Audience targeting is becoming more widely adopted, now used by more than 8 in 10 advertisers and 9 in 10 agencies, ad networks, ad exchanges and DSPs, according to an eXelate and Digiday State of the Industry survey. Along with growing adoption come rising budgets: roughly 7 in 10 respondents report that they plan to increase their audience-targeting budgets, for an average increase of 38%. The survey also finds that 3rd-party online data is the preferred audience targeting data source for both advertisers and agencies. Among both groups, 1st-party CRM data was the next-most preferred source.
In a similar study conducted last year, respondents rated 3rd-party online data as their most effective source for audience targeting.
Other results from the newest survey indicate that a majority of agencies (73%) and advertisers (64%) surveyed are currently using lookalike modeling, and that a majority of those are seeing a 2-300% lift from those efforts. Agencies and advertisers alike are most likely to trust a combination of data providers and DSPs to conduct lookalike modeling.
Overall, more than 8 in 10 respondents feel that audience targeting is an effective marketing strategy. Indeed, a recent report from Neustar Aggregate Knowledge found that advertisers across 5 key verticals in Q4 2013 enjoyed substantial performance lifts from targeting top audiences.
About the Data: The survey was conducted in March 2014 among 450+ digital industry respondents, including advertisers, agencies, networks, exchanges, and DSPs. The online survey was conducted in conjunction with Digiday.
