Revving the BT engine
Many local newspapers first became intrigued with behavioral targeting of online advertising more than five years ago–and quite a few newspaper web sites tried their hand at selling behaviorally. The results were often disappointing, in part because newspaper web sites had too little data and too little inventory to consistently structure significant BT campaigns.
Newspaper Consortium members are now gearing up to sell BT in a big way–with the soon-to-be unveiled new advertising platform from Yahoo! The platform will be the drive train that newspapers use to propel ads into their own sites as well as into Yahoo! inventory served in their local area.
But even before the new platform has been rolled out, many Consortium members have scored BT successes by selling ads that target segments of the Yahoo! audience in their local markets.
Behavioral targeting, of course, carries a premium CPM because it can deliver a message to consumers identified as likely to buy an advertiser’s product based on their recent web activities. It fits in nicely as part of an overall media plan that might also include in-category advertising, run-of-site inventory, print, and sometimes lead generation or e-mail services.
Not surprisingly, local auto dealers have been among the most eager early adopters of BT advertising sold by Consortium members. Working through their local online newspaper reps, dealers can now target consumers by the type of vehicles they’ve researched online–in segments such as economy vehicles, compact SUVs, luxury and mid-range.
Especially important at this challenging time for dealers, the newspaper’s ability deliver local behavioral targeting with Yahoo! is adding extra horsepower to local automotive campaigns. And it marks another step in the newspaper’s transformation into a local multi-media marketing firm.