5Qs: Adometry’s Paul Pellman

Today, advertisers have more opportunity than ever to acquire media and audiences cost effectively because of more diverse channels, like third party ad nets, ad exchanges, DSPs and more. And, yes, sometimes it can seem like there’s a proliferation of middlemen trying to insert themselves in between advertisers and publishers. But it’s important to remember that they all have of common goal to deliver results for advertisers. Results will drive increased investment and a rising tide raises all boats. So, publishers and all those middlemen should be focused on the bottom line, which is the return on advertising spend. Brands can ensure they’re not being taken advantage of by paying close attention to how ads perform across each channel.

Publishers certainly own the data generated on their sites. But the advertisers paying the bills have some rights to campaign data as well. Publishers or ad networks may use campaign data for their own purposes. But it’s important to treat such data with care. Advertisers also have access to it and are using it to figure out how marketing activities performed and whom they influenced. In essence, it allows them to double check that their investments are truly paying off. For publishers, the key is to maximize the use of the data to showcase their value to advertisers.

Much has been written about the demise of the click and the “meaningless” click through rates, currently averaging 0.1 percent for a really good campaign. Clicks are not the relevant metric for the success of a branding campaign. Advertisers know that successful branding initiatives require a combination of marketing activities across search, display and social media. Counting click-through rates on banner ads only tells part of the story. Brands are meshing this with information on the interactions happening on other ads to figure out what’s working or not. For both publishers and advertisers, it is crucial to look beyond “last clicks” to see how banner ads fit into the broader audience influence equation.

Attribution analysis is a relatively new discipline, but holds great promise for online marketers. Advertisers can use attribution analysis to understand and track how each online marketing channel or initiative contributes to lift and conversion. Knowing the contribution each venue and each creative is making helps advertisers figure out the ideal mix and allows them to continually tweak media buys and improve results.

With over 400 ad networks, 50 DSPs, and thousands of publishers competing for online marketing dollars, ad inventory providers need ways to break out from the pack. Advertisers may be spending more money online, but they’re also demanding better ways to measure exactly how dollars are influencing sales or driving results. Savvy publishers and ad networks that try and help them are the ones who will be in demand five years from now.