Modes Of Online Behaviour
StumbleUponIt's a curious property of ideas that they occur, independently, to a number of different people at the same time, brought to life by circumstances. In the case of the idea of modes of online behaviour it's clearly an idea whose time has come, says Michael Nutley...
By Michael Nutley
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It's a curious property of ideas that they occur, independently, to a number of different people at the same time, brought to life by circumstances. That's certainly the case with the idea of modes of online behaviour; it's clearly an idea whose time has come.
It first came to my attention this summer, when a participant at an NMA roundtable on online advertising started talking about how little we know about the way people behave online, and in particular how this relates to online advertising. He contrasted this with how much we know about how people consume television and print advertising, for example.
Then, shortly afterwards, agency Panlogic produced some research into the online behaviour of 17-22 year-olds, and identified three separate modes: fun-seeking, focused and enthusiast. It also pointed out that while users had a dominant mode for each session, they could easily slip between them. The compelling conclusion was that targeting of online ads needed not just to take account of user demographics, it also needed to consider the frame of mind these users were likely to be in when they saw the ads, based on the type of content surrounding them.
This was followed later in the summer by a number of media owners, particularly in the US, starting to adopt behavioural tracking techniques to further improve ad targeting. These allow customers to be tracked much more closely, and therefore indicate to which ads they are most likely to be receptive.
The next stage of this work was announced at the end of last month. ISP Wanadoo and media agency OMD produced research that matched advertising formats to demographics and modes of behaviour.
Of course, some of this simply codifies existing knowledge, or provides a rationale for anecdotal evidence. For example, while pop-ups are almost universally reviled by users, they can produce excellent click-through rates. This had previously, and somewhat unconvincingly, been attributed to users trying unsuccessfully to close them. This view has already been undermined by findings from brand measurement firm Dynamic Logic that showed that what actually irritated people about pop-ups was not the pop-up-ness, but the lack of relevance. What the Wanadoo/OMD research suggests is that it's not just relevance to the surrounding subject matter that counts, but relevance to the viewer's frame of mind.
Taken more broadly, this implies an extremely sophisticated level of targeting, one that offline organisations have struggled to achieve for years. It also suggests that talk about the Internet becoming a mass-medium, while feeling like a validation for those of us who have been struggling on the margins of acceptance, is missing the point.
Because what we're really looking at is not a mass market, but a mass of niche markets. We may never achieve one of the original dreams of online advertising, of narrowing our focus down to a market of one, but as the targeting improves, so does the conversion rate. But online offers another benefit; cost. And the ability to reach niche audiences with precisely targeted marketing messages at low cost implies the possibility of a fundamental shift in the way we do business, of the fulfilment of another early dream of e-commerce; mass personalisation of products as well as marketing messages.
About the author:
Michael Nutley is the editor of New Media Age.
Register and post your own comments on this article below...
Register and post your own comments on this article below...
It's a curious property of ideas that they occur, independently, to a number of different people at the same time, brought to life by circumstances. That's certainly the case with the idea of modes of online behaviour; it's clearly an idea whose time has come.
It first came to my attention this summer, when a participant at an NMA roundtable on online advertising started talking about how little we know about the way people behave online, and in particular how this relates to online advertising. He contrasted this with how much we know about how people consume television and print advertising, for example.
Then, shortly afterwards, agency Panlogic produced some research into the online behaviour of 17-22 year-olds, and identified three separate modes: fun-seeking, focused and enthusiast. It also pointed out that while users had a dominant mode for each session, they could easily slip between them. The compelling conclusion was that targeting of online ads needed not just to take account of user demographics, it also needed to consider the frame of mind these users were likely to be in when they saw the ads, based on the type of content surrounding them.
This was followed later in the summer by a number of media owners, particularly in the US, starting to adopt behavioural tracking techniques to further improve ad targeting. These allow customers to be tracked much more closely, and therefore indicate to which ads they are most likely to be receptive.
The next stage of this work was announced at the end of last month. ISP Wanadoo and media agency OMD produced research that matched advertising formats to demographics and modes of behaviour.
Of course, some of this simply codifies existing knowledge, or provides a rationale for anecdotal evidence. For example, while pop-ups are almost universally reviled by users, they can produce excellent click-through rates. This had previously, and somewhat unconvincingly, been attributed to users trying unsuccessfully to close them. This view has already been undermined by findings from brand measurement firm Dynamic Logic that showed that what actually irritated people about pop-ups was not the pop-up-ness, but the lack of relevance. What the Wanadoo/OMD research suggests is that it's not just relevance to the surrounding subject matter that counts, but relevance to the viewer's frame of mind.
Taken more broadly, this implies an extremely sophisticated level of targeting, one that offline organisations have struggled to achieve for years. It also suggests that talk about the Internet becoming a mass-medium, while feeling like a validation for those of us who have been struggling on the margins of acceptance, is missing the point.
Because what we're really looking at is not a mass market, but a mass of niche markets. We may never achieve one of the original dreams of online advertising, of narrowing our focus down to a market of one, but as the targeting improves, so does the conversion rate. But online offers another benefit; cost. And the ability to reach niche audiences with precisely targeted marketing messages at low cost implies the possibility of a fundamental shift in the way we do business, of the fulfilment of another early dream of e-commerce; mass personalisation of products as well as marketing messages.
About the author:
Michael Nutley is the editor of New Media Age.
Register and post your own comments on this article below...
Comments
Patrick_Kirk said:
Consumption of online media <p>This is an interesting idea, and worthy of further research. Thinking about it, I've realised that my own behaviour online has changed over the years. When I'm working I surf the net a lot, looking for specific information, assessing clients' sites etc. But in my own time, I find I surf a lot less than I used to. Nowadays, I stick to a couple of trusted news sites (BBC, Guardian), and a handful of reliable commerce sites (Amazon etc.). A few years ago, I would have spent a lot more time on social emails, or looking for random interesting/funny/weird websites just for the hell of it. Is this a trend, or is it just me? Has anyone done any research?<br/></p>
JohnOdell said:
Getting older / Narrowing the focus <p>Patrick, I think one of the key factors here is to do with you getting older! I've experienced the same change in my personal use of the internet over the past few years - especially where social emailing and visiting a small circle of regular sites is concerned. <br/> <br/>In terms of narrowing the focus, I think that the key is the blended use of different technologies and approaches to deliver our messges - partially to hit the target from all angles, but also to give each individual a choice over how they are engaged. This comes back to the mood / mode of the user and can be seen in the difficulties and massive potential with SMS marketing. <br/></p>
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