Elemental Know-How

In an audience, people gather together in concert halls, at sporting events, and in museums because they share a common interest, whether it be in music, for the love of a sports team, or appreciation for the arts. You and the other people who also live in your ZIP code tend to share common lifestyles and demographics. Yep, that makes you an audience as well.

It’s really no different online. People gather on Facebook and Twitter to share information and experiences with their friends and followers who they think will find it interesting. Many of us frequent the same websites where we gather information or shop. We’re part of several different audiences there as well.

Audiences come in all shapes and sizes, but their members often share common characteristics and interests. For online advertisers, targeting audiences is a necessary ingredient for success in today’s marketplace. This means marketers need to be able to define the needs and interests of their audiences on an ongoing basis so that information can be used to develop messages that are more timely and relevant to their audiences’ needs and interests. However, identifying just what audiences want and need has often been a challenge online.

A recent ClickZ article “Audience Targeting: A Look to the Future,” sums up where the marketplace is. Of particular note it says:

“In most cases a single point of targeting criteria is too little information to effectively reach ‘real people’ who are definitely more multifaceted than a lot of marketers give them credit for. It’s about understanding how people see themselves. It’s about giving them access to information that can help them make informed decisions.”

The future path for audience targeting is paved with data. It’s no longer about going after the low-hanging fruit or broad mass markets. It’s based on sophisticated data that allows marketers to engage in relationships with audiences in a more personal way, relevant and timely manner. 

For example, maybe it’s about leveraging new data inputs such as country, state, city, and ZIP code-level location information to geo-segment online audiences and benchmark campaign performance.

This type of approach is working for [x+1], a company specializing in delivering real-time, audience-based, predictive marketing technology and services that help advertisers and marketers reach their prospects and customers more effectively online. Several years ago, [x+1] needed to collect anonymous consumer data in order to automatically uncover actionable segments of consumers in real-time. By adding demographic and geographic IP Intelligence technology to its analytic platform, [x+1]’s clients could begin to profile end-users and anonymously track their online responsiveness, as well as identify patterns between the profiles and their response activity to determine the best offer to display.

A six-month campaign─using IP Intelligence─for a prominent luxury automotive manufacturer and retailer seeking to drive buyer inquiries generated more than 42,000 click-throughs, led to approximately 5,000 people who scheduled test-drives, requested sales information, conducted inventory searches, or used the dealer configurator. In addition, more than 7 percent of post-click actions led to sales inquiries.

Online technologies, such as IP Intelligence, will only continue to evolve to include deeper and more numerous datasets. If online marketing budgets continue to increase as predicted, then I believe this next year represents a lot of opportunity for audience targeting. So, I hereby declare 2012: The Year of the Online Audience Experience.

A recent McKinsey research report estimates the number of Chinese online video watchers will reach 700 million by 2015. With gigantic online viewing numbers such as these, it’s no wonder that the United States is projected to fall behind China in online ad market share by 2015.

Chinese online video sites, such as Tudou, are already turning to technology innovations to make the online user experience that much more relevant with targeted advertising and content based on geographic location. Tudou is deploying global and hyperlocal geolocation technology to more specifically target the delivery of content and advertisements geographically down to a city or town level—for Tudou’s audience of more than 200 million monthly unique visitors.

Read the full press announcement here to learn how Tudou is using this technology to enhance how users find what they want to see, share what they create, and connect with like-minded people in their local communities

Little did I know when I was sleeping—I mean sitting—in the back of my high school World Geography class how important geography would become to our lifestyles and our livelihoods.

At the time, I really didn’t see the relevance of studying countries, such as China, Russia and Africa, that all appeared worlds away from my little corner of the U.S. of A. Although, I did see the importance of knowing where the cutest girl in the school lived—and I didn’t need a geography class for that.

Fast forward to the 21st century, where the world is anyone’s oyster and the Internet has helped create today’s global marketplace.

Geography pervades our society, our work and our lifestyles. From Yahoo Maps, to Google Earth, to GPS locators and apps for mobile devices. They’re all designed to make location-related decisions better and faster.

National Geographic calls it “geo-literacy,” the combination of skills and understanding necessary to make far-reaching decisions. The three components of geo-literacy are understanding human and natural systems, geographic reasoning, and systematic decision-making.

• Understanding human and natural systems: A geo-literate individual is able to reason about the creation, movement, and transformation of materials in human and natural systems.
• Geographic reasoning: A geo-literate individual is able to reason about the characteristics of a location and its connections to other locations.
• Systematic decision-making: A geo-literate individual is able to articulate decision-making criteria, project outcomes of alternatives, and evaluate those outcomes in terms of the established criteria.

To be truly geo-literate is to be able to combine these three abilities to make decisions in real-world contexts. IP Intelligence is an example of a leading technology that provides businesses with the necessary—and accurate—real-time geographic location information in order to make those decisions.

So in honor of geography teachers around the world, let’s make a collective New Year’s resolution to get more out of geography so we can all grow and prosper in 2012

By 2014, online ad spend growth is projected to reach 20.5 percent across all of Europe. And with those increased budgets come additional demands for higher performing campaigns that more efficiently and accurately target potential customers to deliver exceptional return on their online advertising investments. Adcloud, an independent technology and service provider for the optimized exchange of online advertising, is helping advertisers meet these performance demands by expanding its geolocation services to include hyperlocal data from Digital Element.   

You can read the full press announcement here to find out how this type of targeted advertising provides those companies marketing online in Europe with higher value on the buy side and better monetization for the sell side.

2012 could be shaping up to be more prosperous—or apocalyptic if you believe the doomsday sayers who predict the world will end on December 21. According to the Chinese calendar, 2012 will be the year of the dragon, representing power and signifying success and happiness. So things shouldn’t be all bad, at least for most of the year. Our country will also hold another presidential election, which some may consider end of days in its own respect.

Barring any big “transformations” coming our way, online advertising in 2012 is projected to reach $36.8 billion. With that being said, we’re seeing a number of industries ripe for a big geotargeting push next year. “Do Not Track” programs for online behavioral targeting and Internet users’ unwillingness to disclose personal information for a more customized online experience have made it more difficult for online advertisers to accurately target the right web users in the right places with the right messages. However, ad networks, companies, organizations and publishers can use IP-geolocation technology as a cost-effective, privacy-sensitive digital marketing tool.

Below are the five industries that stand to benefit most from geo-targeted messages in 2012:

1. Government – Candidates at the local, state and national level can use geolocation-targeted ads and online outreach to tap into key audiences by geography.
2. Retail – With a combined need to encourage local shopping, and serve up more and more personalized content for the “Me-tail generation,” retailers can boost sales and build their brands with geolocation technology.
3. Publishing – Incorporating video into publisher’s online endeavors is getting HUGE and the process is getting easier (and cheaper). Online video ads are expected to soar and geolocation technology can help publishers be more successful with their video content (targeted advertising, digital rights management, etc.)
4. Social media – From advertising to content to helping users find like-minded people in their local area, social networks have endless possibilities for leveraging geolocation technologies.
5. Financial Services – More and more, consumers want to put their money in local banks. Community banks and lending institutions stand to gain by using geolocation technologies to reach and serve customers in their communities.

But, hey, did you hear? Berea, Kentucky is the place to be for “Apocalypse 2012” so we’re also expecting a big push from the real estate industry for targeted advertising down to that ZIP code.

The day following Thanksgiving officially kicks off the holiday shopping season. It’s been dubbed Black Friday, signifying a crucial time period in which retailers start to turn a profit, or enter the black, each year. Funny, I always thought it got its name from the potential black-eye you’d receive trying to wrestle that latest must-have toy (on sale I might add) from a mom-on-mission who’s been standing in line since dawn waiting for the store doors to open.

However, Black Friday, which is traditionally billed as the biggest shopping day of the year, must now compete with Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping holiday, that occurs that first Monday after Thanksgiving.

Although Black Friday may have once been the most popular day to look for bargains, Cyber Monday is certainly offering up its fair share of steals online. Not to mention, that consumers enjoy shopping from the convenience of their homes instead of actually venturing to the malls or discount outlets. No waiting in long lines. No braving unsavory crowds. Additionally, a majority of retailers offer free shipping on this day. And, add in the benefit of a potential 6-10 percent cost-savings in sales tax and increasingly more shoppers are saying “Sign me up!” instead of “Send me out!”

Last year, online sales hit a historic one-day high of $1.028 billion on Cyber Monday, according to comScore Inc. data. As retailers hope for a repeat performance, they, too, should be readying their websites to provide an enhanced online shopping experience in order to separate themselves from the competition. Cost-effective, easy-to-deploy adjustments to online retail sites made through the use of IP-geolocation technology, for example, create value for consumers in terms of a more personalized shopping experience and, ultimately, help drive sales.

I have a feeling online retailers will rake in the green again this year. If that’s the case, we might just be changing “Cyber” Monday to “Green” Monday in the coming year.

Even though Halloween’s best scares are now behind us, online marketers trying to personalize advertising and content still face frightening times.

We hear it every day from prospects in the field. “Do Not Track” programs for online behavioral targeting and shoppers’ unwillingness to disclose personal information for a more customized online experience have made it more difficult for online marketers to accurately target the right web users in the right places.

And, every day these same online marketers are surprised to learn that they do, in fact, have access to a cost-effective, privacy-sensitive online marketing tool called IP Intelligence technology.

As a pioneer in the online targeting space, we at Digital Element initially focused on geolocation information about online users, but continued to push the envelope to evolve the technology into what it is today – full-fledged IP Intelligence. Our technology offers a multitude of data points that we deliver to help any company with an online presence better connect with their audience.
With IP Intelligence, you can perfect audience segmentation capabilities and targeting based on parameters such as:

• Geographic location (country, state, city and postal codes)
• Connection speed
• U.S. DMA/MSA
• Domain name
• NAICS Codes
• ISP
• Home/business
• Language
• Proxy
• Company name
• Organization name
• Mobile
• U.S. Area code
• Time zone
• Longitude/latitude
• U.K. ITV Regions
• Demographics
IP Intelligence allows online marketers to maintain the highest standards of online privacy and comply with “Do Not Track” because there is no application or usage of cookies or pixel tracking. There is also no communication of, or access to, personally identifiable information.
However, maintaining users’ privacy is just one of the building blocks for a successfully data-driven online marketing strategy. Ensuring the accuracy and reliability of that information should be part of that foundation as well. It’s important to remember that you can glean plenty of useable, reliable and accurate online data without invading users’ privacy through technologies such as IP Intelligence. In many instances, this online intelligence can be combined with offline datasets to create a validated, wealth of information that allows marketers to confidently produce the necessary one-to-one, cross-channel marketing efforts necessary to succeed in today’s competitive environment.

Companies mistakenly think that if they launch a web site that it will automatically receive tons of traffic and—for businesses offering a product or service for purchase—a ton of sales. I’ll give them an “A” for optimistic thinking. But, it’s simply not reality.  With millions of web sites on the Internet and more pages being created and uploaded daily, the chances of your site being located are slimming with each sunset. Rest assured, your competition is more than likely already working to build a strong online presence and connection with visitors, placing you at a further disadvantage if you are not doing the same. If you aren’t generating traffic coming to your site and then providing content and messaging that resonates with visitors once they get there, it’s as if your site is invisible. No traffic and visitors mean no sales.  A lot of companies just dive in and begin building their web sites. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that easy. You can’t simply begin by building pieces of the site, then force fitting them together. The design, features, functions and content must work together as a whole to attract and engage visitors. It could be deadlines, budgets or some other force of nature that spurs companies to launch web sites with little to no thought for the “big picture.” Whatever it is, check out this list of three common misperceptions about web sites and learn from others’ mistakes. 

1.  Visitors are just like you.

Even armed with demographic information and first-hand knowledge from your target audience, it is incredibly challenging to identify everyone coming to your web site. One thing’s for certain, most everyone is not like you. Decisions about design and functionality as well as the creation and delivery of content should not be made based on the tastes of individuals within an organization, but instead should be objectively considered for the primary audience visiting your web site. Once you’ve come to understand the make-up and behavior of your audience, you can determine which segments are useful, viable and profitable from an online perspective. Segmenting an audience into smaller groups ensures that each group receives the most relevant, personalized experience, information and offers.   

2.  The best web sites have all the bells and whistles.

The more complex a web site is, the more resources you’ll need to invest in the development and deployment of the site. Before you bust the budget on elements that your audience may or may not even use, ask yourself how it really helps improve the online experience. Is the content actually useful and relevant for people and delivered when, where and how they want it? Does the added complexity actually enhance shopping or information gathering? Technology needs to support corporate goals, not vice versa. If you can’t answer “yes” to some of these questions, all the latest web “enhancements” are nothing more than expensive gimmicks.

3.  Web site technology costs a lot of money.

Make no mistake, there’s some expensive online technology out there. But high cost doesn’t always equate to a high ROI for your needs. Unfortunately, companies can quickly find themselves managing an online environment that’s grown quite complex from multiple technologies that work in silos, instead of in tandem. Look for more cross-functional technologies to make it easier and more cost-effective to attract and engage online audiences. Whether the goal is to create an instant connection with a first-time site visitor; to drive revenue for online marketing campaigns; or to ensure content is in the right hands, today’s IP location technology, as an example, provides the type of all-in-one tool to take online interactions in the right direction—toward a closer relationship with your online audience.   Building and then marketing your web site takes dedication, knowledge and commitment—and good technology will make your life easier. Educate yourself, put in the work and learn from others’ mistakes.

Advertisers have historically had great success placing display ads in front of people. A quick look at the gazillions of dollars pumped into newspapers, magazines and TV over the years can attest to that.

Then along came a little innovation called the Internet. From the onset, advertisers struggled with the effectiveness of online display ads in this medium and soon settled for one-size-fits-all, short-on-context, big-on-neon, click-here-now search ads as watered-down alternatives.

But, as Bob Dylan would say: “The times they are a changin’!” [Of course, he also would say “everybody must get stoned”… but a debate on the wisdom and merits of that sentiment is well beyond the scope of this blog post.]

Change is taking place thanks in part to advertisers now having access to more dynamic, accurate data about web users. The other part of the equation involves innovative technology that integrates and optimizes the essential elements that go into online engagements—the audience, the message or content (creative) and the ad environment—making them single, personalized events delivered in real time. The messages can now be delivered in a variety of creative and interactive formats—when, where and how people prefer.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Q1 2011 set a record in Internet advertising with $7.3 billion in revenues, a 23 percent year-over-year increase. The increase is largely fueled by a surge in spending on display advertisements, according to recently released predictions by eMarketer, which estimate those spends to reach $21.99 billion by 2015 - that’s nothing to sneeze at!
 
Recent Forrester research tells us that amount could go even higher due to a number of factors. And, the No. 1 factor…drumroll, please…is better targeting of ads.

As one of the thought-leaders in the ad targeting technology space (and being the “geo-pioneer” so to speak), this is no surprise to us at Digital Element. Our customers report that targeted ads outperform standard ads, hands down. For example, Tumri, found that, on average, the targeted ads (using our IP-location datasets) served on its proprietary technology platform have performed 100 percent to 400 percent better than standard ads.

We expect that targeting will continue to improve through our innovation as well as others. In fact, as more companies in the ad space continue to adopt innovations, such as hyper-local targeting through NetAcuity Edge, as the new standard over “old-school,” less granular IP targeting, we feel that geo-targeted ad performance will continue to sky rocket!   

So, if you’re in the ad space, to paraphrase Dylan one last time: “You better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone.” OK, that was bad.

Anyone wanna guess how high online display ad spending well go?**

**I guess I could say “the answer is blowing in the wind,” but that would put me way over the limit of Dylan references for one blog post. 

The Internet has paved the way for the boundaryless world we now live in. Companies from essentially any part of the world can conduct business on a global scale. Now, we make it even easier for businesses to geotarget ads, products, promotions, coupons and web content down to a ZIP or postal-code level (generally within 3-5 miles) around the world with the global extension of NetAcuity Edge.
Digital Element is very proud to be the only geolocation technology provider to offer such highly accurate IP-to-postcode targeting. This non-cookie-based solution meets the pressing demand from advertising networks, web publishers, search engines, social networks, e-tailers and analytics platforms to offer a richer, safer, more personalized online experience while protecting user privacy.
Originally launched in the United States in 2009 and the United Kingdom in 2010, NetAcuity Edge now extends hyperlocal targeting capabilities across all of Europe, Asia-Pacific Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.
We are finding that online marketers, advertisers and retailers clearly recognize the need to be able to segment online audiences and target their messages, however, previously, IP geotargeting technologies simply did not offer the reliability or accuracy that they required. NetAcuity Edge erases the limitations once associated with ZIP and postal-code targeting and now offers technology with exceptional granularity—around the world.  Companies and visitors should also feel comfortable knowing that no personally identifiable information is collected or stored.
Our next stop? As Buzz Lightyear from Disney’s “Toy Story” would say: “To infinity and beyond.” 
Or as the Dude from “Big Lebowski” would say: “Hey, careful, man, there’s a beverage here!”  (Okay, maybe that’s not relevant to postal code targeting, but, personally, I like that quote better).