Philip Smolin, GM, Platform Solutions of demand-side platform Turn discussed the company’s recently announced ROI Optimizer (read the release) as well as offline data integration with AdExchanger.com.
AdExchanger.com: Please identify what verticals the ROI Optimizer might be best for – or will get initial traction?
PS: The ROI Optimizer is available immediately and relevant for brands across a variety of verticals. The shopping cart feature is high value for retail brands, specifically those that sell products online with a range of price points. This includes goods that fall into apparel, electronics, food, health, home and other product categories.
The other half of the ROI Optimizer is multiple beacon support, which allows brands to track multiple engagement events along the consumer’s path and value each one uniquely. Multiple beacon support is extremely effective for those advertisers focused on generating brand awareness and engagement or which have a much longer sales cycle, such as the automotive, education, financial services, real-estate, and telecom verticals.
Impact on eCPA performance is likely to be in the double digits for many campaigns. But more importantly, campaigns that never previously had effective ways to measure brand engagement can now do so.
Do you see a brand marketer application for the ROI Optimizer?
Absolutely, the ROI Optimizer is just as vital for branding campaigns as direct response. In fact, branding applications may become the primary use over time as they’ve traditionally not been able to leverage ROI-based measurement and optimization strategies for their campaigns. With the ROI Optimizer, advertisers now have a way to map and measure how a consumer is engaging with the brand, and to use that data to improve ad targeting and bid pricing in real time.
A great example of this is when an advertiser assigns different ‘point’ values to various engagement events. Did the consumer interact with a rich media ad, did they watch a video on the site, did they interact with a product configuration widget, and/or have they spent more than five minutes on the web site? All of these activities have different levels of brand engagement value to the advertiser, and the ROI Optimizer makes optimizing media against this type of strategy now possible.
When do you expect to be able to bring offline data such as in store sales data to the ROI Optimizer? What are the challenges?
It’s really a question of whether the advertiser already has the information in their CRM database, and if it’s connected to their online systems. From there the data can be easily synchronized with Turn’s platform to power audience segment design and media buying. If the data is not yet available, then you may have to get the advertiser’s Marketing and IT teams to work together, which is typically easier said than done! Another part of the equation is consumer privacy. As a member of the NAI, Turn has a responsibility to ensure the data is transferred properly, completely anonymous, and fully compliant with the NAI’s privacy guidelines.
By John Ebbert
