Context
Digital analytics have come a long way in the past couple years. More reliable tracking mechanisms, advanced software, and broader understanding of how to measure the impact of channels has made us all smarter. However, we’ve also become guilty of occasionally jumping to conclusions too quickly now that we can see performance by channel on a minute to minute basis. We may inject spend into test cells that appear to be performing well only to find what appeared to be a great pocket of performance was actually a statistical blip. Or, we may pull money out of seemingly under-performing channels and discover overall program results plummet because cause and effect correlations were not taken into consideration. There are many victims of overzealous budget re-allocation but Display Prospecting tends to be one of the most popular.
Recommendation
Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing the high ROIs from dynamic remarketing and the low CPAs from advanced search strategies boost overall results. But, I try not to forget where the qualified volume came from to support a successful remarketing program or where the awareness came from to deliver branded search results.
We recently ran a series of controlled tests within the retail space to quantify... Read more
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Tagged 'attribution' 
Changes To One Marketing Channel Can Impact Others By 70% or More
Tags: attribution, Media Planning & Buying, models
Posted in Media Planning & Buying | No Comments »
Embracing the Attribution Revolution
Last week, Magnetic hosted the Attribution Revolution, an event in New York City that featured a panel discussion comprised of some of the greatest minds in digital ad measurement, to debate the hottest topic in today’s digital space – attribution. But while attribution has remained top of mind for marketers for some time, the industry as a whole continues to debate over the best way to measure the value of media performance across channels.
Panelists included Bill Kee, Product Manager at Google; Jeff Greenfield, COO & Co-Founder of C3 Metrics; John Bates, Product Manager for Predictive Marketing Solutions at Adobe; and Paul Pellman, CEO of Adometry. Moderated by myself, the event provided an opportunity for each company to share their opinions on the topic and debate over which method is most effective. Additionally, we had great participation from the audience, which fueled questions around QR codes, offline and online measurement and implementation.
Below, I’ve outlined a few key takeaways from the panel:
Attribution currently captures all of the effects that offline media has in the digital space. But as television and print channels begin to recognize and embrace digital, marketing mixes will begin to shift. Attribution now offers digital media the opportunity to engage in a conversation on its own... Read more
Tags: advertising measurement, attribution, attribution revolution, digital advertising, Digital Marketing, james green, magnetic search retargeting, media measurement
Posted in Media Planning & Buying, Opinions, Search, Targeting | No Comments »
Facebook to GM – “Got Measurement?” (Ford Does)
C3 Metrics CEO Explains Why Facebook Needs Attribution Now
Rumors of Facebook’s advertising fall from grace are greatly exaggerated.
We could throw some bricks at GM—claim that their announcement yanking $10 million in advertising from Facebook is a pure publicity stunt from its CMO, telling the ad industry it can’t be swayed by anyone.
But the more likely story is this.
Digital Advertising Measurement Is A Lie & GM Believes It
GM has failed to be the truly analytical advertiser it should be. It has believed the lie of online advertising followed by a herd of advertisers. The lie isn’t that Facebook ads don’t work.
The lie is that measurement of online advertising uses woefully flawed systems built 15 years ago. 90% of top advertisers are still falling victim to this lie. GM is using antiquated measurement equivalent to a yardstick only 2 inches long.
It’s called the last ad problem.
Even the smartest Silicon Valley technologists and Madison Avenue experts are barely familiar with the chasm of the last ad problem, so it’s worth illustrating:
Last Ad In Wins is For Losers
Imagine an Internet purchase on Zappos. A consumer sees a contextual display ad for a jacket on Facebook because their friend just liked or commented on it. ... Read more
Tags: attribution, Facebook
Posted in Ad Networks, Ad Serving | 2 Comments »
Why Your Mother Can Buy Media Better Than You – C3 Metrics on Fractional Attribution
As Mother’s Day approaches, many of us remember quotes from our moms--simple sayings which may not have rung true then, but are timeless now. Among them: “If all your friends jumped off a cliff…would you do it too?”
It’s obvious, but sometimes it takes a mother to show us that the well-worn path is not always the right path. And this is why your mother can actually buy media better than you.
Some Historical Perspective
See, here’s what she knew that can help online marketers right now. All online ad tracking systems used today are legacy systems built 15 years ago. They erroneously give all credit for a conversion to the very last ad in line. So if 10 ads were involved from the top of the conversion funnel to the bottom, the bottom one gets all credit. You’ve heard of line cutters (folks who cut in line), these are funnel cutters—stealing all the credit by jumping in at the end. Why do we still measure everything this way? Because that’s the way it was done, and we’re following everyone right off the media cliff.
We Are To Believe What?
Today, all those tracking systems have just one slot for which an online ad is... Read more
Tags: attribution, viewable impressions
Posted in Ad Networks, Ad Serving, Media Planning & Buying, Opinions, Research, Web Analytics | No Comments »
"All Politics Is Digital" — Metrics Matter More Than Ever
Tip O’Neil once said, "all politics is local." Let me rephrase that for the ought-decade. All politics is digital. And to go one step further, all politics is branding.
I don't think I need to make a case for politics being digital, so I won't bore you with that. But politics is branding. And just like a brand, political campaigns and political issue initiatives need to know where their customers come from. In politics the customers are different. They’re called voters, donors, influencers, or volunteers. By identifying the media patterns of those “constituents” and ensuring that ads you run to support a campaign are relevant and visible, campaigns can act like the most successful brands.
Political Campaigns Are Brands
This ability to advertise to constituents like the most successful brands becomes eminently more urgent because of two trends. The first is the SuperPAC. SuperPACs are the Super Bowl of political spending. They are the force to dominate the battle of the airwaves with big impact. But as any battle tested brand knows, eventually you need to reach constituents on a micro level, giving way to the second most important trend in a political race: micro-donations. Here's what I mean. Four years and three... Read more
Tags: advertising, attribution, marketing metrics, politics
Posted in Emerging Platforms, Media Planning & Buying, Web Analytics | No Comments »
