Janrain: Mistargeted ads pushing more shoppers away from brands

It's no secret that targeting can miss the mark at times. But, a new study out from Janrain and Blue Research puts a disturbing spotlight on what can happen when ads are mistargeted - namely that some consumers will push away from the brand itself.

by Kristina Knight

The new study finds that most (96%) of those surveyed have received mistargeted promotions/ads, but goes on to report that after receiving them 94% then try to cut off communication with the brand - by deleting emails, unsubscribing from email lists and in some cases never visiting their website again.

"This year's study confirms that it's paramount for marketers to establish trust and transparency about how personal information will be used," said Larry Drebes, CEO, Janrain. "The good news is that once trust is no longer an issue, consumers are willing to be identified and recognized as customers across multiple devices to receive personalized content."

"In the four years that we have conducted this study, what is interesting to note is the evolution of consumers that are now no longer willing to accept mistargeted communications," said Paul Abel, Ph.D., Managing Partner, Blue Research. "Today, of those who receive mistargeted communications, almost 7 out of 10 report automatically deleting the email without even looking at them. This should be of interest to marketers determining best practices related to personal customer communications."

Other interesting findings from the Social Login and Personalization study include:

• 88% have seen social login options
• 51% have used social login for site registrations
• 91% say they 'are satisfied' with the personalization/improved targeting offered from social login
• 64% say they're 'more likely to return' to sites that remember their information
• 60% say recommendations based on social login profiles are 'useful'

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: ad targeting, ad trends, advertising, audience targeting, Janrain, mistargeted ads