Let’s be honest: performance marketers often have no idea which ad tech vendors are delivering results, and which are wasting budget. Every publisher claims to add value to the path-to-conversion equation, and most have data to back up those claims, but evaluating performance across these vendors is often a fruitless exercise in comparing apples and oranges (so to speak.)
Marketers need metrics on business outcomes, not just actions like click-throughs and impressions. Media vendors should be measured on how they contribute to sales, leads, bottom line, ROI, CPO and any other KPI that’s important to the advertiser. How does each vendor contribute to the consumer’s journey through the funnel to ultimate conversion? Where are you getting the most bang for your buck?
In the spirit of new year’s belt tightening, let’s look at five ways to optimize vendor usage and spend for more efficient, effective marketing.
1. Identify low contribution vendors. Just because a vendor shows that their touchpoint was part of the conversion funnel doesn’t mean that it actually contributed. Analyze contribution by touchpoint to learn which placements move the needle and which are dead weight, so you can better allocate your resources to vendors whose ads actually make a difference.
2. Examine touchpoint saturation. One vendor drives a conversion with two touches, while another takes twenty. Make sure to look past net numbers to understand how many touches it took to get results. Set a baseline of average conversion points that each vendor can be evaluated equally against, and red flag any vendors who consistently require higher saturation points.
3. Optimize for shorter sales cycles. Better targeting results in shorter sales cycles. Vendors who rely on long-tail conversion tactics not only take longer to make the sale, but cost additional money in retargeting tactics along the way. Shorter cycles are a good indication of more accurate, specific targeting – and vendors in whom you should continue to invest.
4. Prevent overkill. Every consumer has a tipping point. Use your attribution data to analyze when your target audience is going to convert – or not – no matter how many more ads they are exposed to. If your vendor continues to push past that point, consider shifting budget elsewhere.
5. Conduct post source analysis. Say you’re running two different display vendors with the same budget, and need to know which is performing more effectively. Look at the most common media touchpoint after display to understand whether the vendor is driving engagement. Is the consumer taking an active step after impression, like completing a form, or remaining passive? If the post source analysis shows an increased level of interest, that vendor is hitting a more highly qualified audience.
Ad tech vendors play a critical role in brands’ marketing strategies. But just like you, they want to make a profit. Drill down into your vendors’ data to learn which providers are worth it, and where you can optimize your efforts to get better results, at lower cost.
