Contextual Ad Targeting vs Behavioral Ad Targeting

Written by The Enrollify Team | 11/11/19 10:00 AM

TAKE YOUR ADS TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH CONTEXTUAL TARGETING: Contextual targeting attempts to match the keywords you target with your ads to the content and language used on the website your ad appears on. Whereas behavioral targeting shows an ad to an individual based on their actions or previous engagements with your brand, contextual ads attempt to match keywords and content to the context of the ad’s environment. Deploying ads about your product or service when a user is already in the state of reading, searching, or researching a similar product or service can yield powerful results.

Why you should care: Behavioral ad targeting isn’t going anywhere, but contextual ad targeting just makes sense. A prospective student skimming a Wall Street Journal article in the Business Management section has a higher likelihood of clicking on your Executive MBA program cheat sheet advertisement than if your ad had been displayed on a website about home improvement.

12 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE ADVERTISING ON PODCASTS: Statista recently reported that podcast ad spend is projected to hit $534 million in the U.S. alone by 2020. And while the analytics and targeting capabilities of podcast platforms still has room for improvement, podcasts might be the best, modern channel to reach “affluent educated millennials". Luckily, HubSpot came out with a list of 12 Tips to Podcast Advertising, including tips to understanding podcast ad pricing, choosing relevant podcasts to advertise on, and measuring success.

Why you should care: Don’t let your unfamiliarity with podcasting advertising stop you from being an early adopter of podcast ads (especially in higher education). With about 700,000 podcasts out there, audiences heavily composed of graduate-school-aged people, and low competition from other higher education institutions, there’s no reason not to at least understand how podcast advertising works.

HOW INCLUSIVE ADS IMPACT CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: Both your ads and marketing efforts are expected to reflect our society’s diversity, according to a study by Google and Ipsos. For monthly internet users between the ages of 13 and 54 years old, 64% of respondents took a desired action after seeing an ad they considered to be “inclusive” based on gender identity, body type, race/ethnicity, culture, and more. Among individuals who fall into the minority of the above mentioned categories, 69% - 71% claim they are more likely to purchase from a brand whose ads reflect inclusivity.

Why you should care: Tuning your program and marketing efforts toward the market you seek to attract is crucial to embedding inclusiveness into your student recruitment efforts. If your program seeks to recruit a more diverse population of prospective students, the expectation among your future students is that your marketing encapsulate traditionally minority groups via images and messaging. These groups should also be reflected in the makeup of program faculty/administration.

Looking for more great content?

Each week, The Enrollify Podcast equips you with insights into how the latest trends in marketing and technology are affecting enrollment managers. Every episode is designed to inspire new, creative ideas for how to optimize the resources you have to generate the results you need.

View full post