How do you Measure the Impact of your Streaming Ads?

Before we dive in, it’s important to set the table by defining the mediums that fall under streaming’s umbrella:

Connected TV (CTV):

CTV advertising refers to delivering targeted advertisements to viewers who are streaming video content on internet-connected TVs, such as smart TVs or TVs attached to streaming devices (like Roku and Apple TV). Non-skippable ads are served in “ad pods” (or ad breaks) before or during streaming content, similar to traditional commercial breaks. Connected TV refers to television sets or third-party streaming devices that are connected to the internet, allowing users to access streaming services, video-on-demand platforms, and other digital content on their TV. Unlike traditional television advertising, which is broadcasted over the airwaves or cable, CTV advertising leverages internet connectivity to reach audiences.

Digital Audio:

Digital Audio advertising refers to the practice of promoting products, services, or brands through digital audio-based mediums. It involves the creation and delivery of audio advertisements designed specifically for audio platforms such as streaming music services, podcasts, and voice-enabled devices.

When we’ve asked automotive marketers about streaming attribution, the common responses often relate to CPM (cost per mille or cost per one thousand impressions), quality of inventory, video completion rate, and number of impressions. While these metrics are important, they do not paint the whole picture. Here’s why:

• CPM: While it provides insight into cost, CPM doesn’t necessarily measure the effectiveness of those impressions.
• Quality of Inventory: Who and what is the arbiter of inventory quality? Is it measured by brand affinity, the personal persuasions of the media buyer, the number of users a streamer has, or something else entirely? Hint: these are normally unrelated to performance.
• Video Completion Rate: This indicates that the ad was played back in its entirety, but was the user engaged?
• Number of Impressions: A high number of impressions indicates visibility, but what about the actual impact on the quality of the viewer or the viewer’s decision-making process?

Notice a common theme here? These metrics indicate cost and don’t directly correlate with the value or ROI of the advertising efforts. Just because a campaign had a high number of impressions and a high completion rate, all for a low cost, does not mean the campaign generated a lot of conversions. In fact, low CPM impressions are often unvaluable, uninterested audiences (hence their low cost for lesser quality). Delivering ads to a high volume of uninterested people will look good according to the metrics above, but not on the metrics that indicate sales.

While it’s common for marketers to favor these metrics, many admit how their store’s sales and online leads are not increasing, which they attribute to the fact that streaming is a “relatively new medium” and “its capabilities are still broadly unknown.” This statement is false. Streaming campaigns can and do generate huge volumes of sales. Some marketers just place value in the entirely wrong measurements.

So, what should automotive marketers be measuring in streaming? At EMG, our stance is that effective attribution (or the crediting of sales or leads to certain campaign impressions or tactics) in CTV and Audio should pivot on one central tenet: measuring the outcomes that matter to dealerships, namely sales. To that end, we’ve been measuring deterministic dealership walk-ins and website metrics for over five years, which has produced 40M+ walk-ins tracked over the lifetime of our automotive marketing solution. That’s over 40 million meaningful outcomes tied to a streaming impression that can be leveraged to a customer’s benefit.

Why does tracking dealership walk-ins and website metrics matter to automotive marketers? Although the answer might seem obvious, many marketers may not realize what they are missing out on. EMG tracks offline and online metrics for two reasons: 1) to create a reliable optimization feedback loop and 2) to provide next generation reporting. Let’s unpack the first: optimization feedback and its impact on audience, inventory, and campaign settings.

Optimization Feedback Loop:

Audience:
Anyone that has been conducting retail automotive marketing for any period knows that there are tens of thousands of commercially available auto-intender segments from hundreds of data providers. Which audience segments are the most predictive of a household being in-market for a vehicle? How can a marketer find the most optimal audience configuration to drive lift and ultimately generate more dealer sales? This can be a daunting task and without the right data signals, it is nearly impossible to determine the efficacy of any given segment.

However, given EMG’s long-term investment in a purpose-built attribution and measurement solution for CTV and digital audio, the task becomes relatively straightforward. Using the collection of dealership walk-ins and online metrics, our data scientists are equipped with reliable outcomes to understand which audience providers and segments predict in-market households, directly because they visited a dealership. Over a long enough period, it becomes obvious which select few data providers and segments should constitute EMG Audiences.

Inventory:
The same attribution data is used to curate quality streaming inventory. Unlike many industry peers, EMG defines quality inventory as content that is curated for human attention. Put differently, is there a real human being on the other side of the screen consuming the ad or is it a manufactured impression that has little to no probability of being seen? Just as certain publishers manipulate their ad inventory to boost revenue online, the same is true within the streaming world. But by using attribution data that cannot be faked, EMG surfaces the quality inventory and separates the wheat from the chaff.

Campaign Configuration:
What is the optimal reach and frequency necessary to target an in-market household? How much should over-night inventory be discounted by? What is the difference in outcomes between CTV devices and other devices that can stream ads? Just as with inventory and audience, each addressable component of a streaming campaign has been fine tuned to create surgical precision with each impression delivered through EMG.

Next Generation Reporting:

The flip side of having a reliable and deterministic optimization feedback loop is the next generation reporting that can be assembled so that automotive marketers can see the impact streaming advertising has on their dealership. Among other metrics, EMG reports nominal dealership walk-ins, cost per dealership walk-in, foot traffic market share represented as GMS iQ, and attributed website visits. Our aim is to have outcome-based conversations and collaborate on how to improve performance instead of just discussing the composition of the campaign targeting. At EMG, our top priority is demonstrating the actual value of our customer’s streaming advertising campaigns and with our sophisticated reporting, dealerships and automotive marketers always know the impact EMG campaigns are having on conversions.

In closing, it’s important for automotive marketers to use first principles when evaluating a streaming solution. Namely, how can they constitute a highly targeted audience, maximize reach in premium, high performing CTV and Audio inventory channels, and measure the outcomes with confidence. With those pillars in mind, marketers aren’t as likely to fall prey to distracting features and metrics that so many platforms and solutions unfortunately highlight.

With EMG, your campaigns will see the true impact they are having on generating dealership walk-ins, online metrics, and market share. To start seeing real results with deterministic attribution, contact us today.