Utilities - Target Engine

Version 9.1 by Admin on 2020/01/05 17:10

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The Targeting Engine is a powerful tool that allows to to quickly and easily define audience Segments and target them with specific Actions, e.g. target specific ads, display a pop-up, send an email, redirect to another page or site.

You can target segments by IP Address and User Agent. This functionality can be used to define a set of IP addresses that may be, for example, non-human traffic that you don't want to display paid banner ads to. By defining the target IP addresses and setting the action to serve only house ads, those IP addresses won't be counted as impressions/views/clicks for paid banner advertising. Or you could redirect to a page or a pop-up with a message that the IP address is suspected of being non-human traffic and a number to call if not the case. That IP could then be removed from the target segment.

The following lesson will provide details on how to use the Segment Manager, Action Manager, and Target Engine.

Please Note:

Segments and targeting actions can be applied to both Known and Unknown users.

If the defined criteria for a target segment doesn't require a user be known, e.g. viewing a particular webpage or section 3 times, as soon as a user meets that criteria by viewing the defined webpage or section 3 times, he/she is included in that segment (whether a known user or not) and the targeting action will occur.

Also note that both users who fit the criteria for the defined segment as of the effective start date of an action and users who meet the criteria at any time during the effective date range will be targeted.

CREATING A NEW SEGMENT

From the Segment Manager menu, select Segment Manager:

segment manager menu.png

You will see a list of existing segments. Click "Create Segment" in the upper right-hand corner.

manage segments.png

You'll be taken to a screen allowing you to define a new segment. Give your segment a descriptive name. You can enter a brief description of the segment as well.

A segment is a group of people. You can define that group based on any number of demographic criteria, ie., "who" the user is, or based on behavioral criteria, ie., "what" the user has done.

If you click the "First Party" tab, you will have the opportunity to define the demographic characteristics of your segment based on the demographic questions you have built in your database. You can use any demographic question to define a segment.

If you choose a demographic question that has a multiple choice response, simply click in the target box and start typing one of the responses. ONEcount should pre-populate the box with the response. Multiple responses can be defined for a single question.

To add multiple demographic questions to a segment, simply click the Add button on the right-hand side and ONEcount will allow you to add another demographic question.

In this way, you can create a demographic segment of users who are Pediatricians who live in Arizona, for example.

If you are creating purely a demographic segment, hit "Save" and ONEcount will save your segment. If you would like to add behavioral characteristics to your segment (ie., Peditricians who live in Arizona and have read three articles on diabetes), click on the Behavior tab.

This will open the Profile window, which is Step 1 in creating the persona.

You move forward through the creation process by clicking "Next" at each step, and you can move back to the previous step by clicking "Back".

Note that if you click the "Back" button, the step you were working on won't be saved. All steps are saved only at Step 4: Review and Save.

Step 1 – Profile

Complete the Name, Description, and Effective Date Range fields for the persona, then click the "Next" button.

Step 2 – Segment

A "Segment" is a subgroup of your user universe that you wish to target with a specific action.

You can define a target segment by User – including Product, Demographics, Source Code, Newsletter, or Web filters – or by Account.

Product – Allows you to segment based on a product subscription status
Demographics – Allows you to segment based on whether a user meets or does not meet specified demographic criteria
Source Code – Allows you to segment based on assigned or not assigned Source Code
Newsletter – Allows you to segment based on whether a user has or has not opened or clicked on a specified newsletter
Web – Allows you to segment based on whether a user has or has not visited a specified section or page on your web site. Note that this behavior-based filter needs to be used in conjunction with any of the other identity-based filters listed above (Product, Demographics, Source Code, Newsletter).

See directions for creating a segment of all users, both known and unkown, in B. Segment by Account below.

You may select multiple filters and multiple options within filters.

A. Segment by User

The screenshot above is from v. 11.6. Prior versions do not have the "With"/"Without" option.

Notice the "AND" / "OR" logic that can be used to join different filters for the segment. Multiple selections within a filter use "OR" logic.

To add additional criteria to a segment, click the "And" or "Or" button.

In the example above, the targeted segment is all users who:

A. are NOT ("Without") new OR renewal subscribers, with a product status of Qualified Print OR Qualified Digital OR Non-Qualified Digital, to the Magazine OR Digital Edition product;

AND
B. have ('With") opened the "...ain Today" newsletter;
OR
C. have ("With") Primary Business Category that contains "Industrial Mfg., Including Plastics & Rubber... " _OR "_High-Tech Computers/Electronics".

That is, all users who fit criteria A AND fit either criteria B OR C * Notice the separator line when AND is selected.

B. Segment by Account

Version 11.6 and later have added functionality that allows you to target segments by Account – which is IP Address and User Agent. A user agent is any software that retrieves and presents Web content for end users. User agents include Web browsers, media players, and plug-ins that help in retrieving, rendering and interacting with Web content.

This functionality can be used, among other things, to define a set of IP addresses of invalid/non-human traffic that you don't want to display paid banner ads to. By defining the target IP addresses and setting the action to serve only house ads, those IP addresses won't be counted as impressions/views/clicks for sponsored banner advertising because they won't be served sponsored ads. Or you could redirect to a page or a pop-up with a message that the IP address is suspected of being non-human traffic and a number to call if not the case. That IP could then be removed from the target segment.

So, in the example above, the segment will include all users coming from IP address xx.xxx.20.80 using Safari OR from IP address xx.xxx.145.194 or 24.xxx.xxx.10 using Mozilla 5.0 OR, etc...

Note that only OR logic is used in Account segmenting and that you can enter multiple IP addresses and user agents in each field.

To create a segment of ALL users, both known and unknown, enter the IP address 1.0.0.0/1. This will include all possible IP addresses and, by extension, all users who visit your site.

Step 3 – Action

"Action" is where you define the action to be taken for the identified segment, e.g. a website pop-up or ad targeting.

Types of Actions include: Pop-Up, Redirect, Ad Target, Email

You can use any existing actions by clicking in the "Select Actions" field and selecting the action (see screenshot below) or create a new action (see A-D below).

Hover over an action to see details (see screenshot below).

A. Create Pop-Up

1. Click "New action".
2. Give the action a name and description (optional).
3. Click "Next".
4. Complete the fields as shown below.
5. Click "Next".

Upon clicking "Next", you'll have an opportunity to review the action and "Save" or go "Back" to make changes.

Upon clicking "Save", you'll be returned to the "Define action to take" window where you'll see the name of the saved action in the action field. (See below.)

Click "Next" to continue to Step 4 – Review and Save.

When a pop-up action is in effect, a pop-up will appear for the specified target segment in the designated domains and sections at the set frequency and priority level. Please see example below.

Note that the display opt-out will appear only if checked when creating the pop-up action.

B. Create Redirect

1. Click "New action".
2. Give the action a name and description (optional).
3. Click "Next".
4. Complete the fields as shown below.
5. Click "Next".

Upon clicking "Next", you'll have an opportunity to review the action and "Save" or go "Back" to make changes.

Upon clicking "Save", you'll be returned to the "Define action to take" window where you'll see the name of the saved action in the action field. (See below.)

Click "Next" to continue to Step 4 – Review and Save.

When a redirect is in effect, the redirect will occur for the specified target segment in the designated domains and sections at the set frequency and priority level. There is user no opt-out option for this action.

C. Create Ad Target

In order for ad targeting to work, the ad code on your site must be updated so that it will accept and process Key and Value variables. GCN will provide you with the correct code.

1. Click "New action".
2. Give the action a name and description (optional).
3. Click "Next".
4. Complete the fields as shown below.
5. Click "Next".

Upon clicking "Next", you'll have an opportunity to review the action and "Save" or go "Back" to make changes.

Upon clicking "Save", you'll be returned to the "Define action to take" window where you'll see the name of the saved action in the action field. (See below.)

Click "Next" to continue to Step 4 – Review and Save.

When an ad target is in effect, only those ads specified by Key and Value will display for the specified target segment on the designated domains and sections at the set frequency and priority level. There is user no opt-out option for this action.

- In Revive/OpenX, these variables are created under Inventory > Banner > Delivery Options > Add Delivery Limitation > Site-Variable > Add > enter Key and Value variables. These variables are of your choosing and can be text or numbers.

D. Create Email

1. Click "New action".
2. Give the action a name and description (optional).
3. Click "Next".
4. Complete the fields as shown below.
5. Click "Next".

Upon clicking "Next", you'll have an opportunity to review the action and "Save" or go "Back" to make changes.

Upon clicking "Save", you'll be returned to the "Define action to take" window where you'll see the name of the saved action in the action field. (See below.)

Click "Next" to continue to Step 4 – Review and Save.

When an email action is in effect, the email will be sent to the specified target segment on the designated domains and sections at the set frequency and priority level. There is user no opt-out option for this action.