Effective Targeting Strategies for Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic Advertising has transformed the online advertising landscape by automating buying and selling the ad inventory. The automation has streamlined the media buying process efficiently and enables the precise targeting.

Advertisers enables to precisely target the desired audiences to deliver the tailored messages using various targeting strategies in programmatic advertising.

We will explore various targeting strategies and usage of audience segments to reach the users who can add value to the advertiser’s product/ services. This guide will provide insights and references to understand the targeting strategies in programmatic advertising.

Understanding Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising uses technology to automate the buying and selling of ad inventory in real time. Demand Side Platform (DSP), Supply Side Platform (SSP) and Ad Exchanges are the key platforms to facilitate the advertisers and publishers to complete their transactions. These platforms ensures that the ads will be delivered to the right audience at the right time.

Audience Segmentation

Audience segmentation dissect the larger audience data into meaningful smaller groups to target them in ad campaigns. It will help in creating relevant and personalized ad experience to the users when they browsing the webpages. The personalized ads lead to higher engagement and conversion rates. Let’s discuss the types of audience segmentations that are available in the programmatic advertising.

Demographic Segmentation

Demographic segmentation dissects the audience based on features like age, gender, income level and education. These segments help the advertisers to target the audience with specific age, gender or income level within their ad campaign.

• Age: Different age groups have unique preferences and behaviors. For Ex: video game ads would be more relevant to younger audience.    
• Gender: Showing the ads based on gender can increase the relevance. For Ex: Beauty products might be targeted more towards women.
• Income Level: Understanding the income level of the audience is crucial to target the products/ service accordingly. For Ex: Targeting Luxury brands to higher income audience might drive better conversion rate.

Geographic Segmentation

Users are categorized based on their location is Geographic segmentation. The categorization can be done in various levels i.e., country, state, city or neighborhood.

• Location: Online ads can be targeted based on geographical regions to reach the local customers. A local restaurant would be benefit from targeting the users within a specific city instead of targeting across the country.
• Climate: Seasonal products can be targeted to a specific region where users can use the product. For Ex: Winter clothing or air conditioners can be advertised based on the climate of the targeted region.

Psychographic Segmentation

Psychographic segmentation divides the audience based on their lifestyle, interests and values. These segments help the advertisers target the audience based on their lifestyle and personality traits.

• Lifestyle: Targeting users based on their hobbies, interests and values. For Ex: Fitness brand targets health-conscious users to promote their products.
• Personality Traits: Ads targeted to different personality types can enhance relevance and engagement of the ad.

Behavioral Segmentation

Behavioral targeting focuses on the users’ behavior while segregating the collected data. Data Management Platforms can segment the data into purchase history, browser habits and engagement with the past ads. These segments can lay an effective foundation to the effective ad campaigns.

• Purchase History: The data will be dissected based on the past purchase history of the users. These uses will help driving the conversions. For Ex: In eCommerce websites, the advertisers will show the related products when they users are buying the products.
• Browsing Behavior: Advertisers can target their ads based on the browsing history and interests shown to the specific category while browsing the web pages. For Ex: Advertisers retarget the users who have not purchased their products/ services.