Applying behavioral targeting for personalization

General customer communication that tries to serve everyone equally is destined for failure. The success of a marketing campaign depends on its ability to convince customers that the brand is exactly what they are looking for.

This is where segmentation comes into play. By grouping your customers according to related interest, locality or other defining traits, you can achieve a closer bond and create more targeted content. For this purpose, behavioral targeting is one of the best strategies for the personalization of your messages.

What is behavioral targeting?

Behavioral targeting is a marketing technique that analyzes the activities of your customers to identify common patterns in their behavior. This then allows you to arrange your customers into groups.

This process of behavioral segmentation resembles a binary system. The consumer performs an action (1) or does not perform an action (0). The combination of performed and non-performed actions generates numerical series (segments) that trigger reactions. In this case, these are known as preconfigured marketing activities.

For example, a behavioral segment could be:

Customers with two or more prior purchases who visited your site in the last 30 days using identical or similar search terms and did not make a purchase.

Learn more about customer segmentation.

How does behavioral targeting work?

With the right technology, you can track your customers’ actions and identify critical moments and relevant content.

This works via cookies, as these allow you to collect important information about the behavior of your customers. They record which websites the user visits, how often, how long, how they interact with them, from which location they access them and so on. When you combine the data from all channels, you obtain a much more accurate customer profile. This allows you to draw detailed conclusions about your customers’ buying behavior.

It is important to know which criteria play significant roles in behavioral targeting and which sources of information you can consult for your personalization strategy.

Criteria for behavioral targeting

For segmentation, it is essential to define the criteria you will use. By analyzing some of these association factors, you can create groups of customers with similar characteristics.

User interests

Become familiar with what motivates your users and what their needs are. Most importantly, you should make the connection between unfulfilled needs and consumer behavior. You can take advantage of this gap by providing personalized information tailored to your customers’ expectations. At the same time, it’s an excellent way to discover other related needs that present new opportunities for offers.

Degree of interaction

The more a potential customer interacts with your business, the more likely they are to benefit you. At an advanced stage in the interaction, this means that the customer has established a loyal relationship and may recommend your brand to others. You can target personalized messages to these customers as a group to encourage them to expand the sales funnel.

Customer satisfaction

The status of customer satisfaction with your offer or that of your competitors is also a crucial element. This will help you determine what obstacles you should overcome and what aspects you should emphasize. After all, highly satisfied customers are the ideal target for additional sales.

Information sources for behavioral targeting

The better you know your target audience, the better you can segment them according to their behavior. To this end, you should exhaust all available data sources. For this process, cookies are an ideal tool because you can use them to capture important data.

Activity on the website

Note the details of users’ visits to your website, such as the frequency, times and duration of each session. Also, pay attention to what content piques users’ interest and the keywords they use.

Location of the user

Based on the IP information, you can determine the city and country where the user is located. This can help you create customized messages using local phrases.

Purchase history

It is useful to keep track of customers’ previous purchases. Knowing whether the user is a new customer or a repeat customer can be very useful for targeting your communications. Make note of when customers last shopped, what items they bought and how much they spent.

Browsing history

Persistent cookies not only track users’ activity on your website but also their browsing history. This tells you which pages your customers visit, how long they browse them, what information they are looking for and more. This aids you in determining which of your store products customers might be interested in and whether they also visit your competitors’ stores. You can then use this data to adjust your offer, if necessary, to create an advantage for the customer when they buy from you.

Device

It can also be useful to know what type of device your customer is using. There are ways to discover whether the user is browsing from a mobile device or a computer as well as the operating system being used.

Navigation of your website differs significantly depending on the device you are using. For example, it can be very inconvenient for the potential customer if they can only access the desktop version of your store from a mobile device. Thus, it is best to adjust the layout and page settings of your store to optimize navigation for mobile users.

A study by eMarketer on the growth of e-commerce up to and including 2025 illustrates why you should not underestimate this factor:

U.S. retail sales are predicted to exceed $1 trillion in e-commerce sales this year, as customers appreciate the flexibility and convenience of online shopping. It is also estimated that $4 out of every $10 in online purchases are made from mobile devices.

Examples of marketing activities resulting from behavioral targeting

The following are the two most common situations where behavioral targeting can lead to personalized marketing solutions:

Shopping cart abandonment

Shopping cart abandonments are more common than you might think and can have many causes. In such a case, you should not immediately write off the sale. However, a simple reminder is often enough to encourage the user to conclude their shopping and make the purchase. You could also offer a limited-time lightning deal with a discount coupon or additional benefits.

Learn how personalized abandoned cart emails are structured.

Additional sales

Behavioral targeting can be used for upselling or cross-selling. You can maximize the value of your sales by offering your existing customers upgrade plans for your products or complementary products. Tracking purchase history aids significantly in this. For example, if you offer free demo versions of your product, you can use these to encourage the user to buy it.

Why is behavioral targeting important?

Behavioral targeting allows you to find common ground among your customers and connect with them on a more personal level. Your prospects and customers will respond more positively if they feel that your content was developed specifically for them.

Better user experience

For smaller businesses, it’s hard to compete with the e-commerce giants in terms of speed of delivery or price. Retail and major chains face this same challenge. However, small stores are not necessarily disappearing, partly because they are successfully providing a better shopping experience for their customers. This is exactly where your efforts should be directed.

A better experience is about providing value which requires a deep understanding of your audience. Segmentation helps you create more relevant experiences through personalized content.

Higher conversion rate and higher ROI

Behavioral targeting can help you achieve a higher conversion rate because personalizing your communications attracts customers. For example, if you can persuade customers to take the first step and open your email, you’re already closer to getting them to your website. Furthermore, if your offer is relevant, you have a better chance of a successful sale. Your ROI will therefore also be higher, as the bounce rate is reduced through behavioral targeting.

Behavioral targeting and personalization

For many marketers, it is difficult to distinguish between behavioral targeting and personalization. In reality, they are two different but complementary techniques. Think of behavioral targeting as a set of characteristics that describe a category. Personalization would then be the process of identifying these characteristics for individual users.

Of course, behavioral targeting is not mandatory for personalization, but segmentation helps speed up processes and extend their reach.

You don’t need segmentation to address a user by their first name, but a greeting or personalized subject line is often not enough. True personalization requires a more active and complex interaction.

Fortunately, there are technologies that facilitate segmentation and those that enable a personalization strategy. Ideally, you can automate behavioral targeting and create individualized experiences for your customers across all channels and apply personalization.

Some of the most successful personalization strategies are detailed below:

Personalized recommendations

Automation solutions that can be integrated into your website to provide real-time recommendations to your customers are available. Dynamic content has proven to be very effective due to the ability to make relevant suggestions to the user during the purchase decision. Email referrals are also valuable, particularly when it comes to astute offers or when you want to win back a potential customer.

Furthermore, personalized suggestions offer opportunities for upselling or cross-selling. You can increase the profitability of your business and provide a customized experience for your customers.

Omnichannel optimization

Omnichannel means much more than being present and gathering data from all distribution channels. It requires comprehensive management that ensures the coherence of the relationship between customer and brand at all points of contact.

You should pay attention to end-to-end interaction to provide a satisfying experience for your customers. Ensure that the user can gain access from any device under optimal conditions and receive the same benefits on all channels. Of course, to achieve this consistency, you need to be able to recognize your customer and have knowledge of their behavior at every step.

Your potential customer has looked up language courses on your website without deciding to invest in an offer. You can send him an email with information about the benefits of learning another language. Use this opportunity to promote other items on your website, such as audiobooks. Another approach is to send an SMS with a special promotion such as, for example, the waiver of the registration fee upon payment of three months’ fees.

Predictive personalization

Predictive personalization uses statistical and AI techniques to analyze your customers’ current behavior and historical data. The aim is to predict possible courses of action and use them strategically. For example, you could drive purchase behavior by delivering personalized content across multiple touchpoints.

Companies like Netflix and Amazon are well aware of predictive personalization and utilize it to achieve outstanding results. For example, Netflix sends its audience messages with personalized recommendations based on past audiovisual consumption. This strategy is very effective because it identifies the interests of the target audience at the right time.

Gain short- and long-term benefits with personalization and behavioral targeting

Personalization allows you to show your customers that you really “get” them and can offer them appropriate solutions. Behavioral targeting, on the other hand, lets you find out what your customers’ needs are and when and how you can help them. Applying these strategies can significantly increase the profitability of your business. This enables you to not only improve the current customer experience but also build a relationship for the future.