Behavioral Targeting

The core problem behavioral targeting solves is waste. Traditional advertising casts a wide net—you pay to reach everyone, hoping some are interested. Behavioral targeting flips this: instead of interrupting random people, you find people who've already shown interest in your category and serve them relevant messages. Think of it like direct mail, but instead of mailing to every household on a block, you mail only to the ones who've already visited a competitor's store.

Here's how it works in practice: When someone visits your website, clicks on a product, adds something to their cart, or spends time reading about a topic, that action gets recorded. Platforms like Google, Meta, and programmatic ad networks use this data to build a profile of what that person cares about. Later, when that person is browsing other websites or social media, they see ads tailored to those interests. A person who spent 10 minutes reading about camping tents will see tent ads; someone who abandoned a luxury watch purchase will see retargeting ads for that exact watch.

In marketing tools, behavioral targeting shows up as audience segments. Your email platform lets you send different messages to people who opened your last email versus those who didn't. Your ad platform lets you target people who visited your pricing page but didn't sign up. Your website personalization tool shows different homepage content to first-time visitors versus repeat customers. All of these are behavioral targeting in action.

The practical implication for buying AI tools: Look for platforms that can capture, organize, and act on behavioral data in real time. Ask vendors how they handle data privacy (GDPR, CCPA), how quickly they update audience segments, and whether they can integrate behavioral data from multiple sources (website, email, CRM, ads). The best tools don't just collect behavior—they predict what behavior signals mean and automate responses.