One of the biggest challenges of marketing is trying to make every dollar count. For many businesses, marketing dollars are like casino money: You don’t know if you are going to walk away with a big profit or a big loss. However, there is one way to effectively put every single marketing dollar to work. It’s a proven and exciting method that allows you to pinpoint each of your customers. Known as IP targeting, you can make it easy to reach the exact customer you want online.
What is IP targeting?
With IP targeting, you are directing ads towards a specific IP address. An IP address is an individual label used to identify devices on a computer network. Therefore, when you are using IP targeting, you are targeting a specific person online.
How does IP targeting work?
You will be matching the IP address to a list of names and physical addresses. There is now technology and software available that makes it easy for you to get the IP address of just about anyone’s physical address. Who owns this IP can also be determined using these tools, providing more information about the individual or organization associated with the address.
How effective is IP targeting?
IP targeting can be extremely effective because you are directing your marketing dollars to the exact person you wish to communicate with. This is ideal if you are selling a product or service with a limited market. Contrast that to buying a billboard where thousands of people can pass by an ad that is only relevant to a small percentage of viewers.
Is IP Targeting legal?
You will want to avoid getting the IP addresses of people whom you haven’t had previous contact with. To be more specific, you don’t want to use IP targeting on “cold traffic” because U.S. privacy laws prohibit matching IP addresses to PII (Personally Identifiable Information) of complete strangers.
Advantages of IP targeting
There is a great chance that you already have a mailing list of people. You can take that list and get the IP addresses of those individuals. From there, you will be able to upload that list to an ad service provider such as Facebook or Google. Now, you will be able to launch an IP targeting campaign.
Select the exact customers you wish to target
With IP targeting, you can take your list and target the exact customers with the exact message that you want them to see. For instance, you can take your list and target people of a certain demographic or certain income level. This will make your marketing dollars as effectively as possible.
You can combine print and digital marketing
With IP targeting, you will already have the mailing addresses of these individuals. Therefore, you can combine direct mail with digital marketing. This can help make your brand look bigger and keep your brand top of mind to your target.
Easy to track the effectiveness of IP targeting
With IP targeting, you will know exactly which person you were able to convert. That data will help you refine your marketing communications and allow you to make your messaging even more effective.
One downside to IP targeting
You already know that IP targeting is one of the most effective ways to communicate with your customers. However, it is important that you know about one big potential downside of IP targeting. The big downside is that some of your customers may be unreachable if they are using a VPN network.
A VPN network is known as a Virtual Private Network. With a VPN, an online user can connect online anonymously. Users of VPN will not be able to be identified or tracked. This is something you should consider when using IP targeting.
IP targeting is one of the most specific ways you can communicate to your customers. All you need is a lead list of names and addresses. From there, you can use available software to get the IP addresses of the people on your list. Your IP targeting campaign will allow you to tailor a specific online message to your target customer. By using IP targeting effectively, you will be able to make your marketing dollars go further.
Tarah Mills has always had a passion for writing. Her philosophy is that not only can writing be educational, but it can change the world. While she is dedicated to her work, she still enjoys a good game of basketball, curling up to a good book, and all things Star Wars. She currently resides in the Richmond, Virginia area with her family.
