by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, (October 26, 2015)
Considering Google Consumer Match? “Avoid dumb targeting,” says Matt Miller, SVP of analytics and targeting at global performance agency Performics. The platform allows search marketers to bridge other forms of media like email to more finely target consumers in search advertising or on YouTube.
Segmentation becomes the key. Until now, marketers have been restricted to using retargeting lists for search ads (RLSA), which has been a “crude instrument, because the consumer was required to visit the Web site for marketers to model after that behavior, rather than a customer database,” Miller says
But just because marketers can take a group of email addresses and upload them to Google doesn’t means that’s the best plan for all marketers, Miller says — because it’s still dumb targeting.
Google Customer match enables marketers to create personalized experiences in search, mail and YouTube by linking a brand’s knowledge of its customers with the targeting techniques. Using this in tandem with other tools from Facebook, and Twitter marketers can create better experiences through a unified view of the customer.
As targeting like this becomes more common, brands need to double down on controls to manage another layer of data.
Think about how marketers segment customer databases. They segment consumers based on behavior, what they look to influence, and how their decision can drive incremental activities. It’s important to understand prior purchase behavior, as well as predictable purchase pattern. For example, if customers just had a baby, and whether they use cloth or disposable diapers and baby formula.
Here’s another way to segment using Google Match if the brand does not have the capability to predict purchase behavior. Miller says marketers should create an objective such as driving one more sale from the brand’s highest-value customers. Since the objective is not to spend money on low-value customers or holiday shoppers who return once yearly, the email file is a good way to address audience segments based on low- moderate- and high-value consumers for the brand.
Miller argues that Google Customer Match should become a core part of any advertising campaign. It’s not about when — but segmenting consumers into the correct buckets — to build sequential messaging. This allows brands to move from focusing on one behavioral moment from a consumer to the next as triggers occur.
Start simple. Search marketers need to sit down with email marketers and determine how they segment their customers. Identify two to three types of customers that the brand wants to reach rather than uploading the entire email file. The segmentation comes from the CRM group, because they typically identify past behavior on the Web site and past purchases. The search marketer focuses on content and on-site search, and working with email marketers can improve the ability to identify intent.
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