Publishers-- learn how to create a well-defined segment of users from Revenue Science's account director.

Being in the behavioral targeting business, the question I hear most frequently from both publishers and agencies is "How do you know what constitutes a well-defined segment of users?" A very good question because there are so many different elements that go into smart targeting, and segment quality is a major factor in the success of a behavioral targeting campaign. It is also clear that publishers and agencies approach segment creation differently, so one answer is not sufficient. In this article, I'll lay out four key areas of focus for publishers while creating behavioral targeting segments, and address agency needs next month.

1. Research
Research takes time, and it can be difficult to find all critical pieces of information, but it always leads to smarter segments and better results for advertisers. When our publishers share the agency's RFP or a brief with us, we can usually find everything we need to create a segment in a background or objectives section. A quick visit to the clickthrough URL of the campaign is also a great way to assess target composition. For example, recently a Revenue Science publisher had an RFP from a major mortgage provider. Their initial idea was to create a segment of frequent visitors to the site's mortgage section. But after reading the RFP, we realized that the primary target was actually new families, so we augmented the audience of mortgage section visitors with people frequently visiting parenthood and maternity content. The agency was thrilled that this publisher went deeper than the other sites, and they got a large portion of the buy.

2. Weigh reach and relevance
The majority of behavioral targeting segments are made up of people that had prior visits to high-value sections. For example, if you want to target "Engaged Investors," the segment might be made up of users with at least four page views in the "Stock Tips" section over the last four weeks. It makes sense that people with more page views in those targeted sections are more qualified than people that had just one page view. But we often find that certain sections, such as advertorials or opinion pieces, just don't have very much repeat traffic. In these cases even one page view in the section is enough to qualify a person as an engaged viewer. The important task is to consider the content when determining the optimum level of page views necessary for a person to be qualified as interested.

In addition, the period of look-back history is important. If an automotive shopper makes their purchase within two months of researching, then the segment should be made of people who showed relevant behavior within the last six weeks. On the other hand, selecting a credit card is a quick decision, so a "Credit Card Seekers" segment should be made up of people with one view of a "Credit Card Rate Calculator" over the last two weeks. Keeping the segments fresh, relevant and tight is critical to your success as the publisher, and you should engage your behavioral targeting partner to make the best decisions.

3. Iterate and mix parameters
It is rare that a user segment is perfect after the first pass. Hopefully you are using a powerful segment creation tool that allows for easy calculations on the fly. If you have this capability, start by creating a very strict version of the segment (for example, eight page views in a high-value section over four weeks), and gauge the size of the audience. If this first definition provides enough reach for the campaign, then use that segment, but if not, modify the reach and relevance numbers or add other targeted high-value sections or articles to find the right reach.

For example, one of our publishers needed to create a segment of affluent visitors for a high-end automotive advertiser, so they began by using people who made frequent visits to the "Investments" and "Luxury Travel" sections. However, this didn't provide enough reach for the campaign, but the agency did not want to reduce the number of page views required in those high-value sections. Instead we developed a second parameter of people who frequently visited pages having luxury words in the articles, with the agency advising on what those words should be. Then we added these people to the segment and were able to achieve enough reach for the campaign.

4. Monitor performance
Ideally, the agency will give you a view into the metrics they use to monitor campaign success. Hopefully it is more than just click rate, and they share conversions, audience composition, or visits to targeted pages on the advertiser's site. If your segment performs well, then remember those parameters for future segment creation. But if it does not perform well, you should be able to adjust in real time. For example, we had an oil company doing a global campaign with a Revenue Science publisher to highlight their environmental commitment. Mid-campaign, they found that response to a certain creative execution was not strong enough. So with the agency's agreement, the publisher augmented the segment to target more people in the field of automotive research, which was the focus of that specific creative message. The response to the creative improved greatly, and the overall campaign had a strong showing.

Above all, the most important thing the publisher can do is to be open and transparent with an agency about how behavioral targeting segments are defined. Revenue Science always advocates taking a snapshot of the segment definition and including it on the insertion order to make transparency as open as possible. As long as the agency agrees on how a segment is defined, then they have buy-in to the vision and this makes everyone partners in the success of the campaign.

I hope these tips work for you, and I would be happy to hear any of your own tips for how publishers can create the smartest user segments. Next month, the agency perspective.

Jeremy Mason is an account director for Revenue Science, Inc. Read full bio.