Attribution Intro With Visual IQ CMO Bill Muller

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Cross-channel attribution is a hot topic these days.  We’ve been asked by many clients recently what they need to know about attribution and how it could be used to help improve their marketing results.  To get answers, we went to industry leader (and current client) Visual IQ and sat down with their CMO, Bill Muller.  Bill’s responses to the key questions related to attribution can be found below.  This is a must-read for anyone new to attribution or for anyone considering investing in a cross-channel attribution platform.

 

Q: Can you explain for folks new to attribution, how does cross-channel attribution work? What are the main benefits of using a cross-channel attribution platform?

A: Cross-channel attribution, much like any discipline, can vary widely depending on the degree of sophistication and complexity of the platform that you use. It’s like asking, “How much does a car cost?” Well, it depends on whether it’s a Prius or a Ferrari.

The way we perform cross-channel attribution is a methodology called “algorithmic” or model-based attribution, which differs dramatically from rules-based methodologies that tend to be flawed and subjective. Algorithmic attribution works as a platform that ingests marketing performance data from both digital and non-digital sources. In the case of digital or “tagable” sources, we often use the ad server tracking that’s already being used by a client. We also use our own pixel to stitch together the various touchpoints that are involved in a user’s journey to a conversion.

That data is then fed into an attribution engine, which is a series of algorithms and machine-learning technologies that chew through the data and fractionally attribute credit for a conversion across the various touchpoints experienced by a user. Rather than simply looking at the order in which those touchpoints took place, the engine measures all of the individual components that make up those touchpoints; for example, channel, ad size, creative, keyword, or placement.

By doing this across an entire universe of users who are exposed to your marketing efforts, the software can calculate success metrics across all channels to show exactly how much credit each touchpoint and each channel deserves. Almost always, when that calculation gets performed, you get a very different picture of which channels, campaigns, and granular-level tactics are contributing to your overall success.

The main benefits are better decision-making and better allocation of budget. Ultimately what people do with the output of the attribution is reallocate budget to any channels, campaigns, and tactics that they previously undervalued. They then fund those by taking budget away from the channels that they’ve historically overvalued, the losers, and provide it to the winners.

Q: Does the platform tend to work better for certain industries?

A: To determine fit, we tend to look at “business models” more than “industries.” Until recently, attribution had been a direct response-related endeavor, meaning that companies using digital and/or digital combined with offline to produce hard and fast conversions, such as an e-commerce transaction, a lead, or a quote, will best benefit from the software. There are many industries that align with this type of business model.

In terms of attribution, business models that historically have been left out in the cold have been companies that do not have those types of transactions in place. In terms of their objective, attribution has primarily been about generating brand engagement, because they do not have a direct line to their conversion event.

Think about, for example, pharmaceutical companies. You are not buying a drug on their website or buying drugs as a result of seeing their TV advertisement, but there are marketing activities that are causing you to experience some brand engagement. Ultimately, you may be prescribed the drug and purchase it, but there is no linkage between their marketing and your purchase. There are no conclusions to draw.

This business model, as a result, has been difficult for attribution to conquer in the past because there hasn’t been a tie between media stimulation and the eventual consumption of an end product. Until recently.

Q: What kinds of recommendations will an attribution platform make?  Are they typically budget related or otherwise?  Are they typically real-time, on-going, or one-time recommendations?

A: The recommendations are typically budget-related, as we are talking about spending money on individual tactics: moving budget off of less successful ones, onto more successful ones. They are typically not real-time, but daily, because we can only make recommendations at the pace of which our attribution engine is fed with performance data.

The recommendations do, however, absolutely need to be ongoing. Much like a search campaign, it’s not ‘set it and forget it.’ The environment in which you operate is not a static one. It is constantly based on the marketplace, on what competitors are doing, on econometric factors, on global events, etc. It constantly needs to be adjusted based on the dynamic nature of the marketplace. This is ongoing and not a one-time recommendation.

Q: How drastic will the recommended changes be?

A: The type of recommendations can be as granular as the characteristics of the data that is provided. When a lot of people think of attribution, they think totally about the chronology of the touchpoints that have taken place in relation to the number of conversions. They think, ‘This happened first, this happened second, this happened third, and I really can’t control those things.’

What they often don’t realize is that these touchpoints are made up of various characteristics. If it was a display ad, there is size, placement, offer, and publisher to consider. If it’s the search channel, one can consider if it was paid or organic, keywords, impressions, or clicks. So the recommendations that come out of our application are often things like, “Stop spending $500 a month on this ad, of this size, with this creative, on this publisher, on these days, per week. Now take that money and put into this keyword, on this search engine, with this creative, and this offer, on these days of the week.” We include every characteristic of every touchpoint in the model to find out which has the most impact on a client’s overall success.

The recommendations can also be as dramatic as, “Stop spending on certain placements altogether,” or the opposite. We had a client recently that was going to eliminate spending on one display publisher altogether. When they looked at their attribution results, they recognized that instead of it being their worst publisher, it was the publisher that most contributed to their success. They then tripled the amount of spend on the publisher that they were originally going to eliminate from their marketing mix.

Q: Are there channels (Paid Search, SEO, Offline, etc.) that repeatedly prove to drive more or less value than previously believed?

A: Yes – Many clients are highly invested in paid search, but we’ve found that paid search is one of the channels that tends to be universally overvalued in a last-click methodology.

In other words, most of the world is using a last-click methodology to assign conversion credit. If an individual has touched four different times prior to a conversion, odds are you don’t have a methodology in place that can link those four touchpoints together. You don’t always know that the user had touched four times—All you know is that a person converted as a result of a search and a click on a paid search term.

Attribution allows you to tie together the otherwise unknown factors. If somebody was exposed to impressions of a display ad five times prior to their click on a paid search ad, and it ultimately led to a conversion, we can see that.

Q: How does the attribution model handle view-through conversions?

A: Our methodology not only ingests touchpoints that resulted in clicks, but it ingests touchpoints where there was only an impression. For example, you do not have to click to be cookied. When a touchpoint is analyzed, we look at all the constituent parts of it—its size, its publisher, its placement.

Using that data, our solution then calculates how much value a “mere” impression had in the grand scheme of things: What was the difference in performance between those people that were not exposed to the ad and eventually converted, compared to those that were exposed to the ad?

Q: Where do you see attribution technology evolving over the next five years?  What will we be able to measure and/or optimize better by 2020?

A: As I mentioned previously, until now, attribution has very much been a direct-response technology. Recently, however, Visual IQ released a methodology that allows us to extend our solutions much beyond direct-response business models.  Instead of ingesting direct-response conversions, it uses brand engagement touches— first visits to a website, video views, media asset downloads for example — to come up with a common brand engagement score. The attribution product then optimizes or makes recommendations on how to maximize that assigned brand engagement score.

Not only does this allow us to focus on companies that are pure brand engagement, but it also allows us to help the side of the house that has not been able to benefit from attribution in the past.  And frankly, at some companies brand spending far outweighs direct response spending.

Q: What makes Visual IQ different from the other cross-channel attribution vendors in the space?

A: Part of it is our legacy, in that we were one of the first attribution vendors in the space, and that we were the first attribution vendor to offer algorithmic attribution.

From the very beginning, we tackled granularity. We let the machine-learning and the mathematical science do the calculations so that the data we receive tells the story. Because we’ve done this since the beginning, we’ve been able to improve the level of sophistication of our product.

Visual IQ’s products are smarter products. We’ve continued to innovate things like attribution branding and offline media attribution. We have a television attribution product. We are consistently offering features, benefits, and values to our clients before our competitors.

We’ve also been working with enterprise-sized clients since the inception of our organization. The largest, most successful brands in marketplace and some of the most demanding marketers in the world are using our products. We’ve developed our products over the past decade based on their needs and demands.

If we can bring in 17 different channels from one of the world’s largest credit card companies, across multiple countries and business units, and provide them with actionable business recommendations that they can act on to generate millions of dollars-worth of media efficiency, then we certainly have the ability to handle 99 percent of the potential businesses out there. Without our legacy and history of innovating, longevity, and continuing to improve our product, we wouldn’t have that capability today.

Q: For those who are interested in learning more about your platform, what’s the best way for them to get in touch with you?

A:  If you have any questions surrounding cross-channel attribution, or to want to learn if Visual IQ attribution software is right for your business, please email me at Bill.muller@visualiq.com.

For folks who are trying to better understand us in the attribution space, we have been at the top of the last three Wave Reports done on our marketplace. By talking to Visual IQ, you can rest assured that you are truly talking to the industry leader.

Why First Click Attribution is Critical For E-Commerce Companies

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Picture yourself searching online for that special, “stand out” birthday gift for your dad, who is not exactly easy to impress.  You may start off searching for “best gifts for dad.” This search leads you to click on a paid search ad, advertising the perfect watch for Dad.  Right then and there, you click “buy now,” plug in your credit card, and boom…you’re done.  While for some impulsive folks this may sound normal, most people don’t buy the first thing they click on.  The more common scenario might be that you do click on that PPC ad, but decide to take some time to think it over. After all, that watch isn’t exactly in your budget. The next day you see a remarketing banner for the watch, which reminds you that Dad’s birthday is fast approaching. You click on that ad, but still want to explore other options.  Two weeks later, you’re in a time crunch.  Dad’s birthday is next weekend.  Your quickly type in the name of the watch into Google, and organically navigate to the site to purchase.

Right now, most digital marketers live in a “last click” world when it comes to optimizations and reporting. In this world, the last step or last interaction a user has before the conversion, in this case the organic search, gets all the credit. For many organizations this is a deeply flawed reporting methodology. There are five core traffic sources or “channels” that drive traffic to your website. The perception is that these channels operate by themselves and single handedly generate conversions and sales.  While this is sometimes true, in the world of e-commerce, it is not common.

A user often interacts with multiple channels, like we saw in the example above, before becoming a customer.  So the question then arises: which channel should get the credit for producing a conversion, or conversely, the blame for failing to produce a conversion?  In the digital marketing world, it is crucial that we take into consideration first click attribution as a primary attribution model when reporting and making optimizations.  You may say, OK, isn’t this just a different format of reporting or presenting data?  The answer to that question for e-commerce businesses is no.  When using first click attribution, we can see what specific keywords are driving traffic and ultimately, producing revenue. This can lead us to revisit where we are allocating budget and more importantly it can reveal “low hanging fruit” optimization opportunities that are often masked when using last click attribution.

To see this in more detail, let’s take a look at an example.

chart

The following example represents revenue disparity between first click and last click performance for just one non-branded keyword.  Last click ROI and revenue volume wrongfully indicate that the term is inefficient (based on an ROI goal of 2) and would require significant bid reductions to cut overall spend and increase profitability.  For any digital marketing strategist, this would be an obvious optimization. However, if we look at first click attribution as an option, it tells a significantly different story. As you can see, the keyword drives 163% higher revenue with a significantly better ROI. We can now use this data to take action. By increasing bids, we can drive incremental revenue and growth on a term we previously were not capitalizing on.

Spending time looking at different attribution models and finding out what model fits your company best is crucial for any digital marketer.  Identifying first click attribution as an option can be the first step in unlocking an abundance of revenue driving opportunities.  For a relatively unknown e-commerce company, first click data can be key in discovering what is driving overall brand awareness and educating users about the company itself or the products it sells.  For example, a brand new coffee bean company may utilize first click attribution data to see what terms are generating interest in their product and driving users to their site. However, a massive company like Macy’s already has developed a brand, and is most likely only interested in what marketing channel is driving that final sale, not how a user originally found their site.

You can easily start looking at various attribution models in Google Analytics.  The Model Comparison Tool allows you to compare attribution models to see what keywords or campaigns are significantly contributing to revenue.  This easy-to-access insight can be an important in helping make sure you’re making correct marketing decisions and maximizing the impact of each marketing channel.

4 Ways the Removal of Right-Hand Rail Ads Impacts PPC

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In late February of this year, Google confirmed that they will no longer be serving PPC ads in the right hand rail of the search results. While this came as a shock to many, it is something Google has been testing since 2010 and just recently decided to roll out permanently. The online giant has a long standing history of discreetly testing out new updates to search engine results, and this one was no different as an anonymous Google employee leaked the permanent change to the media on February 19.

So what exactly does this change mean for paid search advertisers? What shift in results can digital marketers and advertisers expect to see over the next several months as this change in the search engine landscape rolls out? Below are 4 potential shifts to look out for with this recent update in the Google search results.

1) CPCs Might Increase

Over the next several months as more marketers and clients alike begin to notice the change in Google search results, the competition for the top 3-4 PPC search results is going to gain momentum. It is common knowledge in search that users tend to not spend a lot of time scrolling down to look at results below the fold, so marketers are going to be increasing bids to battle it out for the top paid search slots. There are a couple different scenarios to consider here. CPCs have the potential to increase as marketers compete to own those top spots. Alternatively, it is possible that Google may change the minimum Ad Rank requirements so that ads are showing more often and rotate in more evenly. Some of our clients have seen around a 5% increase in CPCs since the new update rolled out over the last couple months. We will be interested to observe how CPC shifts over the next few months after advertisers have had more time to settle in with this particular update.

2) Impression Share Could Be Harder to Maintain and QS May Carry More Weight

As more advertisers notice the change in SERP results, they will begin competing for the top 4 paid search spots which may make it more difficult for advertisers to maintain stronger impression share on their core terms. How will Google determine which ads to rotate in to those top 4 spots? How will that impact impression share? Will it be tougher to maintain strong impression share for your top terms or will Google loosen up the criteria for Ad Rank and rotate competitors in more evenly? One certainty here is that it will be critical to re-evaluate Quality Score on your most important terms to set yourself up for success with all the unknowns of Google’s next steps.

3) More Advertisers Will Likely Be Shifting into PPC

With this new change rolling out, the amount of paid ad space available on the SERP has decreased from up to 11 down to 7. There is, however, one additional spot available at the top of the page for a total of 4 paid search slots, as opposed to 3 in the past. What does this mean for SEO results? They will be pushed further down the page, bringing a higher number of SEO results below fold. Because of this shift in SEO positioning (and drop in traffic) more advertisers will likely be looking into setting up their own paid search campaigns to compete for the top page spots. This may end up adding another layer of competition to the paid search space, which could also have an impact both on CPC and impression share.

4) ecommerce Advertisers Will Likely Invest More Heavily in PLAs, and non-ecommerce Advertisers Will Be Awaiting Their Solution

While right hand rail paid search ads are disappearing completely, Google has confirmed that this change will not impact the Knowledge Panel or the Product Listing Ads on the side rail of the SERP. The strong positioning of PLA ads is optimal for ecommerce companies and retailers who are likely already heavily investing in PLA advertising. This is great news for ecommerce businesses, but there is no alternative solution for either B2B or B2C companies that do not have specific products for sale on their site.

There is currently a lot of speculation circling around the paid search world about how this major shift in search engine results is going to impact marketers and advertisers. Ultimately, the impact will depend upon how advertisers react to this change in landscape. Will they get more aggressive with bids right away, driving up CPCs? Will they take a step back to revise their keyword set and max out impression share on their most efficient terms? Whichever direction the reaction trends, marketers should take a step back to re-evaluate strategy and results to make sure no major dips in performance have occurred.

Some different types of analysis that may be helpful include segmenting traffic and leads by ‘top of page’ results versus ‘other’ both before and after the update to see if there is cause for worry.  Advertisers will also want to look into improving Quality Score since it may end up carrying even more weight. To improve QS, advertisers can try segmenting keywords out into more granular ad groups and looking into ad copy and landing page content that is more relevant to the keywords within those given ad groups.  To improve expected CTR, try testing queries on high volume terms to see how competitors are positioning themselves and adjust your copy to be more in line with the competition. Is there room to broaden your customer base? Are there unnecessary qualifiers currently in place within your ad copy? Improving overall QS should help minimize the impact of potential CPC increases, and hopefully lead to better overall positioning with negligible impact on CPCs.

Blogging Trends for Business Owners in 2016

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Blogging has evolved greatly since its emergence in the 90s. What started simply as a lifecasting outlet for individual content creators has progressively matured into an integral part of every business’ digital strategy. Blogging is no longer limited to leisure and lifestyle. It is no longer exclusive to foodie writers, exercise gurus, and relationship connoisseurs. Today, blogging means business.

Over the years, blogging has blossomed into a full-time profession, a fruitful digital marketing tactic, and an essential measure for organizations looking to establish their authority online. For businesses especially, blogging has become a standard in the online landscape.

If you want to make it, you have to create it. Today, nearly every successful online business is employing content writing in some way. According to the 2016 B2B Content Marketing Report, 81 percent of businesses now consider blogging to be a core component of their content marketing strategy.

From large companies to small businesses, CEOs to subject matter experts, mom-and-pop shops to your very own mother-in-law—It seems that virtually everyone is now taking advantage of what blogging has to offer. How will you keep up, stand out, and rise above the competition?

Let’s take a look at four blogging trends that will change how you approach business blogging in 2016.

1.) Size Now Matters

More people are getting their content online now than ever before, making it more difficult for businesses to truly thrive online. Today, the web is flooding with futile blog posts, articles, and ‘click-bait’ to reel in readers. The question of 2016 has become: how can we, as businesses, cut through the noise and get our content in front of the right eyes? How can we deliver quality content to new prospects?

The answer lies right in the question. To get our blogs in front of new eyes, we must take the time to create and deliver great content. According to marketing expert Ann Hadley, this year will be the year of highly relevant, high-quality, at-length material. She notes in an Orbit Media report,

“To thrive in an over-saturated content world, you’ll need to constantly write or produce (and syndicate) content with depth. Longer posts, more substantive content that people find useful and inspired.”

It appears as though long-form will become the new blogging norm. A couple hundred words will no longer appear as useful as an extensive, data-driven, thousand-word post. While the average blog today is about 900 words, 1 in 10 writers are consistently writing 1,500+ word posts. This year, size will matter.

2.) Quality Over Quantity

As long-form blogs start to take the stage, exceedingly succinct blogs will be pushed to the backburner. In the case of quantity vs. quality for blog writing in 2016, it seems that less is actually more.

Many businesses make the mistake of creating content for content’s sake. The consistent focus on churning out as many blogs as possible, however, can actually diminish the value of the writing over time. The fact is, readers are looking for quality content supported by stats (the more primary research you have, the better). They are looking for answers, for insights, for fresh ideas. They are looking for solutions. They are looking to be engaged.

3.) Engagement Will Become Your New Best Friend

In the past, content creation was largely about generating traffic. While organic traffic, page views, and unique visitors are all still important metrics, business bloggers will analyze success a bit differently in 2016. This year, the biggest measurement to pay attention to will be your audience’s engagement rate.

Are you able to attract readers with your content? More importantly, are you able to keep them on and engaged with your website? Are you giving your audience something to consider, something to act on, or something to return to in the future? Are readers likely to share your content through social, and get others talking about your brand, as well?

Can you say ‘yes’?

4.) Visual is Now in Focus

Blogging is not solely reliant on writing: how you frame your writing, and how you deliver your information, is vital to your blog posts’ success. In order to engage with your audience on a deeper level today, you must balance your blog text with a good structure and compelling graphics.

Recent research has shown that adding visual elements and graphics to your blog posts can help you generate up to 94 percent more views. It is no wonder why. As long-form blogs become more frequent, so will the need for graphics to break up the post. Text-dense articles can be heavy on the eyes. It is important, therefore, for business writers to balance their information with a multi-image format. If you are discussing a new product, then include multiple real-life, relatable photos to better engage your readers.

Images are not everything, though. This year, you may consider embracing new visually appealing elements, such as video, audio, quotes, and embedded social media, in your blog content. You may consider featuring free downloadable assets, infographics, eBooks, or sharing podcasts and webinars by your internal subject matter experts. Continuously sharing fresh, engaging content will not only break up heavy blog posts, but it will also lead to greater engagement among your readership.

5.) Time to Take Mobile Seriously

On average, people pick up their phones 150 to 200 times per day. That means that, in the United States, there are nearly 30 billion mobile moments in total each day. Still, some businesses have yet to acknowledge the importance of mobile as a part of their online strategy.

To efficiently generate clicks, leads, and sales through your website or blog, you must tailor it to the mobile user experience. Easy-to-read, digestible content, clickable links, and optimized images will make for the most cohesive and dynamic mobile design.

If you are not mobile-friendly, users will know it. Google now labels Synapse Google Listingwebsites and blogs that are mobile friendly right there in the search results on your mobile device. If your website is not mobile responsive, you may get left in the dark. Optimizing your website or blog to be mobile-friendly, therefore, must be of high priority in 2016. See if your website is mobile responsive using Google’s Mobile-Friendly test.

Having a blog in place on your business website can help gain traction in the online landscape. Having a blog that is valuable, visually-compelling, and mobile-friendly, however, can help you attract qualified traffic, convert engaged readers, and secure new business online. Don’t fall behind the competition. Make blogging, and these core blogging trends, a priority in your digital marketing strategy this year.

If you’d like to learn more about Synapse SEM, please complete our contact form or call us at 781-591-0752.