Microtargeting

Microtargeting involves focused targeting efforts at the level of the individual, the household, or a small group of customers. This requires narrowly [Page 1106]defining a particular niche market by specific characteristics and then tailoring campaigns to target them. Microtargeting grew in popularity since the 1980s because of the availability of electronic scanner data. Commercial direct marketers and firms mined large and sophisticated databases to target specific consumer segments. With the exponential growth of social media and “big-data” analysis in the 21st century, marketers have further finessed their microtargeting strategies.