Customer Preferences in Online Advertising-Part 3 of 3

In part two of this series, we discussed the annoyance factor of online ads and how to overcome them. In this last article, I'll tell you how to use behavioral traits to direct advertising efforts rather than demographics. I am a strong proponent of defining your target audience. If you don't know who you are communicating with, how will you be able to do it effectively? Jupiter Communications' (www.jup.com) survey backs up my claims. What Difference Does Behaviorism Make? I'm sure almost everyone has heard the phrase features vs. benefits. The entire premise behind this statement is that you must tell the audience what's in it for them. How, if you don't know their concerns, their hopes and their needs, are you going to define benefits that will make a difference to your target customer? The difference between demographics and behaviorism is that one tells you the basics and the other tells you the details. Demographics let you know that your customer is a man employed in upper management who is 45 years old, has 2 children and makes approximately $50,000 per year. Behaviorism tells you that, because he's a man, he is compelled by information-type ads. (If he were a she, she would most likely respond to animation or sound.) It also tells you that he's burned out on corporate politics, having a mid-life crisis, can't being to think of how he's going to pay for college for 2 kids and is in bad need of a raise! Now