It’s been reported that the Click Through Rate of an online ad can be improved by as much as 670 percent by properly targeting your audience, so what’s the best way to do it?

You can start by looking at sites that cater to people who are interested in your products and purchase display ads there. Targeted ads cost more than pay per click ads, but the additional cost leads to higher sales, so it’s definitely worth it.

There are many ways to target your ads: geographical, by location; demographic, by consumers’ age, sex, income, education, professions and cultural/ethnic background; behavioral, based on past web experience; and psychographic, based on lifestyles and personalities.

The first factor you should consider before you target your advertising is whether you have a clear definition of your target audience. Then develop a hierarchy of targeting importance based on your brand objectives. You should pre-test ads to determine which ones will play best with specific target audiences. Then monitor the performance of your targeting to determine which ads to play on different sites.

Discuss your targeting efforts with your agency or web design firm to determine how you will target your online advertising, which types of targeting you’ll try and which ads you can use for each target market.