Why Marketers Need to Bridge the Streaming Visibility Gap

A visibility gap, as the name hints, is a hole in a campaign’s attribution data. Marketers cannot see all the conversion data their campaigns have generated; therefore, they cannot attribute exact conversions to touchpoints. Although the campaign is performing and generating conversions, marketers cannot deterministically see which conversions their campaign is responsible for.

This visibility gap exists across many advertising channels but is especially prevalent on unclickable channels, where the viewer cannot directly click on the ad and be redirected to the website. Streaming channels have these visibility gaps, largely because Connected TVs (CTV) and Bluetooth audio devices don’t allow for direct click-throughs like website and social media ads. A viewer cannot click on a Connected TV ad and be taken directly to the website from the TV. This inability to follow the viewer directly from the initial ad impression to their follow-up activities creates a visibility gap in attribution where marketers cannot see if their touchpoints truly generated conversions.

It’s important to bridge this visibility gap for many reasons, but especially for optimizing and reporting. Without knowing how many conversions the streaming campaign generated, it’s almost impossible to optimize the campaign for future success or to properly report the campaign’s performance. This leaves campaign performance stagnant, running the same faulty tactics that could not be identified and eliminated via deterministic attribution data. Many marketing agencies that utilize streaming face challenges in measuring deterministic attribution, often leaving them to speculate about the actual impact of their campaigns on sales.

Through 6 years of learning and optimizing, EMG has developed the right recipe to bridge this visibility gap for Connected TV and Digital Audio advertising.

EMG favors and exclusively advertises on streaming channels, specifically Connected TV and Digital Audio, due to their exceptional engagement levels and effectiveness at generating conversions. As streaming has surged in popularity over the last five years, leveraging this channel has become crucial for marketers aiming to optimize their advertising strategies. Streaming merges the impactful performance traditionally seen in linear TV and radio with the advanced digital targeting and attribution capabilities found in social media and search advertising, delivering outstanding results when executed effectively.

Despite their many advantages, Connected TV and Digital Audio do present challenges in attribution, as their performance can be difficult to quantify due to visibility gaps. Despite these obstacles, EMG has learned how to bridge these visibility gaps through an attribution-first streaming solution. This solution utilizes the display channel and the Household Graph to gain comprehensive visibility and provide insightful analysis for automotive campaigns, effectively closing the loop on performance attribution with deterministic online and offline measurement.

Although EMG provides advertising solutions on streaming channels alone, we use display advertising as a third channel in our streaming solution. Why? For two main reasons: as a reinforcement tactic and for closing the visibility gap.

Once a targeted individual has completed a Connected TV and/or Digital Audio ad, this impression is logged and triggers a display ad to appear on that same viewer’s online activities 3 to 7 days after the initial impression(s). The first reason we use the display channel is for display reinforcement, an advertising technique used to remind the viewer of the initial CTV or audio ad with a display ad. For example, if a person were running on the treadmill while listening to an audio ad, they wouldn’t stop their workout to go lookup the car dealership’s website. This is where display reinforcement comes in, popping up on that person’s webpage a few days later, when they have the proper time and attention to click on the dealership’s ad. Display reinforcement guides the viewer down the sales funnel by providing a scheduled, follow-up, clickable impression in an attention-friendly environment.

The second reason we utilize display is due to its effectiveness as a visibility channel, which enhances cross-channel attribution. Because display ads are clickable, unlike its streaming companions, it can directly follow a targeted individual throughout their online activities via the click-through ad. We can directly tell the streaming ad was successful: identifying that someone who watched a streaming ad clicked on a display reminder ad and performed some related online action.

Display supports offline visibility as well, identifying the mobile ID of a viewer who previously completed a streaming ad. This links the unclickable streaming impression to a mobile device that can then be tracked to log a dealership arrival. This bridges the visibility gap by allowing EMG to follow one person throughout their entire customer journey: from their initial streaming touchpoints to a physical arrival.

However, you might wonder what happens if your streaming campaign doesn’t incorporate a display channel, or if consumers aren’t served a display ad following their exposure to a Connected TV or Digital Audio ad. We have anticipated these scenarios and effectively addressed them in our approach to ensure complete coverage, all thanks to the Household Graph.

Another way EMG can effectively track cross-channel activities is by leveraging Household Graphing. The Household Graph (HH Graph) links every internet-connected device in a home (CTV, Bluetooth speaker, mobile, desktop), and maintains a log of all advertising exposures to every device in the household. This graphing technology uses the internet within a household to access all the devices living under one home via IP address, dwell time, and Bluetooth.

By stitching the different user IDs for each device to one household, advertisers are able to track a user from their initial CTV and audio impressions to their downstream activities. Like display, the HH Graph allows advertising companies to measure each touchpoint throughout the customer journey across multiple devices. It bridges the visibility gap by allowing for household-level tracking that links stationary, unclickable streaming devices to the devices that are used to complete the purchase — typically a mobile device for arrival data and a desktop device for online viewing data.

If a mobile device is tracked on a dealership lot and is associated with a HH Graph that has recorded a streaming touchpoint, their arrival will be attributed to the campaign. Similarly, if a desktop device associated with a targeted HH Graph visits the dealership website (not from a display ad), their website visit will be logged and attributed to the campaign.

It’s the best of both worlds! EMG can advertise on superior advertising channels while still measuring granular attribution data like the less engaging clickable ads. EMG knows attribution is crucial for dealerships that need to clearly see how their media investments are meaningfully lifting sales. So, we’ve created an attribution-first solution that closes the visibility gap, via display and the HH Graph, to collect the necessary data to see, understand, and optimize dealership campaign performance.

To run on superior advertising channels and see deterministic one-to-one attribution, contact us today.