Is every high-affinity dimension I see in Targeting Ideas good to target?

Whether you are analyzing your audiences with Audience Map or Targeting Ideas, it is important to keep in mind your overall marketing strategy when determining which dimensions to target. Not every dimension with a high affinity and large audience size makes a good target. You want to identify which ones might influence your customers to buy your product or service.

The lookalike audience that you are analyzing in Audience Map may reveal, as indicated by a dark red color, a strong correlation (i.e. affinity) between women interested in wedding dresses and those who are likely to be interested in your product. But this relationship could exist for a number of reasons. Perhaps your product appeals to women of marrying age, for instance. So, of course, a lot of them might also demonstrate an interest in wedding dresses. It may or may not be that interest in wedding dresses is the motivation for purchasing your product. However, if you happen to be selling wedding planning or photography services, it very well may be.

This isn’t to say, however, that you should completely dismiss other dimensions with high affinity. They still help to paint a picture of your ideal audience. You may even find that certain high-affinity dimensions can be used to focus on certain parts of your audience, perhaps by tailoring ad content to those individuals. But you should be interested primarily in identifying the dimensions that influence behavior. Those are the attributes that truly drive conversions and increase sales.