New platform takes user behaviors into account

Are you getting the most from your targeting efforts? If you aren't using at least a little behavioral information, you may not be. But, how can marketers leverage user's past and present behaviors to better target? A new platform from Unica Corporation could help.

by Kristina Knight

Affinium 7.5 is a platform that allows marketers to take users' past and current behaviors into account to determine what type of message will have the most impact. By taking users' pasts into account, marketers have a better chance of engaging them in the present. Think about it: the way a consumer engaged - or made a purchasing decision - in the past is likely they way they will engage in the future. Why, then, would marketers try to re-make the wheel, so to speak?

"Marketers know that they must move their communications beyond pure push marketing. To be successful, they need technologies that can help them effectively interact with their customers," said Elana Anderson, Vice President of Product Marketing and Strategy at Unica. "Today's marketing solutions must support inbound and outbound interactions in which each marketing action builds on response to previous actions."

Unica isn't the first to add behavioral targeting capabilities. Veoh, ValueClick and AdBrite are three other online ad platforms to now offer behavioral targeting for marketers. However, not all consumers like the thought of their past interactions being used. According to a report from TNS Global, about 72% of consumers feel irrelevant ads are intrusive but still 57% don't want their online interactions to be tracked and used by companies to target them more effectively.