NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Mass Medium? Targeting?
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Mass Medium? Targeting?
Mark J. Welch (markwelch_at_ca-probate.com)
Tue, 30 Jun 1998 10:07:39 -0700
Brad Byrd of NewGate Internet wrote that his firm
has consistently experienced a "fib rate" over 60%
when seeking user registration data. (I like the
word "fib" because it sounds so much more innocent
than "lie.")
As I often note, I have no training or experience
in the advertising or direct-marketing industry
other than what I've done to promote my own
law practice and my own web sites. But it seems
to me that 90% of the data we need comes from
three very simple data points:
Age (or year of birth)
Sex
Zip Code
Some marketers tell me that I need a fourth
data point: are there children in the home?
Of course, we all want more data: as an estate
planning attorney, I'd like to be able to target
"empty nest" homes (youngest child has finally
moved out), and I'd love to target based on wealth
or, based on whether or not the person has
a living trust already. But you're never going
to get that kind of data -- not even in the direct
mail list business.
We can grab some more data (OS, browser) from
the browser profile. I suspect that folks like Brad
use this kind of data to validate survey answers.
I'll admit that I "fib" every day when filling out
surveys, including online surveys and free-
magazines-subsciption request forms that
want to know my income, or how many PCs I
buy or authorize or influence the purchase of.
Oddly, I think two of the data points that I think
we should care about (sex and zip code) are ones
that most folks will tell the truth about. Age is
more of a problem, primarily because so many
young people use the internet and they know that
there is substantial content that they won't get
unless they claim to be over 18. (After all, most
contests don't allow minors to enter, and of course
the adult "Dark Side of the Web" blocks minors
from visiting.
Scott Cohen of 24/7 Media once mentioned at
an industry conference that when he's surfing
the internet, he always registers as a 99-year-old
woman. (I suppose if they asked the zip code, he'd
be in Alaska. And I bet that if Scott fills out a
registration form at old-geezer.com, he'll say
he's 19.)
I've long believed that the correct place for this
registration data isn't in a form the user fills
out every time s/he visits a web site, but in the
browser itself. All the user should need to do is
consent to the RELEASE of the data. (And of
course, the user may define multiple profiles,
some true and some containing "fibs.")
If the data were stored in the browser, we might
ask for a few more data points, and maybe we
could persuade some users to even allow the
aggregation of some data (browsing patterns,
online purchase activity) and to release that
information (but only with express consent!).
But my long-held belief that the key data
is age, sex and zip code just gets stronger
with time. Ironically, the most important
data to me for targetting my advertising
is zip code, which I suspect is the LEAST
often lied about (though I have no data
to support my suspicion -- please share
any data on this if you have it!)
-- Mark J. Welch mailto:nospam_at_markwelch.com
-- Web Site Banner Advertising http://www.markwelch.com/bannerad/
-- Web Ad Forum July 17-18 http://www.markwelch.com/welchmtg.htm
-- Web Ad Discussion Lists http://www.markwelch.com/lists.htm
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