of shopping, etc.
- Sociodemographic. This targeting focuses on the age, gender, socioeconomic status, education level, marital status, family status, income level, etc, of an audience.
