Online advertising is a constantly changing game, and those who are a part of it know that it's important to be on the cutting edge of the latest technologies. Being able to better target the right audience can mean constantly reinventing your methodology. Although cost-per-click campaigns, behavioral targeting and zip code level targeting were once the cutting edge, marketers and advertisers are beginning to realize that these techniques aren't achieving results to match the opportunity that the audience presents.
Behavioral targeting is the state of the art today but it doesn't always confirm a willingness or ability to buy. For example, a young woman might enjoy researching on travel sites that feature the places she'd like to visit, however she may not be able to afford an all-inclusive vacation package to Fiji. In cases like this, behavioral targeting is ineffective because it tags everyone who visits a travel site, regardless of their ability to make a purchase.
Another reason that behavioral targeting campaigns come into question is because they rely on the tracking of consumer online habits through the placement of cookies or tracking pixels. ComScore reports that at any given time only 30% to 40% of the online audience has a tracking pixel in place, and most of those cookies are concentrated on the top 1% of web properties. This leads to limited inventory and massive over serving of the ads to the same audience. In addition, most consumers don't appreciate having their activities monitored and some are proactive about blocking or erasing trackers with firewalls and online security programs. The practice of placing cookies and pixel tracker limits the potential audience, but it also undermines consumer trust and can reflect badly on a company brand.
One common alternative to cookie based solutions is geo-targeting to the zip code. Zip Code level targeting breaks the U.S. into 40,000+zones, however there can be drastically different demographics within each zip code. This generally means that the zip code solutions are currently used for low cost remnant inventory or as filler in campaigns
Over the past year Semcasting has been working on ways to reinvent online advertising targeting as it is currently defined. Our design objectives were to dramatically improve the precision of the digital ad targeting, increase the reach of campaigns to near 100% coverage, while still adhering to all privacy and Do Not Track guidelines. The result is Semcasting IP Zones.
IP Audience Zones is a breakthrough audience identification platform that maps nearly 100% of online traffic into qualified, target ready audience while protecting user privacy. IP Zones is the first compiled demographic database for the Internet.
IP Audience Zones segments the U.S. Internet into 1,586,656 zones, creating more granular targeting than zip code level targeting that is typically used for the 65% of remnant inventory. It proves a tremendous advantage over traditional zip code demographic targeting in that it triples the reach of most campaigns while ensuring exposure to prospective consumers who actually meet the targeting criteria.
For example in zip code 01810, Andover MA, the average income is $155,000. Using IP Audience Zones, 01810 can be broken in 28 demographically qualified zones that each reveal very different incomes from the zip code average. For example in one zone in Andover there are 30 individuals with an average income of 98,000, well below the zip code average, while another zone across town there is a zone with 28 people who have an average income of $252,000. Having this information as part of the targeting methodology allows companies to more accurately identify their best prospects and suppress the worst – at a sub-zip code level.
IP Zones maintains the highest standards of online privacy and complies with "Do Not Track". There is no application or usage of cookies or tracking pixels. There is no communication, linkage, or access to personally identifiable information – making IP Audience Zones 100% privacy friendly.
Through IP Audience Zone's 1.5 million+ target ready zones with more than 50 million demographic combinations an average of 39 times more accurate targeting resolution is achieved with 3 times the coverage of any cookie dependent alternative.
If you have questions or would like to learn more about IP Audience Zones please feel free to contact us at sales@semcasting.com or give us a call at 978-684-7580.
We will be introducing IP Zones at ad:tech in New York November 9th and 10th. If you're at this event please stop by booth 2036 on the show floor.
Highlighted Database Variable of the Month
With each Newsletter, Semcasting introduces a data variable that has proven to be highly predictive for our customers. Our variables set us apart because of the impact they have in improving the effectiveness of models that can identify a qualified audience. We compiled and built these variables based on people who have voted with their wallets for a particular product or service. They are not simply associated with a cookie or an extrapolated reference based on a visit to a web site. Our data comes from public sources such as the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Federal Reserve, publicly recorded ownership transactions and social network affinities. The analytic models that define the variables are built from known transactions over multiple campaigns and project to others in the population who look most like them. Leveraging all 750 variables in our compiled data warehouse Semcasting provides you with 100% reach both offline and online.
Recession Sensitivity Ranking
Semcasting has an economic affluence measurement tool that we believe is an important addition to the marketer's toolbox in this challenging economic climate. There are an increasing number of households across the country that are susceptible to, or currently experiencing, increased financial pressure. The RSR score is designed to provide early guidance to marketers on targeting these households.
RSR measures how vulnerable a particular household may be in the current economic climate. When used in combination with Premium Income (to $2 million) and the expanded Semcasting Adjusted Home Values (to $10 million), the RSR can provide your clients with early insight to at-risk households. These households may be candidates for certain types of financial remediation products or services, or used in the suppression of certain households to refine your targeting in acquisition campaigns.
The RSR is updated monthly to reflect the dynamic nature of the current economy. RSR scores were back tested over time against a holdout of several known areas with high foreclosure rates and high unemployment such as Stockton, CA and areas around Cleveland, Ohio.
Households that progressed to foreclosure scored in the top deciles of RSR, effectively correlating with lower discretionary income, industry/profession, term of ownership, and local home value changes. Over the last sixty days 48% of foreclosures were in the top 10% of RSR scores. 74.1% of foreclosures were in the top 30% of RSR scores. We believe that in combination with other variables, RSR will provide significant value to your targeted marketing programs.
RSR identifies and ranks from 100 to 1, households that are under the most pressure in the current economy verses those that are the least affected. All Semcasting data elements are rebuilt and refreshed monthly from the latest available reporting in order to make the RSR timelier than other demographic and affluence measures that are update annually. The RSR does not incorporate credit data and should not be applied as a measure used in the granting of credit.
Contact Us
If you need more information about the solutions introduced in this newsletter, or would like to discuss planning for your next direct marketing campaign, please do not hesitate to contact us at sales@semcasting.com.
