Behavioral Targeting
What is Behavioral Targeting?
Behavioral targeting is a digital marketing strategy that analyzes users’ online activities—such as website visits, clicks, and search history—to deliver personalized ads and content tailored to their interests. By leveraging this data, behavioral targeting aims to enhance user engagement and increase the likelihood of conversions by showing individuals content that aligns with their preferences and behaviors.
The Basic Idea
Imagine you receive an email newsletter from a bicycle shop you once visited, advertising that they have some new cycling shoes. You click the link and browse briefly on their website but don’t end up making a purchase. The next day, you’re watching a YouTube video and see an advertisement from the same bicycle shop for a particular pair of cycling shoes you had been eyeing the day before. Must be a sign from the universe, right? You click on the ad, which takes you straight to the website, and this time around, you purchase the shoes.
In this scenario, the bicycle shop used behavioral targeting to attract you as a customer. Behavioral targeting involves analyzing consumer activities to personalize marketing efforts—such as tracking that you opened the newsletter, which links you clicked, and how long you spent viewing different items on the website. By targeting the specific product you were interested in, the store was able to motivate you to make a purchase.
In the age of digital marketing, an effective business has to use highly personalized and timely marketing to attract customers over its competitors. Most businesses will leverage information about their customers’ demographics and interests, but behavioral targeting also uses information on how customers interact with their business to deliver targeted advertisements in real-time. These targeted advertisements can include text messages to let you know you still have items in your cart, pop-up promotions, or ad placements on other websites you frequent.
Behavioral targeting can lead to higher user engagement, enhanced customer experience, higher conversion rates, and, overall, a more successful business.1
“Good advertising is written from one person to another. When it is aimed at millions it rarely moves anyone.”
— Fairfax M. Cone, American businessperson and advertising executive2
About the Author
Emilie Rose Jones
Emilie currently works in Marketing & Communications for a non-profit organization based in Toronto, Ontario. She completed her Masters of English Literature at UBC in 2021, where she focused on Indigenous and Canadian Literature. Emilie has a passion for writing and behavioural psychology and is always looking for opportunities to make knowledge more accessible.
