Wondering where the future of programmatic lies? Find out why signal triangulation is the key to effective targeting and measurement, and how connected media through a single platform can maximise efficiency.
Joshua Wilson, our Commercial Director, JAPAC, recently had the pleasure to present on what the future of programmatic looks like for Crimtan to the Independent Media Agencies of Australia (IMAA).
Together with our ANZ Business Director, Laura Kleiman, he discussed the evolution of advertising, preparing for a cookie-less world, and an example of how we leveraged ourconnected media approach to help an APAC Tourism Board maximise efficiency.
In this article, Josh explains why he believes the future of programmatic is connected media, and how to get it right.
The evolution of advertising
Advertising has always evolved. 100 years ago, print was everywhere, then TV and radio advertising emerged. And today, we have everything from Facebook ads to Digital Out Of Home (DOOH), thanks to a significant global move towards digitisation of communication.
The online revolution has given birth to many new platforms and technology, which has made it much easier for advertisers to target audiences more effectively. Most media channels can now be purchased programmatically, and we have access to vast amounts of data.
But, despite the wealth of data available today, many marketers still find it difficult to gain insights. So why is this?
According to a research by Treasure Data, 47% of marketers say that silos are their biggest problem when it comes to gaining insights from data:
That’s the exact problem that our founders, Paul and Yuri, saw back in 2009. They were both frustrated by an industry that they saw was inefficient with different platforms operating in silos, and that’s how Crimtan was born.
Two reasons why advertisers need to prepare for a cookie-less world
With the clampdown on privacy, marketers need to start to think of ways to operate in a cookie-less world. With so many different channels operating in silos, marketers are finding it difficult to generate maximum efficiency from their ad spend.
The ability to target their customers effectively is even more important in the cookie-less world for two reasons.
The first reason is legislation. Many countries have already adopted stringent legislation around data privacy, requiring explicit consent from users in order to advertise to them. The Australian government is also navigating these changes, with legislation expected to change in the very near future.
The second reason is changes to technology. Changes to the way third-party cookies work across major browsers like Safari and changes to tracking on iOS operating systems all make it more difficult to find an audience and measure performance of your campaigns.
Why signal triangulation is the key to effective targeting
It is inarguable that data is key to achieve effective targeting and attribution. But the data available if used in silos is not scalable, accurate or effective. Let’s look at three types of data signals: deterministic, probabilistic and digital signal aggregation.
There are many data signals available in the technology space. And while there is no silver bullet for every device, iOS and channel, the best and most accurate data approach is to triangulate all the available signals in order to accurately target customers and measure performance of your campaigns.
Signal triangulation is the practice of using multiple signals or data obtained in different ways with different methods and then grouping that data based on consistencies.
Our take on data signal triangulation is taking both probabilistic and deterministic signals. In 2018, we developed a product called ActiveID.
Since then, we’ve been helping our clients to manage consent preferences, navigate the ever-changing landscape of legislation, helping with relevant targeting for better performance and joining the dots of attribution. This is where we believe the future of programmatic looks like, and the result is our connected media approach.
Our connected media approach gives our clients the ability to target the same customer across multiple channels with the ability for greater consistency of message to that customer across every interaction in each channel, and sequentially with another channel.
Imagine being able to show someone your new TV commercial and then show that same person an audio ad to follow up, followed by a display ad on their chosen device. This is made possible through signal triangulation.
How leveraging a connected media approach can maximise efficiency – an example
So how does this work in practice? One of our clients is an APAC tourism board, and their main campaign goal was to promote the destination as a fun and exciting, safe place to visit. They also needed to create efficiencies with their media spend, and we were able to achieve this via ActiveID by connecting their customers’ engagement journey.
With the ability to connect the customer’s media journey, we saw 44% better brand search uplift, 49% better video and listen rates, 18% better CTR on Display ads, resulting in 200%+ more site traffic than a non-connected media approach.
Our approach means that we were able to find the optimal frequency and best channel mix per audience group to drive that best efficiency.
For this client, a potential traveller who saw five channels with 15 impressions in total had the highest likelihood to visit the site and the highest chance to view the video or listen to the audio ad. At the other end of the scale, a potential traveller who was only exposed to one channel was least likely to visit the site.
So does that mean more channels and more impressions mean better results? In this case, no, it doesn’t. When a potential traveller saw six or more channels with more than 20 impressions, the effectiveness and efficiency waned, meaning that they were less likely to visit the site. With measurement connected across every media, it gave us complete transparency to understand saturation levels, and how to optimise spends to ensure the best engagement between channels.
This approach doesn’t just work for large clients; we’ve been able to use these connected media strategies across the board. For smaller clients, for example, connecting video and display, or audio and display, or digital out of home and display, still delivers the same kind of results. It’s all about driving better efficiencies, giving our skilled team the ability to optimise cross-channel, and better overall better outcomes for the same spends.
Why the future of programmatic lies in a connected media approach
We’re all searching for an approach to achieve maximum efficiency in our ad spends, and that can be achieved by accurate targeting and attribution.
By leveraging data signal triangulation, brands can connect different media channels to truly deliver relevant ads to the right consumer at the right time – and achieve the performance they need in the most efficient way.
Want to find out how to use a connected media approach? Get in touch and we’ll be happy to explain more.
About the author
Joshua Wilson started his career in digital marketing in 2013 when he started his own affiliate marketing business promoting brands on social networks and mobile DSPs. From there, he moved into content and worked with brands to help build their online presence and communities.
Joshua started at Crimtan as a client services manager in 2015 working on the APAC business leveraging his knowledge for the market and Japanese language skills. In 2018, Joshua moved to Tokyo to build and open the Crimtan Japan office. Now in the role of Commercial Director, JAPAC, Joshua oversees the operation in the region promoting Crimtan’s local and international capabilities.