Experience Targeting (XT)

Experience Targeting (XT) delivers content to a specific audience based on a set of marketer-defined rules and criteria.

Experience Targeting, including geo-targeting, is valuable for defining rules that target a specific experience or content to a particular audience. Several rules can be defined in an activity to deliver different content variations to different audiences.

When visitors view your site, Experience Targeting (XT) evaluates those visitors to determine whether they meet the criteria you set. If they meet the criteria, they enter the activity and the experience designed for qualifying audiences displays. You can create experiences for multiple audiences within a single activity.

Experience Targeting is a first step into the world of personalization and often begins with A/B testing. A marketer runs an A/B test, and by using reporting audiences discovers that different experiences resonate with different audiences. Experience Targeting lets the marketer easily use that discovery and switch to long-term targeting of content to those different user segments.

Scenario: Experience Targeting

Suppose your website features outdoor equipment. Your reports for A/B testing indicate that you have three experiences that resonate with different audiences. To apply this discovery, you want to display a different hero image on your homepage to appeal to these different audiences, depending on the visitors’ location or hobbies. In this scenario, you want to display a hiking image to visitors from New Jersey and a surfing image to visitors from Hawaii. You also have an audience that likes bicycling. You want to display a third hero image that appeals to your biking audience.

An Experience Targeting activity lets you target these three audiences with a different hero image that appeals to each audience. The video below, From A/B Testing to Experience Targeting shows you how to create experiences targeted to both states and a third experience targeted to biking enthusiasts. The video also shows you how to order the three experiences to achieve your goals. Watch the video, then continue with Create an Experience Targeting activity.

Training videos:

The following videos contain more information about the concepts discussed in this article.

From A/B testing to Experience Targeting

This video describes how to take A/B testing to the next level with Experience Targeting.

Activity Types (9:03)

This video explains the activity types available in Target. Experience Targeting is discussed beginning at 5:15.