It’s time for marketing leaders to move beyond traditional TV measurement standards and center their approach around metrics that reflect true consumer reach and sales KPIs. As we discuss in our 2021 video advertising trends report, many brands continue to face budget constraints, making it more important than ever to prioritize measurable opportunities when planning for the next year.
The good news is that the data capabilities that come with the growth of streaming and digital viewership make it possible to effectively measure the outcomes of TV and video investments. This is where Data Plus Math comes in: its measurement and attribution solution helps advertisers understand the impact of their TV campaigns.
I recently spoke with Jason Moe, Vice President of Business Development at LiveRamp, about how Data Plus Math enables outcome-based TV buying and what advertisers should do to advance their measurement strategies.
Brooke Isaak: Tell us a bit more about Data Plus Math and how you enable outcome-based TV buying.
Jason Moe: Data Plus Math is a cross-screen measurement and attribution solution that enables marketers to measure TV’s impact on audiences and business outcomes at scale, across screens and formats. With advanced reporting and granular insights, brands and their agencies can make smarter TV investments that boost the bottom line. TV sellers can also prove the value of their TV viewership.
We enable outcome-based TV buying by allowing you to connect your media to results such as:
- True reach and frequency across TV, digital video ads, CTV platforms, and premium audio
- Conversion and attribution reporting for various online and offline conversions
- Incrementality of conversions driven by TV
- Granular insights by network, daypart, creative, and audience
- Baseline creation over benchmark periods for outcome forecasting
BI: How has the measurement space evolved as streaming and digital video viewing continue to grow?
JM: Once upon a time, the only standard unit of measurement was the gross rating point (GRP), which dictated brand advertising costs and set CPMs. It reported on age and gender demographic impressions culled from panels. Marketing leaders today continue to hold their agencies accountable for TV CPMs rather than using metrics that reflect true consumer reach and sales KPIs.
However, with the growth of streaming and digital viewership, digital marketing and its foundation in data has emerged as a platform to effectively measure and manage reach, engagement, frequency, impressions, and business outcomes almost instantly.
Unfortunately for marketers, the legacy system for planning and buying TV ad time does not reflect this shift in viewership, and it does not meet advertisers’ needs. As a result, wasted impressions and diminished returns are too common when spending on TV these days.
BI: How do you help brands and agencies prove their campaigns are driving conversions?
JM: We think it comes down to a four-step process:
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- Managing cross-screen frequency: Marketers can utilize cross-screen measurement with business outcomes, such as website visits, to identify the frequency-per-household saturation point.
- Providing suppression audiences: Once marketers know the saturation point, they can find households already seeing too many exposures in linear and suppress them from their addressable/CTV/OTT targeting.
- Measuring outcomes: Marketers must understand in near real-time if their video advertising drives searches, website visits, or even sales.
- Encouraging agencies to test and learn: Every brand and agency is navigating deep changes to the ecosystem. Holding agencies accountable to the lowest CPM possible is not the right path to better business outcomes for most brands.
BI: Advertisers are hungry for cross-platform measurement. What can they do to improve visibility across screens and have a better understanding of their investments?
JM: A few recent advancements are allowing brands the possibility to unlock cross-platform measurement. Investment in an identity solution allows measurement tools to infer exactly who is seeing the advertisement in a safe, privacy-compliant fashion. Data connectivity, an approach we are aggressively pushing in the market, empowers brands to develop, target, and measure consistently across channels. Lastly, the evolution of miscellaneous tools and technologies, like the availability of multiple data sources, set-top boxes (STBs), and smart TV automated content recognition (ACR), creates the ability to measure with more granularity. Together, they allow for holistic cross-screen measurement that has not been available previously.
BI: How can advertisers ensure they’re reaching incremental audiences with their CTV and OTT buys compared to traditional linear TV buys?
JM: Cross-screen measurement usually shows brands that CPMs are not the best metric to use to hold their agencies accountable, and this new form of measurement gives new metrics to focus on. To understand how different screens complement each other, TV advertisers will need to get into the market and test, measure, and learn how best to reach their target audiences across multiple devices. Using custom audiences, for example, to target homes that are getting low levels of exposure to a brand’s linear TV campaigns with reach extensions in CTV/OTT could be the right approach to maximizing reach and business impact.
BI: What is the biggest area of opportunity for measurement in the coming year?
JM: We believe there are actually multiple opportunities for measurement. It all begins with the consumer experience. Consumers are driving the changes we’ve discussed. It’s important to navigate consumer changes and rise to meet them. Additionally, TV networks and studios will continue to produce high-quality content. It’s time marketers reciprocate their commitment to content with a commitment to a thoughtful data and measurement strategy. Lastly, an appetite to test and invest—understanding new tools, implementing cross-screen measurement, and building new systems and processes—will allow marketers to navigate an ever-evolving ecosystem.
Visit SpotX Explorer, the world’s largest online portfolio of premium video inventory, to plan your next campaign.
As a Manager on the Strategic Partnerships Team at SpotX, Brooke Isaak is focused on curating strategies with third-party vendors to prove out the unique value of spending on CTV and OLV media. Brooke’s area of focus is measurement, attribution, and rich media, and she works heavily with the SpotX Demand and Global Teams. She graduated from the University of Denver with a bachelor’s degree from the top-ranked Daniels School of Business. Brooke has been a part of the SpotX team for four years.