Seevast Corp.'s chief sales officer details two case studies where behavioral targeting significantly boosted campaign results.

In today's economy, applicants need a college degree to be considered for employment. This trend is fueling the interest in higher and continuing education programs. Thankfully, online college courses and lending agencies have paved the way for those with part-time jobs and family responsibilities to make higher education an attainable goal.

A report titled "2006 State of Continuing Education Marketing: How Does Your University Size Up?" states that continuing education accounts for a significant portion of enrollment for traditional and for-profit higher education institutions. Additionally, the report forecasts distance learning to grow 10 times faster than on-campus growth over the next 10 years.

As a result, consumers are turning online to research distance learning universities, and consumers are also scouring the web for news articles or documents that offer insight into how to apply for funding from lending institutions.

Rise above the clutter on the web to reach your target audience
Kennedy-Western, a long distance learning institution, realized it needed to quickly and cost effectively raise its visibility on the web. The University offers more than 45 industry-recognized online degree programs designed to provide a fast track to graduation in 12-18 months.

Kennedy-Western observed that competing online schools were becoming aggressive in their advertising efforts to reach this community. It was then that the University realized it needed a targeting solution to help them stay well ahead of the curve and showcase their competitive advantages over other universities.

To help pinpoint potential customers and highlight its differentiators, Kennedy-Western's agency, Ad-Spark.com, partnered with Pulse 360 to help design and execute a sponsored links campaign. Pulse 360 helped design Kennedy-Western's campaign to blend a mix of contextual and local targeting tools -- Pulse 360's ContextTarget and LocalTarget products -- with a focus on 230 local markets. For Kennedy-Western, the ability to pinpoint local demographics was critical. While the University serves a virtual community, it online markets to 48 states, which in turn controls the reach of its campaign. However, the blending of these targeting strategies allowed Kennedy-Western to reach a broad audience within the local markets by targeting a wide range of topics within each market. Not just education related topics, but also reaching the local audience within sports, entertainment and news content.

"Pulse 360 provides a very accountable marketing channel. They deliver excellent customer service and expertise in their field," said Shea L. Park of Ad-Spark.com. "They continue to earn our business every month."

Separately, NextStudent, one of the nation's premier education funding companies, needed an aggressive campaign to target the millions of students, college graduates and parents scanning the web for information on education payment assistance and student loan consolidation. NextStudent serves more than 20,000 students and families each month.

NextStudent evaluated a variety of advertising channels, but ultimately partnered with Pulse 360 to implement its sponsored links campaign. The company saw an opportunity to reach its key demographics across Pulse 360's content partner network, which includes many of the web's top sites.

"We consistently adjust or eliminate the channels that under perform," said Chris Hooley, director of web marketing, NextStudent. "Pulse 360 conducted specific research and identified ideal spots to place our ads which have all proven very successful."

Making the grade
Kennedy-Western's online campaign proved to be successful in helping to optimize clickthrough rates, which in turn increased traffic to its website. Additionally, as a result of the campaign, Kennedy-Western was able to slice lead costs on the campaign by 50 percent, while continuing to hit its prime targeted audience.

Further, NextStudent was able to increase exposure and traffic for the company website, and exceeded its 2005 goal by funding $1.1 billion. Additionally, the campaign continues to prove effective with student loan interest rates having increased by approximately 40 percent on July 1. This news will certainly lead students -- both past and present -- to tap the web for guidance.

End notes
Working with advertisers on a daily basis has brought to light several golden rules I would encourage any advertiser to consider before launching an online campaign. These suggestions may seem like Advertising 101, but it's important not to overlook the basics.

First and foremost, define your audience and key demographics. This is critical given that the entire campaign is customized around these data. Next, determine your end goal. Is it branding, increased conversion rates or information distribution? Beyond these preliminary questions, it's important to consider the costs associated with conversion and to agree on a budget.

Lastly, be sure to set expectations early with your advertising representative. Remember, they are the experts and are in the best position to:

• Recommend effective targeting strategies
• Suggest which websites to target
• Identify the best topics and keywords
• Offer insight on the best ad formats
• Recommend how to tailor your messages   
• Help you track results and ROI

Good luck!

Andrew Zucker is chief sales officer at Seevast Corp. Read full bio.