Ari Bluman reports that optimization provided a lift to the Sugarshots campaign, and he explains how optimization can work for you.
For this week’s test, I wanted to gauge the performance lift we could get using the optimization tools of our media network, 24/7 Real Media, for these Sugarshots tests. As I mentioned in the introduction article for this test, the more people or companies with skin in the game on a campaign, the more work goes towards campaign optimization.
Our test was pretty simple. Serve two identical ads, one going to a media plan without any of 24/7’s optimization capabilities, the other utilizing their full optimization capabilities. Then compare the results.
To accurately represent their optimization solution, I’d like to bring Ari Bluman and his 24/7 team into a discussion on the results of this test, and let them answer some of my questions about how the tool works, how it worked for Sugarshots, and how it might work for other products, similar or different.
He responds to my questions below:
Doug: Start by telling me a little about how your optimization tool works...
Ari: Optimization is one feature of Open AdStream, 24/7 Real Media's ad management platform. We use a multitude of parameters including clickthrough rate (CTR), conversion, or any metric against which our clients want to measure success of their campaigns. It works by shifting impressions towards the best performing sites, sections of sites, content verticals, or behavioral segments, depending on the objective of the campaign.
Doug: What do you see from the overall trend in data for Sugarshots?
Ari: We were satisfied, although not surprised, in the lift of performance of the optimized impressions. Overall, we increased clickthrough rates 55 percent post-optimization, and increased the number of clicks by 76 percent.
All of all targets - behavioral segments and content channels - outperformed their non-optimized counterpart with the exception of one category, which we attribute to a statistically insignificant number of impressions.
Doug: What types of campaigns or target audiences are generally best suited for your optimization tool?
Ari: All campaigns and target audiences are candidates for optimization on our network. The overwhelming reason for this is because the 24/7 Web Alliance consists of 850 different web sites, categorized into 16 different content verticals and can be targeted by an unlimited number of behavioral segments via 24/7 OnTarget, our behavioral targeting solution (both standard and customized to a particular advertiser). We have always found it better for an advertiser to start out advertising to a broad audience, further narrowing into a more clearly defined target set as we see what works best for them. Due to our tremendous reach -- close to 75 percent of the entire US Internet audience -- we have the luxury of finding the diamond in the rough without compromising reach or delivery.
Doug: Is the optimization process manual or automated?
Ari: We use a combination of automation and manual processes initiated by optimization experts who adjust campaigns as needed. To further clarify, our technology has multiple targeting criteria that it looks at, flagging campaign criteria defined at the onset of each campaign. Our optimization experts will then adjust the campaign accordingly by reviewing the campaign metrics and applying performance knowledge from eight plus years of historical data.
Doug: The content channel and behavioral target performance sounds interesting. Can you elaborate on which content channels and behavioral targets you see performing best?
Ari: Looking at CTR, the following categories performed the best:
Content Channels: Health
Behavioral Segments: Health Behavior within Health Content
Doug: Would you say this type of performance lift is pretty typical for the campaigns you apply this optimization to?
Ari: The easiest metric to optimize toward is CTR. When that is the goal of the campaign, it is not uncommon to see this type of lift.
Doug: What timeline or impression count levels do you need to be able to apply the optimization?
Ari: We can begin optimizing any campaign as early as one day into the campaign as long as the impression levels provide a large enough sample across a given target. Typically, we can begin optimizing a campaign across the entire 24/7 web alliance sooner, as the impression levels are far greater than if it were limited to a particular channel. Generally, we like to have at least 100 thousand daily impressions for RON campaign, and at least 50 thousand daily impressions for a specific content channel or behavioral target.
Doug: Are there certain target audiences or product categories that your optimization is particularly effective with?
Ari: Optimization is more effective when it is based on a particular action goal, such as CTR or conversion, rather than based on a particular target audience or product category. For behavioral target audiences, our network offers us greater optimization ability due to its size. Having the largest behavioral targeting network on the internet means we do not have to sacrifice delivery for performance.
Doug: How long of a time frame does the optimization need to hit its peak, or will the optimization continue indefinitely?
Ari: Optimization continues indefinitely to maintain the metric of success. Once a certain goal has been achieved, we must continue to monitor it to maintain or improve performance levels.
Doug Schumacher is the president of Basement, Inc.
Ari Bluman is the SVP of media and technology at 24/7 RealMedia