“We tend to be in groups that closely resemble our own persona. We tend to buy or subscribe to the same things as done by our lookalikes.” This is the underlying philosophy of lookalike modeling adopted by ad agencies and marketers around the globe. With this approach, they seek to identify new prospects who closely match the existing customers’ persona, with the belief that they will convert better than others.
What is driving this new trend?
Marketers are today utilising lookalike modeling to significantly expand the range and depth of ways (both online and offline) used to target potential customers and identify the ones most likely to convert. The huge amount of data available at different points of the customer journey (from cookies to customer data platforms like CRMs) plus the growing penetration of big data analytics, means one clear thing – lookalike modeling is definitely giving an edge to marketers adopting the technique for ramping up their marketing campaigns for better gains.
What can be tracked?
Numerous data points can be tracked to see if a new prospect matches the existing users or customers. The most basic one is demographic based targeting. However, as the sample increases (for example men aged 18-35) the relevance of a niche sample keeps decreasing. With lookalike modeling, this limitation can be removed efficiently. The technique employs statistical and analytical methods to assess the characteristics, online browsing signals, and features of a ‘seed set’ that forms the basis for determining the perfect lookalike target groups.
Why is it important?
The biggest advantage of lookalike modeling is its ability to merge the offline-online data signals to provide a seamless picture of the perfect segment of likely customers worth targeting. It brings together diverse purchase signals like on-site actions, engagement through email campaigns, in-app usage, call center contacts, and e-commerce product reviews. This has a better chance of providing a more accurate picture of lookalikes that match your most influential or high-value customers.
How can it be accomplished?
Some basic ways in which lookalike modeling is utilised include the below –
- Social Media – You have the option to build your likely customer list from a seed list on the social media platform. An example is the Facebook Lookalike Audiences, which helps marketers to create a list based on which page they visited. Based on the target pointers they are assessing, they can determine how broad or how niche they want the targeting to be
- Search Engines – Similar Audiences through Google Match too helps optimise bidding tactics around high-potential prospects that are very likely interested in the products
- Direct mail – Specialized list providers now collect a vast repository of data around a particular mail ID. This helps them to provide similar matches to a particular profile and provide marketers with a chance to reach out to these lookalikes for better conversion possibilities
To wrap up
It will be a smart move to check out this technique to ensure that new customers are on-boarded quicker owing to their lookalike persona that matches existing or high-value customers.
