Uptick in Education Segments As Well as Automotive, Professional Services and Puppies Indicates Advertisers are Beginning to Target Consumers’ Needs for This Fall
BOSTON – ChoiceStream, the top choice for brand advertisers interested in advanced target optimization and programmatic buying, announced the next installment of its Audience Cost Calendar — a monthly aggregation of impressions traded on digital ad exchanges. The Audience Cost Calendar was created to help media buyers and marketers understand trends in the cost of various online audiences. The August results look at last month’s data and highlights that four of the five Travel segments in the Top 10 saw increases in ranking month-over-month (June to July) including the South Pacific, France, the Caribbean and Italy. Also breaking into the Top 10 were two Careers-related segments – Marketing and Human Resources.
“Aside from the continued strength of the Travel and Careers segments, we’re also seeing many Automotive segments gaining, especially auto brands like Hyundai and Mercury and Buick. Meanwhile, true Education segments are gaining in both relative cost and ranking. The rise in Education makes sense as the summer continues to roll along and parents and kids start thinking about back-to-school,” said Bill Guild, vice president, product management and marketing at ChoiceStream.
“Perhaps most interesting in this month’s results is that the spread in the average cost index has risen 255 points from June when the cost index ranged between 57 – 170. The July range was from a low of 45 to a high of nearly 300,” Guild noted. “That shows things are heating up in the programmatic media space and that is impacting the relative costs being paid to reach the right audience through our clients’ digital ad campaigns.”
Some of the top performing segments based on month-over-month (June to July) increase in rank include:
| · Automotive: Mercury – rose 262 spots to #37 in July |
| · Holidays and Events: Business, Professional Service Events – rose 231 spots to #22 |
| · Automotive: Suzuki – rose 231 spots to #77 |
| · Automotive: Buick – rose 229 spots to #61 |
| · Automotive: Hyundai – rose 226 spots to #56 |
Pet Events Rise to the Top: Truly the Dog Days of Summer
The Holidays & Events: Pet Events segment rose markedly in rank from June to July, rising from 89th to the # 1 slot. “Sometimes the reasons a segment rises in average cost or ranking is beyond perplexing,” noted Guild referring to the rise in the Pet Events segment. “Looking back at the month, there were no major events like the Westminster Dog Show, National Spay/Neuter Day or any major holidays like Christmas that would occasion the gifting of a pet. File this anomaly under ‘for the dogs.’”
It’s Elementary: Back-To-School Segments Rising
In June it was more of the periphery segments related to education that were moving up (Computers and Peripherals, Portable Computers, Software, Office Supplies, Scholarships, and Preschool as saw gains in June) but now, audience segments such as Elementary & Middle School (rising from 251 to 45 month-over-month) and Special Education (rising from 252 to 116 month-over-month) are rising in both ranking and in the cost index.
To view the full infographic, complete dataset and the most active categories for the month of July, take a look at ChoiceStream’s Audience Cost Calendar that can be found here.
About ChoiceStream
ChoiceStream improves ad relevance and digital campaign performance by programmatically selecting optimum advertising opportunities based on a dynamic understanding of consumer’s active preferences. With an extensive first and third party data network enhanced by proprietary data, ChoiceStream can target and convert the most valuable consumers in real-time. ChoiceStream is headquartered in the Innovation District of Boston and works with industry leading brands and their agencies. For more information on ChoiceStream, please visit www.ChoiceStream.com.
