The new era of digital is outcome-focused and geo-powered

Fortunately, the new year promises to usher in innovative approaches to omnichannel advertising and measurement grounded in business outcomes, geo-based strategies and a commitment to accuracy and rigor.

The effect of current industry data challenges

Modern advertisers face significant challenges consolidating data across offline and online channels for effective media buying and measurement. The challenge intensifies given the shrinking pool of usable audience data which skews heavily toward Android and Chrome due to Apple’s ATT, requiring user opt-in for tracking.

An inability to secure data and connect what little exists across multiple channels, platforms and environments leaves marketers with few options for measuring campaign performance. Given these circumstances, marketers rely on metrics that are more easily and quickly accessible, such as CTR, VCR and last-click attribution. These metrics are mere proxies for campaign effectiveness and leave much to be desired by the C-suite who need to see how advertising impacts business outcomes. 

All of this said, measurement methodologies that exist today can help shed light on the effectiveness of advertising and marketing efforts; however, they are not without limitations. Multi-touch attribution (MTA), for instance, provides granular insights into the effectiveness of specific marketing channels but cannot capture offline touchpoints and relies heavily on IDs. These factors mean MTA cannot give advertisers holistic or accurate insight into campaign performance or business outcomes. On the other hand, media mix modeling (MMM) offers the advantage of measuring the impact of omnichannel marketing. However, it can be a costly solution due to lengthy and complex setups — characteristics that often make it inaccessible to smaller advertisers.

Why geo-based solutions benefit advertising and measurement

While geo-based solutions are not new to the industry, technological innovations have poised geo to be one of the most valuable data sets advertisers can leverage for omnichannel advertising and measurement. When paired with context and time, geo connects traditional and digital media and bridges gaps between advertising channels to unlock powerful insights rooted in business outcomes.

Advertisers can leverage first-party seed data to build and discover larger audience sets that allow them to find where their consumers live, work and socialize in aggregate. Advertisers can enhance their media strategies by leveraging sophisticated data ingestion platforms and layering real-world spend data to build audiences at a zip code level. With this precise, audience-first approach, advertisers can activate multiple channels, including display, TV, audio and digital out-of-home. First-party data is a particularly powerful seed dataset, allowing advertisers to create base audiences from real consumers or suppress existing customers from media campaigns.

Furthermore, this geo-based approach enables advertisers to measure the impact of their ad campaigns by examining outcomes such as store visits and sales lift within specific geos. This type of measurement, however, is only accurate when implemented against carefully curated test and control groups to measure incrementality.

Effective geo-based approaches require some crucial considerations

Accurate measurement relies on the provider’s ability to establish precise control and statistically valid test groups. These groups should match key attributes including income, demographics and behavior to avoid skewing results. Furthermore, using small, specific geographic areas allows for improved comparisons and accuracy compared to broader regions.

Moreover, when designing test and control groups for accurate campaign measurement, it’s crucial to account for cross-pollination — the natural movement of people between geographic areas, like commuting to work from home. Advanced solutions often use data analysis or machine learning to identify and minimize overlap between test and control areas, ensuring they remain distinct and avoiding cross-pollination. This process helps create balanced and statistically valid groups, reducing bias caused by travel patterns. By maintaining clear distinctions, advertisers can confidently measure campaign outcomes, including brand awareness, foot traffic or sales, and assess the incremental impact of their efforts.

How advertisers are identifying and collaborating with geo-based measurement providers

Advertisers must properly vet and evaluate advertising and measurement partners to successfully leverage geo-based solutions. Inquiring about and assessing these key components can help advertisers identify the right partner: omnichannel capabilities, data ingestion, accuracy standards, access and ease of use.

Consumers engage with brands across multiple channels — traditional and digital. A solution provider must give advertisers cross-channel measurement to paint a holistic picture of consumer engagement and brand interaction. And because brand engagement is not limited to digital, easily ingesting and activating real-world, deterministic data grounded in business outcomes is crucial for any partner. This helps advertisers unify gaps between online and offline interactions.

A measurement vendor should also enable an advertiser to secure unbiased, statistically significant and accurate data through rigorous, repeatable scientific methodologies that eliminate bias. The right partner will allow advertisers to slice, dice, test and iterate without needing expansive data science teams through simple, easy-to-use platforms and interfaces.

The industry has seen tremendous technological advancements and shifts in recent years with cookieless advertising and emerging channels; however, further transformation awaits. The new year signals a fresh era where those relying on outdated advertising methodologies and measurement approaches will flounder. Those prioritizing incrementality, real-world accuracy and consumer privacy through geo-based solutions will gain a competitive advantage and thrive in 2025 and beyond.

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