Behavioural targeting strategy: how it works—and how to use Klaviyo to do it ethically
We’ve all had that moment after having a casual conversation when we open our phones, start scrolling…
…and immediately see an advertisement for the exact thing we were just talking about.
Blame it on the dark side of behavioural targeting.
At its best, behavioural targeting has the power to bring shoppers back to your store, get them to engage with your content, and convince them to take whatever action you most want them to take—driving higher user engagement, conversion rates, and marketing return on investment.
But at its worst, it can cross boundaries many consumers hold sacred.
As marketers continue to adjust the way they learn about and communicate with their customers in the wake of Apple’s iOS privacy updates and data privacy regulations like the GDPR and CTIA, behavioural targeting based on third-party cookies and tracking pixels may raise ethical issues—and, just as concerning, wind up scaring people off in a way you find it tough to come back from.
We don’t want to creep anybody out. So how do we do all of this, and make it a really personalised experience, without coming across as Big Brother?
“We don’t want to creep anybody out,” says Sean Donahue, director of email marketing at nationally recognised digital marketing agency Power Digital. “So how do we do all of this, and make it a really personalised experience, without coming across as Big Brother?”
The answer, experts agree, lies in the type of data that’s driving your behavioural marketing strategy.
“The market is moving away from third-party data,” says Jon Palmer, lead product marketing manager at Klaviyo. “Marketing activities based on third-party data, like purchasing lists or understanding what other websites someone’s been to in the same session, are, in places like the EU and California, already on their way out.”
The market is moving away from third-party data.