Report: More businesses to use audience data in 2013

According to the report 60% of 2012 campaigns used or are using Audience Data to target and serve online ads. Moving into 2013 we can expect that to increase by up to 40% as more brands look to audience data for targeting.

"It's no surprise that custom data was cited as the most effective form of data for both branding and direct response campaigns among marketer, advertiser and ad platform respondents," said Mark S. Zagorski, CEO, eXelate. "The industry is moving beyond cookie cutter data and shifting toward highly targeted, custom data at scale. 'Big Data' will continue to play a critical role for digital marketers in 2013, and we look forward to delivering solutions that make that data actionable for smarter marketing."

The report found:

• 60% of Agency, 67% of Ad Platform, 57% of Marketer campagins use audience targeting now
• Custom data was found to have the best performance for Brand Campaigns by Agencies (37%), Ad Platforms (48%) and Marketers (36%)
• It was found to perform best for Direct Marketing initiatives (43% Agency, 58% Ad Platform, 46% Marketers)

Looking ahead to 2013 the majority of survey respondents said they would increase their spend on custom data. For Agencies, the increase is attributed to custom data's efficiency (68%) while 78% of Ad Platforms reported they would increase spending for strategic purposes and gaining better customer insights. Marketers said they would invest more in custom data because the information better identifies customers (70%).

Tags: audience data, audience segmentation, data collection trends, Digiday, eXelate, online advertising, targeted advertising