The success of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising rests on the back of well applied data. Modern PPC has come a long way user surveys to nail the specifics in user demographics. Information on a user’s age, sex, and points of interest can be used for more precise targeting and a potentially lower cost-per acquisition.

Advertising networks like Google Adwords allow digital marketers to look beyond keywords and into who the visitors who navigate your site. What’s more interesting are the affinity data, offering marketers insight on lifestyle data with categories like sports fans, cooking enthusiasts, and technophiles. This data allows digital marketers to:

  • Create ad copies that resonate with a user group.
  • Adjust bids based on the efficacy of targeting a demographic.
  • Make decisions on non-PPC campaigns using information gathered on PPC user demographics.

How User Data Is Gathered

While most advertising networks can gather the essentials in user demographics – age, sex, location – their method of gathering user data can vary. Many networks rely on cookies to some degree for user tracking and use in-house systems and algorithms to assign variables based on behaviors.

Bing Ads, for example, can track users when they are logged into their Microsoft or MSN accounts. Google Adwords stores cookies in a user’s browser to better understand the types of pages that users are navigating. Google also collaborates with third-party companies like DoubleClick and device-specialized advertising IDs like Android Advertising ID to create a comprehensive portfolio on user behaviors.

Is the data accurate?

While some digital marketers are skeptical on the accuracy of an advertising network’s ability to gather user demographics, data is simply data. It’s the intention behind your data that has brought you conversions.

For example, if your data is showing 56% of your Bing Ad conversions coming from 30-year old males in Virginia, USA on luxury purse advertisement, then this will be the demographic you want to target in Bing. It may be that the 30-year old male in Virginia is buying for someone else or perhaps they’re simply fans of the purses. This is still the demographic responding to your advertisements.

Strategies for User Demographics

The fun part to user demographics is in using the data to make decisions. There is no end-all approach to leveraging user data. If you’re looking at data for the first time, then consider letting the data lead you to your findings. Even a lack of disjunction in data is telling of who is responding to your advertisements. Here are some strategies to consider:

  • Strategy #1: Organize data by cost-per-acquisition. Chances are you’re looking for the best demographics to invest your time and resources in. Breaking down your data by their cost-per-acquisition will give you just that.
  • Strategy #2: Organize data by devices. This is especially helpful if you’re running a variety of display ads. The use of mobile devices continues to grow year-over-year. Nailing the Ad content, dimensions, and pitch can make a world of difference when targeting your highest converting groups.
  • Strategy #3: Organize data by behaviors. You could be missing a fortune if a large demographic is responding to your ads, but isn’t committing to conversions. There may be an issue with the landing page or the content of your ad may not accurately reflect the landing page. Breaking down your demographic data by behaviors like time-on-page and pages visited could come in handy.

The key to finding value in your demographic data is experimentation. You should revisit your demographics after making major changes to your keyword modifiers, campaign directions, and advertising strategies. This will keep you on top of growth opportunities and give you greater insight on campaign maturity overtime.

 

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