Advertisers and brand marketers spend significant time and money trying to understand consumer behavior and what factors influence purchase decisions. Consumer attitudes, values, and beliefs are at the core of their decisions whether the decision is to purchase a product or service, support a cause, evangelize a company or brand, etc. Unfortunately, until now, online targeting has not been able to target at this level, and these orientations that shape consumer behavior are completely ignored when it comes to targeting. These limitations force brands to compromise their rich audience data and advertising strategy in order to market online. This is a disservice to brands. Shouldn't media placement be just as thoughtful as an advertising strategy?
Traditional targeting methods just don't cut it anymore. Let's take a closer look at how targeting based on consumers' attitudes, values, and beliefs (attitudinal targeting) can help advertisers reach the richest audience for their ad campaigns and brand messages.
Beyond behavioral targeting
Since behaviors change often over time, whereas attitudes remain relatively consistent, behavioral targeting can be limiting. Let's take a look at some examples to illustrate how consumer attitudes can be leveraged in ad campaign efforts and reveal much deeper insight into the key influencing factors on brand relationships and purchase behavior than traditional targeting approaches.
A diaper company promoting environmentally friendly diapers needs to reach young mothers who care about the environment. Demographic targeting can find women in the most common early motherhood years between the ages of 24-34. Behavioral targeting can take it a step further by finding people who have researched diapers and other similar products lately. Even social data can be used to find people who have shown brand loyalty through an action taken on social networks.
All of those are great. But each one is limiting. They don't get to the core influencing factors, namely the attitudes and values that drive brand loyalty and purchase behavior -- in this case, their feelings toward protecting the environment and how this affects their purchase decisions. Attitudinal targeting combines traditional targeting attributes with consumer attitudes and values for more robust targeting.
How do advertisers benefit? Imagine if the diaper company can pinpoint its audience members down to their feelings about the environment and whether their brand perception and purchase behavior are tied to social well-being. The company could not only target its audience incredibly precisely, it could also fine-tune its messages to highlight their eco-friendly products, brand values, and social responsibility efforts.
Take another example: A food company launching new healthy food options that wants to reach people who care about childhood obesity. The advertiser could make educated guesses based on demographics and behavioral targeting, but it would still be a bit of a gamble whether the brand actually reaches the right audience. It would have much stronger ROI and longer-lasting consumer relationships if it could target audience members known to be more likely to purchase products from a company that promotes a healthy lifestyle.
When advertisers go beyond behavioral, social, or demographic targeting methods, they can reach highly targeted audiences that are open to receiving their advertising messages and promotions around a brand and its marketed product or service. This approach can be extremely powerful for advertisers looking to forge strong, long-term relationships with their desired consumer segments.
How does it work?
Attitudinal targeting takes a unique approach and leverages well-established research techniques to combine survey research with behavioral information and conventional targeting characteristics. This methodology enables brand advertisers to target ads based on consumer attitudes and values instead of just using demographics and behaviors as proxies.
Why attitudinal targeting?
Other forms of targeting, such behavioral and contextual, can be very valuable in many cases. But brands can and, I believe, should have the ability to more precisely identify and reach audiences based on their attitudes, values, and beliefs. By doing so, brands can truly build enduring relationships with audiences that will influence and evolve into brand loyalty.
For all of the advances we've made in online advertising and targeting over the years, it's surprising to me that creative strategy and media targeting are so disconnected. By truly understanding the audiences you want to reach and where they are online, advertisers have an enormous opportunity to strengthen their campaigns with a delivery method that speaks to the heart of consumer purchase motivators and brand affinity: attitudes, values, and beliefs.
Bryan Gernert is CEO of Resonate.
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