We recently executed an online campaign for a software application that improves Web site functionality and helps drive Web visitors to a company's brick-and-mortar locations (reducing the load on corporate call centers).

We targeted two groups: 1) call center managers and other business titles, and 2) webmasters, content managers and other technical titles. Each group received a message tailored to the particular pain points (and benefits) most relevant to that audience.

The results were surprising, if not unprecedented. The call center/business group performed at far better rates than did the Web/technical audience, so much so that in a follow-up campaign now in development, we're dropping the Web audience entirely.

This highlights a challenge that many high-tech companies face, namely: do we target the group that actually uses the technology and derives a personal or business benefit from it, or do we target the group that's responsible for sourcing, evaluating and approving the purchase of the product?

The difference in response rate is seldom dramatic, but more times than not, we see better numbers from the end-user audience. It's not hard to see why. A business manager is more likely to be "feeling the pain" that a particular product or service solves, and therefore is more inclined to request information on how to solve that problem. An IT manager or other technical decision-maker may well be the person that would ultimately approve the purchase, but he or she may not be dealing with the relevant issues or problems on a day-to-day basis, and therefore is less likely to respond.

Particularly in today's economic climate, there's a tendency to want to target the decision-maker as much as possible, in order to close deals more quickly (in theory, anyway). Occasionally that makes sense, but only if that decision-maker is feeling the right "pain" such that your message will resonate with him or her. Targeting end users may extend the sales cycle, but it's also likely to generate a larger number of genuine sales opportunities - that is, companies or individuals with the problem that you can solve.

As always, the best option is to test. Split the audience into different categories, code the responses accordingly, and gauge what works best for your particular product or service.