Being able to target a user with the right ad at the right time is becoming a requisite for display advertising campaigns. Behavioural retargeting offers advertisers and agencies the necessary solution to advertise to a targeted audience – but success is ultimately dependent on good technology.

Successful companies in the space are rolling out platforms capable of reaching users - based on intent data - across portals, ad networks and ad exchanges. One of the leading companies in the BT area is London-based Struq.

Formed early this year, Struq helps clients serve user-specific ads to targeted audiences. So, how does it work?

Imagine a user has visited an ecommerce site, and started the process of buying a new laptop but failed to complete the order.

Using cookie data, Struq’s platform would help the e-tailor re-target the user with a display ad, indicating that they had not finished a particular purchase.

The ad would provide a call-to-action for the perspective buyer, leading back to the original incomplete order. These highly-targeted ads can be served to users while they’re visiting other sites.

Struq CEO Sam Barnett took time this week to speak to FarneyMedia about the company’s technology, how it can improve campaign performance, and why behavioural re-targeting should be used on both brand and CPA campaigns:

Can you explain how the Struq re-targeting technology works – and how it can benefit advertisers and agencies?

How it works

Struq's Pixeling Engine creates logic about users through their browsing activities on an advertisers site. When that user then leaves the advertisers site and browses the internet, Struq's Adserver is able to identify that user via a cookie. Struq's Matching engine than matches and recommends the most relevant advertiiser, product, price and marketing message based on the logic created about the user. Struq's Presentation engine then serves a dynamic ad which is customised in real time, tailored to the user's browsing activity. Each ad delivered by Struq is unique to a user’s interests and browsing activity, allowing advertisers to deliver the most relevant creative to users, driving engagement and conversion. To see a live demo have a look at http://www.struq.com/demo

Benefits

Relevant, informative advertising based on a user’s intent, results in higher click through rates and lower acquisition costs for advertisers. Struq’s solution was tested along with two behavioural targeting providers, an exchange and a blind network. Struq delivered 34% more sales and return on investment and 8 times more click conversions than the nearest rival. Intent data, exclusive proprietary technology, huge reach and tailored relevant ads result in superior performance and return on investment for advertisers.

How important is re-targeting to advertisers and agencies?

Traditional retagrting is important as users visit a site between 4 and 5 times on average before making a purchase. A user who has visited the advertiser site is potnetially in the purchase funnel (decision making process when buying a product) and is prequalified to be targeted when they leave the advertisers site. Therefore using retargeting from an agency and advertiser's perspective should be a vital part of their user acquisition strategy.

As opposed to other retargetting companies who can serve generic static ad to a user who has left the advertisers site, Struq adds additional value through tailoring that ad to the user based on their onsite activites, delivering relevant engaging ads which users are more likely to click and convert on.

How does Struq differentiate itself from competitors offering a similar service in the European market?

We differ from standard re targeting providers through our ability serve dynamic display ads customized on a users behaviour. There are a few select companies worldwide who offer a similar service but we are able to deliver superior performance for advertisers to those competitors through Struq's Pixeling, Adserving, Matching and Presensetation engines which have been developed with the brightest scientists and mathemeticians from leading London Universities.

Is retargeting specifically for CPA campaigns? Can it work just as well in brand campaigns?

There is a tendancy for agencies to think we are a pure Direct Response product becasue of our ability to deliver superior performance from their online advertising budgets. However we were recently approached by an agency to use Struq's technology for a brand campaign. We found Dynamic Display Advertising certainly works for brand campaigns. We found advertisers are able to improve the users experience with the brand through tailoring a message to a user, as they really engage with the ad and the advertiser's brand, increasing the impact of the advertiser's brand and brand messaging to that user.

Do you think display advertising is becoming more about audience and less about context?

Context certainly has a part to play for advertisers running online advertising campaigns. However Behaviorial advertising (which allows advertisers to target that audience out of context), has shown and proven it's ability to deliver superior performance and greater reach for advertisers.