Squeeze More Value from Your Digital Buy

We learned in the 1990s that recency ruledamp160 That was the simple idea that advertising was most effective when people were quotin the marketquot or ready to buy a product or serviceamp160 Pound for pound magazine advertising was thought to be powerful because people bought the magazine predicated on their interestsamp160 If you could align your ad with magazines that served a common interest then your ad was considered to be more effective amp160Of course digital advertising not only provides the advertiser with a public that is interested but also one that is quotreadyquotamp160 Does this mean digital advertising could already be more than three times more powerful pound for pound as things stand now or are thereamp160ways to improve digital39s marginThe Two Pieces of the Media PuzzleTo make up this initial disparity in dollar delivery digital needs to perform extremely well in the two areas of its unique power over traditional media targeting and apertureWith the exception of direct marketing targeting in traditional media has been done using broad demographics eg age sex income geography or psychographic segments amp160These have always been known to be merely surrogates for what39s really wanted in targeting amp160the ability to pick out an actual prospect for the product or service amp160Digital media39s enormous gift is its ability to interpret the behavioral signals in masses of data to select out these actual prospects thus substantially improving return on the advertising dollar amp160Of course prerequisites to achieving this increased return are that the data be accurate and entirely relevantamp160and that the prospects be humans and not robots amp160These prerequisites are by no means assured today amp160This leaves the potential ROI boost of digital media targeting with an uncomfortable degree of uncertaintyIf targeting is quotwho is getting the messagequotamp160aperture is quothow is the message being receivedquot amp160It is a gauge of the receptivity of the specific target to the specific message amp160Aperture is comprised of two basic elements the right time and the right contextamp160In terms of timing clearly if we can put the message in front of the prospects when they are close to making a product decisionamp160we have a much better chance of influencing that decision amp160In fact recency is really just a tactic used in traditional media to improve the timing aperture to a limited degree amp160With digital media we can take advantage of defined signals in the behavioral data to precisely serve up the message at moments of decisionmaking This is a huge potential improvement in ROI but again the data has to be accurateamp160and the signals have to be made by humans and not machinesContext includes things like the characteristics of the medium and its fit with the message state of mind and surroundings relaxed busy entertained distracted engagedamp160and the appropriateness interest cachet and authority of the content that surrounds the advertising message amp160All of these elements exist and can be planned for in digital media but recent problems with brand safety and the appearance of ads in inappropriate environments raise significant questions about how context can be guaranteed to have a positive and not a negative effect on the messageamp160Regardless of your own experience with ROI studies and unimpeachable bodies of anecdotal fact there are enough uncertainties in the present state of play in digital media that everyone should want improvementamp160amp160Here are several ways the margin of effectiveness can be improved for digital advertising initiatives1 amp160Our favorite amp8211 Improve the creative messageamp160 When television first rose to prominence copywriters who wrote for radio had to figure out how to write more effectively for the new visual mediumamp160 Since digital advertising has builtin targeting and timing advantages imagine how much more effective it could be with more powerful copyamp160 Find creative people who know how to most effectively use the medium amp160Those who can make creative that39s tuned to the target and the aperture2 amp160Slow down the dippingamp160 Between the agency the trading desk often the agency39s the data provider also often the agency the DSP could be the agency the ad exchange and the SSP 71 cents may never reach the publicamp160 Find ways to bring activities inhouse or at least negotiate better efficiencies3 amp160Get the best possible measurements of the effectiveness of the digital initiatives as possibleamp160 They are your only yardstick4 amp160Testamp160 This is a lost artamp160 It is not that expensive and has become less expensive with zip codes cable zones and digital segmentationamp160 You can get fast inexpensive indicators for the most effective future strategies amp160These initiatives can only be effective if advertisers agencies and digital media publishers tackle the most obvious barriers to effective working digital delivery5 amp160Eliminate domain spoofing fraud amp160This is a direct pipeline of the advertiser39s dollars into the hands of pirates6 amp160Agree on human viewability standards and measurement amp160In order for the message to be received it has to be perceived by a human being to some specific measured degree amp160Let39s get advertisers agencies and media on the same page and agree on minimum standards and ways to measure7 amp160Advertise exclusively in brandappropriate environments amp160This means at a minimum whitelists for programmatic ad buying amp160These need to be individually developed to fit each brand39s strategy8 amp160Define the position of the starting gate amp160We need to come to commonality of agreement on measuring the digital impression amp160just like we have defined quotopportunity to seequot in traditional media amp160This definition should apply across all digital platforms so every medium at least starts from the same positionFinally the aforementioned 29 is an indicator of how much more power digital media need to deliver versus traditional media to ensure ROI Essentially that 29 has to work three times as hardamp160 Imagine how much more powerful 29 can be if the right strategic and corrective effort accompanies the investmentamp160 For decades marketers and their agencies have been finding ways to gain an edge by tweaking their traditional media buys with smarter tacticsamp160 It39s time now to help digital investments mature out of adolescence since they are already playing in the big leaguesClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Squeeze More Value from Your Digital Buy

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Steve Fajen

Michael Atkin

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

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Squeeze More Value from Your Digital Buy

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Steve Fajen

Michael Atkin

We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

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