Are You Targeting a Loss?

As digital marketers embark on a new year of monetizing the social space to drive results for advertisers and clients, it is more important than ever to keep your targeting practices on course. If 2010 was about the unprecedented power of Facebook, 2011 looks to be about leveraging all things local. But in an increasingly fragmented online market, local may not always include your neck of the woods. For instance, Groupon subscribers living in Brooklyn also receive offers for the other four New York boroughs. Given the couponing site’s high level of success, this may not seem like that big of a deal especially in a major metropolitan city. However, online performance marketers incorporating such subscription-based offers into their client campaigns rely on optimized, precise audience targeting to maximize ROI. They need customers to drive the deal. And if the customers can’t be found, well, fill in the blanks.

I was recently emailed a Groupon offer for a Staten Island lounge – get $40 worth of drinks and eats for $20. That would be appealing if I lived on Staten Island. By emailing me this promotion, Groupon did the lounge a major disservice. I’m one less person making a commitment to patronize this establishment. That’s not costing me anything but for the lounge, which is already losing 50% of its potential profitability by leveraging Groupon, my lack of interest is a big blow.

Performance marketers should stress the importance of precise localized targeting with new and existing clients.  There is no question that Groupon has been and should continue to be successful. Still, the Staten Island lounge would have been wise to utilize performance-based experts familiar with maximizing social and local reach. After all, it’s about driving results for your business model and not for one healthy enough to reject Google.