Flexibility in audience definitions is a must
Several years ago, I was tasked with reaching new about-to-be moms for a baby care product on my client roster. Lots of BT players were happy to extend an offer to run ads against pregnant women for me, which was great.
The problem was that I had a limited budget, and I wanted to focus ad dollars on first-time moms, later in their pregnancy. Suddenly, the field narrowed to two players.
Target audiences are usually very nuanced, and advertisers may have strategic reasons for wanting to target or segment advertising to several different buckets of users. Thus, customization of audience definitions is a key to success.
Can we imagine what the media buying landscape might look like if every car manufacturer from Audi to Yugo had to fight over the same bucket of "in-market car shoppers" every year? Everybody would end up paying a ton of money for inventory that is essentially blind to the strengths and weaknesses of their products and brands. Yuck. BT providers have to be flexible with their audience definitions, such that if I want to define a segment of users that tend to value form over function, I can do that if my brand requires that level of specificity.
Not all in-market shoppers are equal
To stick with our automotive industry example, in-market shoppers have different value to me as a marketer as they display different types of consideration behavior. BT sellers should be sensitive to this.
Someone who came to an auto review site and checked out 10 different models is less valuable to marketers than someone who checked out six and then configured a minivan. The latter individual is moving toward a purchase decision more quickly and is a more likely buyer.
Strangely, some BT providers can't deal with this simple fact. They either leave the segmentation to the marketer, or they avoid distinguishing between phases of the consideration process altogether. What this can result in is confusion over what an advertiser should be paying for inventory, as well as a ham-handed approach to segmentation that leaves a lot of wiggle room for unqualified people to end up identified as likely buyers.
Ask your sales rep for case studies or tutorials on behavioral segmentation. If they're a real player, they can show you campaigns that value different types of prospects in different ways. Otherwise, they're a faker.
Avoid ambiguity over data sources
The question "Where does your data come from?" should not be answered with a clueless stare. Ambiguity here is a tip-off that either data is coming from unreliable sources, or a provider could be violating privacy by using data points collected without explicit permission.
Ask whether or not a BT provider is a member of the NAI or TrustE. If not, ask them whether or not their data gathering and data use protocols conform with NAI or TrustE guidelines. This is something every sales rep should know, and if they can't give a satisfactory answer as to why they're not in compliance and not actively supporting these organizations, it should give you pause.
Diving deep on data-gathering methods may reveal some other interesting tidbits as well. You may find that a BT network pipes in data from external sources -- some of the same data used by their competitors. Or you may find that someone is flagrantly using data they're not supposed to be using. Ask questions and get your facts straight.
Thanks to GMOOT Syndrome (Get Me One Of Those), you'll find quite a few BT players out there who are hoping to ride BT's wave of popularity without really having their bases covered. Be sure to ask the tough questions about what is being offered. Otherwise, you might find yourself being played.
Tom Hespos is the president of Underscore Marketing and blogs at Hespos.com.