One of the main advantages of advanced internet technologies is the possibility of hour targeting for ads served to web sites˳
Exactly how such targeting is done, that is a tech issue far beyond our e-Marketing topic˳ What is important to us, e-Marketers, is to be aware of this facility web servers have and use it towards making online campaigns more efficient˳
Hour targeting is especially useful when:
– we already know the online buying habits of our target;
– we want to create an association between our products and a certain time of the day when interest might be higher;
– we try to avoid a certain category of customers that are known to be more active at a certain hour interval;
– we know from previous researches that sites where we are advertising have different categories of visitors, with different interests and behaviour, active at certain hours˳
Let us try imagining some examples of justified hour targeting:
– Premium IT products (such as laptops) could probably use a business hours targeting, on the premises that active, working professionals have more buying power˳ Similarly, off-hours and weekend targeting could be used when promoting basic desktop systems with a lower price to a more younger audience with less buying power and/or buying decision˳
– FMCG products might benefit from targeting ads within hour intervals when these products are more likely to be utilized˳ We would probably want to place ads for coffee on news-delivering web sites during the morning hours; and advertising creams and gels for muscular pains later in the afternoon or evening, when such pains are more likely to occur˳
– It is widely known that surfers using a dial-up connexion get online in the evening and at night˳ Therefore, if we are to promote products or services destined to dial-up users (modems, access cards, offers to switch to a superior connexion) it only makes more business sense to target late hours˳
Interesting enough, such hour targeting is not always successful˳ A media planner might be blinded by the revelation of a cool method to raise efficiency of online campaigns like an adserver, only to realise at a later time that it can be more of a bother˳ For example, a banner for a banking product placed on a business portal would not need hour targeting, as professionals visiting such portals usually have permanent internet connection whether it is at office, at home, or is using a mobile solution˳ A regular reader of Financial Times online might opt to access the site in the evening, from the comfort of his home, long after the regular “business hours”, and would be a missed target if we employ hour targeting˳
To conclude, hour targeting for online campaigns makes a very powerful and efficient tool, but needs to be performed after carefully assessing surfing and buying behaviours of the visitors on web sites where we advertise˳
Source by https://ezinearticles˳com/?e-Marketing-Basics:-Pros-and-Cons-of-Hour-Targeting&id=167121
