Research. New study casts doubt on the ability of new technology to target effectively. Many people believe that we are all being micro-targetted with manipulative ads and messages from politicians. But an Australian study proves different.
Personalised advertising may be one thing but getting people to respond to even micro-targeted ads is a whole other ball game. An analysis of 3.1 million ad exposures shows that such adverts generate low click through rates (CTR) according to a study from the Institute of Marketing Science at University of Southern Australia.
“There were some differences in the CRTs in the different creative ad executions, but overall the rates were low and rather inconveniently, the ad with the highest responses or CTR was an ad designed for extraverts but opened by more introverts,” says professor in Marketing Science Byron Sharp.
He believes that this casts doubt on the ability of new technology to target effectively. Often geographical targeting is enough, and targeting by time, age, gender and interest only offer incremental gains, he says. According to the study, a targeting strategy based on interest/Facebook likes will likely cut a brand off from a potentially large audience.
Read the full article on RW Connect.
