Targeting 101: Reaching the Right Audience
Every campaign is different. Keywords and targets that perform well on other ad platforms won't necessarily have the same success rate on RTX Platform.
The same principle applies to the different types of RTX Platform campaigns. Keywords from an InText campaign, for example, are not always optimized for a Pops campaign.
Even if the campaigns promote the same offer, a high volume keyword or target from one campaign can get little to no volume in another campaign if it isn't properly formatted.
Targeting Tips by Campaign Type
Understanding how matching varies with each campaign type is a must for optimal targeting, and following the best practices outlined below will ensure you're adding the best possible keywords and targets to your campaign.
Targeting Tips For All Campaign Types
Target broader. The more keywords or targets you add to a campaign, the more likely it is to get volume.
Opt for short tail. Short tail keywords and targets match more broadly than longer words or phrases, which makes them more likely to get impressions.
Use spellcheck. Targeting misspelled words is sometimes a good way to get cheap impressions, but they won't match as often as a word that is spelled correctly. Often, misspelled keywords/targets will get little to no volume.
Bid competitively. Use your Smart Bid and Bid Graph to ensure you win the impression when your keyword/target competes with other matches.
Be relevant. Add keywords or targets that relate to your niche and are consistent with your offer.
Optimizing InText Keywords
InText keywords are stemming match. Stemming automatically includes closely related keywords to maximize your campaign's impact.
One to two word keywords get more volume than longer tailed keywords.
Words and phrases that appear commonly in written content on the web get more volume than more obscure terminology.
Avoid adding keyword phrases that sound like search queries (i.e. find stolen phone). Instead, opt for words that are likely to appear together in a sentence.
Avoid adding URLs as keywords. They'll only match if the URL is written out on the page.
Avoid "wildcard" characters. These are only supported on Pops.
Optimizing Pops Targets
There are three types of Pops targets, and each matches uniquely for impressions. Once you grasp the concept of Pops matching, you can structure your targets in all sorts of ways to use them to their full potential.
Bid on all traffic with a single run of network target. This is a great way to discover new domains that convert well, or you can broaden your reach at a low cost by keeping a run of network target in your campaign at a low bid.
Use our reporting suite or append the {domain} macro to track the domains your targets are matching. Then, add those domains as targets with higher bids to increase volume. If certain domains don't convert well for your offer, you can add them as Blacklisted Domains.
Pops targets can match on search engine results pages (SERPS). To target a SERP, just add a keyword phrase containing the search engine and query. For example, bing.com car insurance would match on Bing queries containing the words car and insurance.
Use an asterisk as a "wildcard" character to target broadly on keyword variations and misspellings.
Avoid adding variations of the same target, especially if you're placing fixed bids (That's what wildcards are for!). Targets that overlap and compete for the same impressions can drive up your spend and increase your Smart Bids. Although this strategy can be a a good way to broaden your reach on other ad platforms, target variations can actually work against you on RTX Platform.
To cut back on spend while maintaining competitive bids, place proxy bids instead of fixed bids.
TIP: With Conversion Boost℠: Quality Tiers℠, our machine-learning algorithm intelligently categorizes your traffic into three Quality Tiers based on your conversion likelihood. Customize your bids for each tier depending on the traffic you want. Raising Quality Tier sliders makes your bids for that tier more competitive. Competitive bids not only help you increase volume from a Quality Tier, but can also bring in even higher quality traffic from that tier. You can find this feature on the Campaign Settings page of your Pops campaigns.
NOTE: Pops targets that will not receive impressions based on our users' current browsing habits will be labeled "Low Volume" in the status column of your campaign's Targets tab.
Want Personalized Targeting Tips?
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