Advanced Targeting in Email Zones

AdButler supports powerful targeting capabilities within email zones by utilizing query parameters in the image portion of your email ad tags. This allows you to serve highly relevant ads based on subscriber data, keywords, and custom data keys pulled directly from your email marketing platform. How Email Targeting Works

All targeting data in email ads is passed into the <img> URL as query string parameters.

This includes:

kw= for keywords _abdk[KEY]=VALUE for data keys (key-value pairs)

These parameters can be dynamically populated using merge tags (also known as personalization or substitution strings) provided by your email marketing platform. Example Email Ad Tag

<!-- Email Zone [email] -->
<a href="https://servedbyadbutler.com/go2/;ID=188576;size=728x90;setID=924349;uid=EMAIL_UID_HERE;" target="_blank">
  <img src="https://servedbyadbutler.com/e061c2b60/img-api/O0lEPTE4ODU3NjtzaXplPTcyOHg5MDtzZXRJRD05MjQzNDk7dHlwZT1pbWc%3D/?uid=EMAIL_UID_HERE&kw=KEYWORDS_HERE&_abdk[DATA_KEY]=DATA_KEY_VALUE_HERE" width="728" height="90">
</a>

In the above example:

kw=KEYWORDS_HERE is where you pass in one or more keywords to match against your AdButler campaign targeting.

_abdk[DATA_KEY]=DATA_KEY_VALUE_HERE is how you pass a custom key-value pair using a data key.

Passing Subscriber Data

You can dynamically inject subscriber information into your email tags using your email platform’s substitution strings.

For example, if your ESP (email service provider) supports substitution strings like [%SUBSCRIBER.STOREID%], you can pass it like this:

<img src="https://servedbyadbutler.com/.../?uid=EMAIL_UID_HERE&_abdk[StoreID]=[%SUBSCRIBER.STOREID%]">

In AdButler, you can then: - Create a Data Key called StoreID. - Set up a campaign or ad group targeting rule that matches on specific StoreID values. - Ensure the substitution string is replaced at send-time by your ESP.

Targeting with Keywords

You can also target ads using keywords by passing them as a comma-separated string in the kw parameter:

<img src="https://servedbyadbutler.com/.../?uid=EMAIL_UID_HERE&kw=clothing,shoes,sale">

In your AdButler campaigns:

• Add keyword targeting rules.
• Match ads to specific keyword combinations (e.g. clothing, sale, etc.).

Keywords can be static or dynamically inserted using your ESP's substitution syntax (e.g. kw=[%USER.INTERESTS%]). Combining Data Keys and Keywords

Both types of targeting can be used together:

<img src="https://servedbyadbutler.com/.../?uid=EMAIL_UID_HERE&kw=holiday,deals&_abdk[Region]=[%SUBSCRIBER.REGION%]">

This approach allows highly granular control over which ads are shown to which recipients—perfect for personalizing offers based on region, past purchases, loyalty tiers, etc.

Summary

Parameter Type Format Description Keywords kw=keyword1,keyword2 Used for simple keyword matching Data Keys _abdk[KeyName]=Value Used for key-value targeting (custom attributes) UID (Required) uid=EMAIL_UID_HERE Unique identifier per email user

Using AdButler's query-based targeting in email zones, you can ensure each recipient gets ads that are relevant, targeted, and optimized for performance—without compromising deliverability or relying on JavaScript.