AudienceScience, a targeting technology company driving digital media success, announces the results of a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AudienceScience on the current state of audience targeting. The overall findings indicate that audience targeting growth is on the rise as familiarity and confidence in the discipline increases, and that there has been a positive shift in marketers’ understanding about the impact of audience targeting on direct response and branding.

As recent as 2005, the phrase “audience targeting” had little to no recognition among marketers, and over the subsequent five years as the market has evolved, it has still faced challenges regarding the measurability of its impact on branding. Today, the results speak for themselves and marketers are gaining greater understanding of the synergy between audience targeting campaigns for both direct response and branding. That confidence is resulting in greater spend and overall growth of the market.

For this commissioned study, Forrester surveyed 156 display media marketers, representing a broad range of businesses with the results indicating that 77 percent of marketers surveyed currently use or plan to use audience targeting. 42 percent of marketers surveyed planning to begin or increase usage of audience targeting cited the ability to reach targeted consumers as a key driving factor in their decision making, and 32 percent cited the fact that they simply get better results than with other forms of targeting; other factors noted were scalability, cost savings, data quality and accuracy.

For most marketers surveyed, the value of targeted campaigns is tied directly to reaching financial goals, including ROI and campaign costs. According to Forrester’s Online Advertising And Classifieds Model; “US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2009 to 2014” (July 2009), projected spending on display advertising overall is expected to double from $8.4 billion in 2010 to close to $17 billion in 2014. A recent JP Morgan forecast corroborates this growth and notes that display advertising currently offers the greatest upside for marketers using targeting as U.S. consumers currently spend 38 percent of their media time online, while marketers are only spending eight percent of their marketing budgets to reach these audiences.

“The growth of AudienceScience serves as an example of the overall audience targeting trends demonstrated in this report,” said Jeff Hirsch, president and CEO of AudienceScience. “Increasingly, marketers are realising that audience targeting can deliver branding and direct response results, and that they can count on the channel for continued success. The trend toward shifting budgets online, and leveraging targeting for efficiency, will continue. AudienceScience offers marketers sophisticated technology and expertise that delivers targeted audiences and measurable ROI.”

To receive a copy of the AudienceScience whitepaper, please visit www.AudienceScience.com.