This is a guest post by Ruben Corbo.
For some, it can be a puzzle why certain products are displayed after the user did a couple of searches for related merchandise. Say for instance the internet user recently browsed through personal hygiene products. He or she will then be greeted with ads related to personal hygiene products after his or her search.
This is not mere coincidence. And no, the websites do not know the user all too well because of artificial intelligence. This is but a result of the advancements and innovations in technology which have greatly benefitted the online entrepreneurs. More specifically, this is the result of behavioral targeting.
What is Behavioral Targeting?
In simple terms, this is a set of methods and techniques which are used to improve the conversions to sales among visitors to a website. It uses accumulated data from the browsing history and favorites of these visitors.
Through time, this technique has proven to be of great help in various applications. Retailers, advertisers, publishers, freelancers and other online entrepreneurs have found it to be highly valuable for increasing not just sales, but also profits and target market participation.
Behavioral Targeting: The Process
There are a couple of tools which can be used to carry out behavioral targeting for a specific website. These tools are usually in the form of software or plugins. The good news is, they are readily available online. They can be easily bought. Or for those with a limited budget, there are versions which are offered for free.
The majority of these tools for behavioral targeting work by placing a cookie in the browser of the internet user or website visitor. These are gradually filled with information which are generated as the visitor continues to browse through the website.
After a time, the accumulated data about the browsing behavior and preference of the specific visitor will be used to make a user profile for him or her. So the next time this particular visitor visits the website, the profile will be used and pulled up. Then content which match the profile and interests of the visitor will be shown on the page.
Personalization: Everything a user needs right at his or her fingertips
The personalization which results from applying behavioral targeting is very efficient because it provides the website users with much convenience. The information and things that match their needs and interests will already be served to them. All they need is to click the information or icon to access them.
Everything they need will be right at their fingertips. In the case of an online shopper, he or she will no longer have to go through the arduous task of navigating through the various items in the website of the retailer. This definitely saves him a lot of time and hassle.
For the website owner, greater user convenience translates into more satisfaction. When a customer is satisfied, there is a greater chance that he or she will come back to the website to buy more products and services in the future.
Behavioral Targeting: Various Applications
Besides the instances mentioned above, there are a lot more uses for behavioral targeting.
Blogs
For those who maintain blogs, this technique builds a readership base. As more and more related articles are displayed on the web page, the visitor will also be further inclined to browse through the website, and even visit the archive. This also increases the possibility that he or she will return to the website after the initial visit.
Ad Servers
This technique also brings great news to advertising companies since their ads will get better exposure to the internet users who are their potential clients. The ads will be placed in pages where a website visitor will most likely click them.
Author Bio: Ruben Corbo is a freelance writer that writes about various topics including online marketing, technology, music, and other artistic inspirational articles. When Ruben is not writing he is composing and producing music for short films and other visual arts. For more information on this topic, Maxymiser are experts in behavioral targeting and their website gives more information on how this can help you optimize your website with respect to your visitors’ actions.
Related articles
I think that we are just beginning to understand what this technology can de. Right now most people only consider the approach to marketing, yet it is so much more. I believe this is much like special material (like teflon) being developed for the space program, but then excelling is somthing trivial like frying pans.
Behavioural targeting is something that has been historically under appreciated and not used to it’s full potential. Of course in Display advertising it can work well for retail understanding when and where to target users, however as you pointed out it also has other purposes such as using it for blogs to target specific interest related articles.