Unique Visitors...A new definition?

By Judith Pascual | Mar 29, 2009 7:48:51 PM

I WISH!
Well, if the goal was to spark a discussion and fuel up the fireplace...mission accomplished.
Eric Peterson's post last week on "Unique Visitors Only Come In One Size has has done just that...
(http://blog.webanalyticsdemystified.com/weblog/2009/03/unique-visitors-only-come-in-one-size.html)
It's needless to say that Unique Visitors has been a top subject matter on many posts.

Over the years we have all discussed its drawbacks, using a weighted average, how to improve it, and in some ways have found ways around the metric. Plus personally, how many unique visitors I get adds no value to my ongoing analysis. I'm interested in behavior or better yet, whether they are going to accomplish what I desire and/or what the user wants...I know I am the first to use authenticated users and visits before visitors.

But this is not about me...

As someone who participates in the process, fact still remains that the individuals of the Standards Committee have taken these and a bunch of other scenarios into account.
Though I clearly see the IAB's point, a new term is in order. But to say that we are going to deny the definition that we've all used and 'grown' to know, is not going to happen.
I think that we need to validate any new proposal.
It’s not that I disagree with the IAB, it's just unrealistic at this point and at this time we are attempting to establish a common language for 'right now.'
I think its good to expect more and move the industry forward.
Do I think the two should be named differently, of course. Do I believe the industry deserves better measurement, YEP! Is it a good debate, no doubt. But boy do I have bigger fish to fry.
When we get a better metric we will use it and guess what? We would call it something else!
Why? Because even before this, the reality is that it was already confusing...

Among many parts within the post, I found the following to be interesting...
And Joe did clarify for me what a “measurement organization” is … he just didn't directly clarify the impact on web analytics vendors.

HMMM...I recall a conversation between the IAB and the Standards Committee where it was stated by the IAB that it would affect analytics vendors....perhaps I completely misunderstood.

Also, last time I checked the word Panel (used in the IAB definition) in 'our' world, it did not mean population. So...there are negatives on both ends...Plus, where's the algorithm? Let's get that going before we start calling things out. Or perhaps it exists? Be sure to let us all know. Perhaps this may be in the works?

Oh and as someone who worked for DoubleClick, Inc during the early days, I can add the important issues we have with privacy behind identity but I won't...
However, somehow it was forgotten!

There's so much work that goes into all of this and unfortunately this all has spilled over to becoming personal. I am glad to see it has tapered off, because this is all far from personal.
All I can say is, let's embrace what we do have, strive for better, enhance relationships, lead and honor those who volunteer their time just for the love of it.

 

 

 

How to Develop a Consistent Targeting Strategy

By Shane Atchison | Mar 2, 2009 3:51:04 PM

Targeting, a hot-topic marketing practice, deserves digital marketers' attention. Targeting can help marketers deliver the right content or message to the right person, at the right time and in the right space. But targeting can be an ambiguous concept. Often it means different things to different people.

Most digital marketers divide their efforts between offsite and onsite targeting. Offsite targeting comprises advertising and demand-generation activities like search, display, and e-mail. They drive performance by sending traffic to your online real estate. Successful marketers recognize that traffic by itself won't guarantee success, so they apply site-side strategies to maximize performance once a visitor lands on the site.

Today's holy grail for targeting requires the integration of off- and onsite targeting efforts. This happens too rarely, however. Ask yourself these questions: How often does your paid-search team seek data and insights from the person who manages Web site analytics? How often do your site-optimization efforts employ data and insights from the teams that manage search and display media?

Below are the most typical and effective forms of off- and onsite targeting, as well as tips for how businesses can successfully bridge the divide so targeting represents one consistent marketing strategy, rather than separate parts of a disjointed and sometimes ineffective effort.

Offsite Targeting

Most ads are served contextually, meaning that if you visit auto site Edmunds.com, you'll probably see a lot of ads related to cars. But offsite targeting is more precise. Here you rely on a huge network, or networks, to provide different ways to serve traffic based on user behaviors or profiling. The targeting can happen by any number of factors. For example:

• Geotargeting. Only shows ads in states or regions where a business has retail stores. This is common for both display and paid search campaigns.
• Interest group. Only shows an ad to someone who has visited a Web site on a specific topic (such as autos) in the last month.
• Prior view. Shows someone who viewed but didn't click on the first ad a second ad with a free-shipping coupon.
• Demographic targeting. Loosely targets display ads to network sites that fit a general demographic profile. Paid-search platforms like Microsoft adCenter offer user-based targeting and allow for incremental bidding where demographic criteria like gender and age can be identified.
• Day-part targeting. Serves an ad during specific times of the day and days of the week.

While results vary greatly depending on product, business, season, and so forth, the industry has pretty much proven that targeted ads consistently outperform their generic and even contextual counterparts.

A popular form of offsite behavioral targeting is search re-targeting. Here, an ad-serving platform can identify a person who has performed specific searches in the past. A corresponding display or text ad can then be served to that person across select network sites they visit. So if you've searched for "new cars" or "hybrid cars" on Google, don't be surprised to see display ads for the Ford Fusion Hybrid or Toyota Prius when you start browsing other sites later in the day. (You might want to think twice about what you're searching for, because if your spouse reads this column and sees a bunch of unsavory display ads on your home computer...well, you get the picture.)

Onsite Targeting

Onsite targeting relies on a more focused array of characteristics to align a Web site to what a visitor should experience. In addition to offsite parameters (geography, interest group, etc.), as well as other general parameters, such as referring source, you can use any authenticated data (i.e., information kept behind a login) to provide a personalized site engagement for each visitor. As with offsite targeting, there's no industry average for how a targeted Web site improves business. But anecdotally it isn't hard to see how a customer will more likely return if the Web experience closely aligns to what she's clicked on, viewed, or purchased before. At my agency, our site-side targeting test programs are among the most effective ROI (define) proven services we provide for clients.

Amazon and eBay are industry leaders of onsite targeting. Each individual eBay or Amazon user could experience a completely unique site, depending on their past behavior and profile. If you've been looking at auctions for Xbox consoles, then the next time you visit eBay, you'll probably experience a site that features Xbox games, Xbox accessories, and related products. Whether you sell or buy, how much you pay, what types of products you buy, and what time of day you tend to buy certain products are factors that drive onsite targeting.

Fortunately you don't need to be an eBay or an Amazon to take advantage of site-side targeting. Tools like Omniture's Test & Target and Optimost allow companies to deliver targeted site experiences.

Bridging the Divide

Bridging the divide between off- and onsite targeting efforts will be unique for every business, but here are some recommendations:

• Define success. You may think this is obvious, but at my agency we consistently find that separate teams and stakeholders have different definitions of success. It's critical that your teams work together and toward the same goals.
• Understand targeting mechanisms. Different ad-serving technologies offer different types of targeting -- behavioral, geographic, demographic, and so on. Make sure you understand their capabilities. Test and use them. I'm particularly excited by new targeting technologies that allow for search re-targeting.
• Use one consistent targeting strategy. Even though this sounds logical, it's more difficult than it sounds. Onsite and offsite folks don't talk to each other often. You will need to establish a process to ensure this happens.
• Share data. Once you get your teams and stakeholders playing for the same goal, encourage them to share data. And not arbitrarily. At my agency, our search team consistently delivers keyword trend and performance data to our onsite optimization team. This allows our optimization team to design tests and targeting strategy based on offsite opportunity. Likewise, our analytics team shares behavioral and attitudinal data with our media teams. Everyone has a consistent standard for what success looks like. There is no divide between offsite and onsite.
• Test, measure, execute. Repeat. Don't assume you're getting it right. Validate your strategy with consistent testing. For onsite, A/B and multivariate testing are excellent programs. Don't stop when you get promising results. Execute, measure, and repeat the process.