Why Ad-hoc Visits Matter

Posted by: Matt Shanahan

Okay, I’ll admit it—I’m a bit of an information junkie. I’m constantly digging for new information about the things I care about—fact, figures, and interesting new perspectives. I like to find and leverage information. At least half of the information that I use day-to-day, I get from the Internet.

And while I might process more information than the average person, I gather it in the standard way. Information gathering (i.e., visits) pretty much comes in two flavors—routine and ad hoc—each offering its own opportunities to the publisher.

Routine visits are by definition, pattern-based. Routine visits involve specific topics and content on a regular basis. Routine visits might be what you read daily over your morning cup of coffee, what you stay updated on weekly as a part of your job, or content that you need when you close your monthly books. It is specific, time-based usage.

Ad-hoc visits are very different. Ad-hoc visits are event driven. The visit is for a specific reason—maybe the visit is to support a short-term project, because of a breaking story, or result from some research.

Routine visits are important to publishers because its usage that they can count on. Routine visits represent the money that’s in the bank so to speak. It’s the ad-hoc visits that provide the growth opportunity. Ad-hoc visits represent the potential for incremental revenue over the routine by converting the visit into an action, a lead, or a routine visitor.

The trick for content providers is to detect the type of visit—routine or ad hoc—and then adjust the presented editorial or offer to match the interest of the visitor. Behavioral analytics does just that—provides a lens to determine whether the visit is a one-time deal or is part of a larger pattern. Once this is known, publishers can start serving up highly targeted offers to ad-hoc visitors that demonstrates the deeper value of the site and drives the top line.