How Well Do You Know BT?

Author:

Josh Gordon

Source:

For businesses, the art and science of effectively listening to consumers is rarely devoid of controversy. And no discipline of direct digital marketing endures more of this controversy than behavioral targeting.
 
The term "behavioral targeting" elicits radically different responses, depending on to whom you utter the phrase. Those who represent consumer privacy interests cringe when they hear the phrase, while marketers salivate at the enormous opportunities both for generating revenue and for improving the consumer shopping experience. The inevitable and ongoing battle between the opposing interests, however, would be well served by a better understanding of the different types of behavioral targeting in market right now.
 
Like any strategy or tactic in the direct digital marketing world, grasping the nuances of BT is crucial to complete understanding and effective use. There are three important nuances that distinguish onsite behavioral targeting from its slightly more controversial cousin -- offsite BT.
 
Nuance 1: Data collection
Onsite behavioral targeting is powered by data that is collected only on a company's website, or by an interaction with its marketing materials that led to a website visit. Examples include website browsing history, a keyword search, or a banner ad click. On the other hand, offsite behavioral targeting -- like an ad network, for example -- is powered by data that is collected on an individual across the entire web.
 
The difference here is obvious. There is some information consumers willingly share with a company within the context of its website. While privacy groups primarily take interest in data that is collected on an individual across the web, the issue of where data is being collected should matter a great deal to all parties involved.
 
Nuance 2: Data use
Privacy groups, and some consumers, become very unhappy when they discover that information they shared on a company's website...