Hands-on: The top five targeting mistakes

If metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and return on investment (ROI) are below expectations after an advertising campaign, management is often terribly disappointed. Experience shows: In many cases, something went wrong when targeting the audience. We have summarized the most common mistakes here.

“We target by age and gender. That’s how we’ve always done it.” Many clients and agencies share this attitude, and the basic idea makes sense: If you keep the target group broad, the campaign reaches more people. The problem is that the data from the major targeting providers is often inaccurate. For example, one of our analyses revealed that people defined as female often also appeared in the male user segment. The result: many of the “wrong” users are targeted.

In future, it will be difficult to ascertain a user’s age and gender. As we know, Google Chrome is the only major browser that still allows third-party cookies. And as things stand, that will be discontinued by Q1 2025. Cross-site tracking via third-party cookies from the major targeting providers will then no longer be possible.

At BCN, we have acquired a data management platform (DMP) that we use to recreate the target groups in our network. We focus more on personas and interests and try to extrapolate audience interests for use in targeting. All of this is done with alternative IDs to reach users on all browsers. This is often more effective than targeting based solely on age and gender. However, there may be certain use cases where targeting by these aspects is more appropriate, for example, gender-specific products or demographically targeted campaigns. Age and gender targeting remains part of our offering, of course.

Too expensive, too little data, too much effort – for these reasons, many advertisers refrain from adapting advertising messages to the individual needs of users. Yet personalization offers decisive advantages. For example, it increases efficiency by targeting those who are most likely to convert. This minimizes scatter loss and increases the return on advertising spend (ROAS).

Personalization also has an impact on the user experience: If the content is tailored to the target group, they perceive the brand more positively.

Thus, personalization provides a competitive advantage. Placing targeted and relevant advertising helps companies stand out from their competitors.

Most advertisers only collect data via their product sales and their website. However, this is insufficient for analysis because the company does not know which other channels to tap for leads. More information is needed: What interests do potential customers have? What websites do they visit? What social media are they actively using?

To obtain these answers, companies need to invest time and money. Many people are unwilling or unable to do so. But it can be worthwhile. At BCN, we have tools that allow us to combine the companies’ data with our own data and derive the affinity of users in a specific segment. This allows us to pinpoint which advertising assets are most suitable for targeting.

After launching a campaign, do you simply close your eyes, cross your fingers, and hope for the best? Not a great idea. Because, especially in broad target groups, click behavior or number of impressions often varies considerably from segment to segment. This information is essential, but easily missed if you do not monitor the whole campaign duration.

Investing in effort pays off. At BCN, we can use our ad server to recognize when there is a need for readjustment. We intervene in the ongoing direct campaign and optimize it to generate the greatest possible engagement. 

Targeting female users on a website primarily aimed at women? Or targeting by age on a social media platform that only appeals to young people? That’s superfluous.

Our task is to help our clients choose an efficient targeting strategy. In some cases, we may recommend skipping targeting altogether. On our style pages, for instance, up to 85% of the users are female. So we can advise: Save yourselves the targeting effort and the associated costs – your target group is already here, on this page.