Understanding popular targeting methods brands use to attract consumers Share via

Today’s consumers know the products they need and the channels to get them at a better bargain. Moreover, the number of promotions and offers brands keep sending to existing customers makes them spoilt for choice. But the offers and deals tend to lose relevance if they are done in excess and without a proper marketing strategy. Moreover, the whole exercise will be futile if the marketer does not target the correct customer set. As a result, consumers will eventually stop responding to offers that are of no use to them and will stop looking into the brand’s communications. So, to get them to shop more and act positively on their promotions and advertisements, companies must devise targeting plans to help them retain their customers. This blog will discuss some of the brands’ most prevalent targeting methods to retain and acquire new customers.

Contextual Targeting

In contextual targeting, an ad is placed on the website based on its content—simply putting beauty product ads on a fashion website or advertising tour packages on a travel website.  The focus of this marketing tool is on the content that is being consumed and not on the one consuming that content. Since the viewer is already interested in the website’s content, this targeting technique becomes highly relevant to the audience. Multiple research pieces have also found that when an ad is served in the digital world without a context, it negatively impacts the brand in the user’s mind. However, that negative impact is mitigated to a large extent when advertisers adopt the contextual targeting route.

Many experts believe that it is a rebirth for contextual targeting, which the advertisers primarily sidelined in favor of behavioral targeting­, a tool where advertisers target shoppers based on their web browsing behavior. According to a research report by Global Industry Analytics Inc, the global contextual advertising market will reach USD 335.1 billion by 2026. But in the new world where brands are staring at stricter privacy laws and an imminent ban on third-party cookies, advertisers have gone back to contextual targeting significantly to be compliant at all times.

Precision Targeting

Precision targeting is a strategy through which marketers examine a particular customer segment’s requirements to make informed business decisions and increase their return on investment. This form of marketing relies heavily on the company’s capability to analyze tons of data about a particular audience segment and then use it to make a personalized marketing plan. With precision targeting, brands try to turn their existing customers into more frequent, loyal, and long-term buyers.

Market segmentation is at the heart of precision targeting, where the brands divide the market into smaller and more specific customer blocks to address their unique needs.  For example, brands can create a broader segmentation like ‘men’ or narrow it down to ‘men under 30.’ If they want to be more specific about whom they want to target with their promotions, companies can further narrow their market segmentation to ‘unmarried men under 30 years.’ The customer segments’ product requirements will differ, and brands cannot afford to target each segment with generic promotions and offerings. So, precision targeting enables them to create highly personalized offers and deals that resonate well with their audience, increasing their top line.

Site Retargeting

Site retargeting is a marketing technique through which brands show ads to users who have earlier visited their website or mobile app and engaged with their products and services but left without completing a transaction. The benefit of site retargeting is that it effectively targets users who have already shown some interest in the brand, making it easier to convert them. In addition, it is a cost-effective tactic that can be done using Google, Microsoft, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, or through email, SMS, and WhatsApp. As a result, marketers have been using site retargeting tactics to improve the efficiency of their marketing campaigns.

Some notable benefits of site retargeting are increased conversion rate, reduced cart abandonment, increased brand awareness, and the technique’s cost-effectiveness. But it also comes with its challenges. With the site retargeting approach, brands can either stay at the top of the mind of their audience or infuriate them with a barrage of display ads. It is for marketers and brands to decide how they want to use their site retargeting campaigns.

Hyperlocal Targeting

As the name suggests, hyperlocal targeting is a strategy to target customers in particular geographical areas and use the ‘near me’ feature on their mobile devices to look for a product and services.  Generally, these restricted local areas are just a few blocks from the customers. So, for example, if you search for ‘Chinese restaurants near me,’ Google will show you all the Chinese restaurants around your location that have optimized their businesses for hyperlocal searches. The idea behind hyperlocal targeting is to drive footfalls to the establishments from the neighboring areas.

Unlike other forms of targeting, the cost of implementing a hyperlocal strategy is very economical as businesses do not have to invest tons of money to create extensive campaigns to attract consumers. Moreover, the shoppers who use this feature have a high purchase intent. According to a Google report, ‘near me’ searches have increased by over 200 percent in the last few years, signaling the importance for brands to optimize their businesses for hyperlocal searches.