Targeted Marketing - Top 5 ways for Online Marketing

Targeted Marketing:- 5 most popular ways to target online:

· Contextual targeting: Ads are targeted to related content being viewed by consumers; content usually matches the advertiser's business. For example, ICICI Prudential may run its ads in the mutual fund section of a personal finance site or Hyundai Santro would run its ads in the family section of an automotive site.

o Advantages: There's an implied interest in this content and an assumption that a prospect is in market.

o Challenges: Content has a premium value and tends to be cluttered with competitive ads. In addition, advertisers rely on a small window to reach prospects.

· Demographic targeting: Ads are targeted to content that has a high composition of a specific market segment (regardless if there's a contextual fit). Demographic information may include professions, industry, company size, gender, age, and household income. For example, an advertiser who wants to reach baby boomers may advertise on a site like ThirdAge.

o Advantages: Demographic targeting provides an opportunity for advertisers to increase their reach and avoid highly competitive and cluttered contextual placements.

o Challenges: Just because someone fits a market segment, doesn't mean she's in market for a product. Demographic targeting is better suited for branding campaigns.

· Geographic targeting: Ads are targeted to specific geographical areas based on a user's IP address, Zip Code, or the local content he's viewing. An automotive dealer in New Jersey can advertise local lease offers on NJ.com or target consumers via their IP addresses on USAToday.com

o Advantages: Marketers can target consumers with relative, local-interest creative.

o Challenges: This targeting can be hard to manage since technology can be imperfect. In addition, local-interest creative isn't always available.

· Registration targeting: Ads are targeted to consumers based on the information they provided during registration. If ZDNET wants to reach independent software testers, it could exclusively target people who are regular downloaders of softwares registered as such.

o Advantages: It allows marketers to target hard-to-reach segments without wasting impressions.

o Challenges: Registration information can be outdated or inaccurate.

· Behavioral targeting: Ads are targeted to consumers based on previous activity (past content, purchase, or search history). For example, Orbitz can retarget a consumer on Yahoo who just configured a trip but didn't purchase.

o Advantages: It provides an opportunity to create a dialogue with consumers and reach them beyond contextual environments.

o Challenges: If not handled properly, it could have an adverse affect.

Day Occasions

Friendship Day (I call it another Day Occasion) celebrations take place on the first Sunday of August every year. The tradition of dedicating a day in honor of friends began in US in 1935. Gradually the festival gained popularity and today Friendship Day is celebrated in large number of countries including India. On this day people spend time with their friends and express love for them. Exchange of Friendship Day Gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this occasion.

Though I am not a great follower of all these days, still I don't mind remembering my friends and colleagues on this day. I anyways keep in touch wth them and I believe in the spirit of friendship which should kindle always! However such days give you another opportunity to do so. I feel all the marketeers would feel happy on such "Day Occasions", as they get an opportunity to sell more. Fair enough, sympathy, empathy, emotions and more always are well exploited by marketeers and they would love to take on such occasions.

Anyways, no more story....My celebration Idea:
"Send a SMS or Email to all your friends and let them know that they are special to me. Friends are the relatives I have made by choice! And may be a quick meet-up."

To all my friend's, lets keep in touch!

Behavioral Marketing

New and emerging Idea of “Behavioral Marketing” is gripping the websites and advertisers are getting more keener on it. This basically talks about customization of Ads based on predictions on what you are going to buy next. This is like one-on-one marketing based on individual data. Like: Gender, Location, Demographics, Interests, Past website visits, Recommendations etc.
Like Book Selling Sites recommending the following:
“People who liked this also liked books like these:-
Link 1
Link 2
Link 2”
Now websites are trying to provide Real-time Ads. With the help of certain details like your Location and demographics. They are continuously collecting data about you, while you browse and on real-time change the ads from a generic one to the most relevant ones relevant to your interest.
“Auto Opt In” is the trick most of the sites are using which means you just can’t skip this.
The basic value proposition is “we are going to stop bombarding you with non-relevant ads and give you something which is very relevant to you.”
Well companies are trying to build and implement these algorithms and only some retrun on investment data will prove if this model is working well!

Some Online Citations:

nugg.ad AG - http://blog.nugg.ad/2007-07-25/is-predictive-behavioral-targeting-only-something-for-geeks-nerds-and-freaks/
Yahoo! Expands Behavioral Targeting - http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3520631
Yahoo Adds Behavioral Targeting - http://advertising.yahoo.com/marketing/bt/
Microsoft Demos Behavioral Targeting - http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=38484
Behavioral Maketing - http://www.behavioral.us/2007/06/15/when-does-behavioral-fail/
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_targeting"

Tata Indiacom Offers Samsung Duo Dual Mode Handset in India

Following the Spice Telecom, Tata Indicom with Samsung has announced to launch Samsung Duo, the dual mode handset supporting GSM and CDMA technology.
According to Samsung, users can use two GSM or two CDMA or one of each sim cards in one handset.
The Duo handset is a slider phone having a 2.2-inch hybrid TFT display. Also it features 1.3 megapixel camera with 10X digital zoom and video recording. This phone is a real business phone supporting document files in excel, word and PDF formats.
The phone also offers good amount of entertainment to users through an MP3/AAC+ player supporting video in MPEG4. The phone has 10MB of internal memory and can support up to 1GB of external memory.
Besides, the phone has three input options ABCD’ keyboard or a normal mobile phone keypad and thanks to the handwriting recognition software that it incorporates, you also jot something on it.
Perhaps, the most interesting feature for Indians the Indian calendar it bundles which lists all the festivals, dates and important occasions. Additionally it has a Panchang featuring auspicious/inauspicious times during a day.
Currently the Duo is launched in Mumbai only at the price of Rs. 11,999, excluding the Indicom Sim card.

Was just discussing yesterday night ... Teleportation is the Next Technology change? Which is going to throw out all these mobiles and communication devices....I wish I could be alive to see that day!

Goal Setting!

What will you achieve if you don't know what you want to achieve?

GOAL setting, timeline setting, steps break-up, milestone celebrations, motivation, inching closer to your GOALS. Well all this sounds more or less like a excerpt from a Project Management book at your B-School. No. This is simply the latest thing running in my office where all the employees have put together all their Goals on the wall:

1 yr goal

5 yr goal

10 yr goal

Lifetime Goal.

In the image some 32 Goal sheets are visible which says exactly this. I think its necessary and every company should do this. Get your employees to decide the goals. Set some timelines. Breakup the path to achieve those goals into smaller units. Self Motivate yourself. Keep working and celebrate the milestones. Achieve and Enjoy! Start your journey for the next goal.

The USUAL Scenario outside Forum just next to my Office!

The UN-USUAL Scene in the evening sky over Forum!

Usual is to see long waiting queues of traffic in front of my office. Hosur road and surrounding areas. Well it takes me 5 minutes to walk down to my office. And if i drive by car it takes 15 minutes. Bangalore traffic is becoming pathetic day by day. And no solution seems to be in pipeline.

Unusual was the large number of eagles flying over the Forum and its vicinity last Friday evening. I was working in the office and suddenly my boss Liam called me out and asked me, why do you think these birds are so frantically flying all over the place? Well not just me, we were like 3-4 people and offcourse human nature prompted everyone with his or her own theory! This was a very strange thing which i saw for the first time. I don't particularly know why it happened, however, what sounded a good logic from Zafar was that, it became dark suddenly that night so the birds lost their time tracking mechanism.

Anyways, if you seem to know why it happened....do post in your comments.

Royal treatment on my Birth Day!

Royal treatment on my 25th Birth Day!

I didn't expect the Royal treatment I got this 4th of july on my 25th B'Day. I turned 26. Yes the venue was Leela Palace, Bangalore. The location was Jamavar. Thanks to my wife who had done some pre-booking. I was impressed. We had fun time that night, I njoyed a lot. And i think we ordered food in excess as always. The aloo tikki dilli style was good, i relished it. The rest of the food was also delectable. With the enjoyment in the air, coz of Independence Day of America, there was hustle n bustle. And we could hear some fun party going on there. Overall good music and good ambience.

Cheers again and thanks to my biwi for this ossum treat!