Curation — the intelligent packaging of data and inventory actionable in a private marketplace deal — can no longer be considered a trend or buzzword. With over 66% of all open exchange – representing $100 billion in annual spend – being transacted through private marketplace deals (PMPs), curation is a key part of how data and identity are addressed and actioned in programmatic media.
Programmatic advertising is certainly known for big shifts, but as shared by Index Exchange CEO Andrew Casale, “Curation will be bigger than header bidding and as big as programmatic or real-time bidding (RTB) – that’s our bet.” And we agree. But why has curation become a critical component of brands and media agencies’ digital advertising strategies?
Put simply, the math. Case study after case study empirically shows curation performs well for both the buy and sell-sides.
For media agencies and brands, curation consistently shows four main benefits:
Significant cost efficiencies
Buying curated PMPs shows significant cost efficiencies when compared to buying data from the buy-side alone.
Strong performance
Data-enriched, curated PMPs can be optimized through the supply path, unlike a data management platform (DMP) segment, which leads to strong performance.
Futureproofs media buying
When data is curated through the supply path, it does not need to rely on legacy identifiers (like cookies), and the door is open to robust, next-gen addressability which better futureproofs media buying opportunities.
Value-added insights
Curation comes with robust log-level data that can be used for value-added data science including analytics, insights, reporting, and attribution – all critical in a world where addressability and identity resolution are becoming even more challenging.
Curation introduced efficiency into homeopathic brand Boiron’s media buys, reducing the brand’s data costs by 30%, which enabled the brand to reinvest the same budget in brand awareness goals. Curation not only met but also exceeded the CPA for display by 82% and for video by 41%.
“Audigent has been a top 5 performer in terms of CPA during our testing, helping our teams deliver 44% more efficient spend for brands across CTV campaigns.”
Sam Bloom, Head of Partnerships at agency PMG
A big boost for addressability
Legacy identity signals are changing. Whether it’s by browser, device, or platform, both buy-side and sell-side platforms need strong identity signals to reach their intended audiences, and this has become harder than ever before.
Curation, with its real-time data connection and enrichment capabilities, solves signal loss challenges by directly connecting to the supply path and using a broader spectrum of identity solutions to boost addressability. Curation allows platforms to target first-party, third-party, contextual, indexed and modeled audiences. This alleviates the dependence on any one identifier and boosts the relevant bidding opportunities for brands and media agencies to target audiences.
Not all curation is created equally
As with any hot innovation, AdTech is notorious for companies jumping on the bandwagon of the largest trends.Curation is no different, with seemingly everyone now claiming to be a “curator.” As the industry works to define what is and isn’t “curation,” we are uniquely positioned to define this as Audigent has pioneered curation for seven years and is the industry leader.
The definition of curation is the intelligent packaging and optimization of data curated against the inventory supply path. There are three definitional elements to any curation product:
Unique audience data
Curation must include first-party, third-party, contextual, indexed and/or modeled data.
Robust SSP integration
To apply data in real-time to the inventory supply path, a curator must have deep partnerships and integrations that enable the combination of data and inventory into a single package.
Optimization
The whole point of curating data against the supply path is that it opens the door for robust real-time optimization to drive performance.
If the solution ticks all three boxes, then brands and agencies should test curation and gauge its results firsthand.
Curation done right drives results for brands, agencies, and publishers
When done well, curation improves media buying efficiency and performance for brands and agencies. Importantly, it also drives results for publishers and content creators.
- Advertisers realize average data segment savings of 36-81% when using PMPs over the open exchange (Internal data)
- Advertisers see 10-70% lower CPC, 1.5x-3.0x higher CTR, and 10-30% higher video completion rate when using data-enriched PMPs over the open exchange (Internal data)
- When including their inventory in curated PMPs, publishers see an average 70% revenue uplift for mobile and 13% for connected TV (CTV)
Beyond voting with budgets, media agencies and brands are also weighing in on the curation conversation:
“Our Conditions Marketplace strategies have driven a 48% improvement in eCPM and a 26% improvement in CPA across our pharma client portfolio as of May 2024. For one client, we saw ROAS improve by 58% compared to their overall omnichannel performance while maintaining quality. These results aren’t outliers—they’re proof that curation is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have for marketers who want performance, precision, and scale working in lockstep.”
Amanda DeVito, Butler/Till
Industry-leading curation with Experian
Tapping into an end-to-end solution that enables marketers to understand and reach their desired customers across channels through curation is a win-win for all parties.
In the past three years, Experian and curation company Audigent have delivered a range of industry-leading innovations together, including the integration of Experian data into Audigent’s PMPs. As one company now, Experian’s unique identity and data capabilities amplify how curation activates on the buy-side at scale, setting a new standard for audience targeting with added benefits like audience customization and flexible activation through Audigent’s PMPs or demand-side platforms.
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Cross-screen marketing tech firm, Tapad, drove unified campaign; partnered with Statiq to measure cross-screen impact on in-store visits LONDON, March 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ – Carat North completed the UK's most comprehensive digital campaign with Tapad, the leader in cross-device marketing technology and now a part of Experian. Coupled with location-based audience data from Statiq, this marks the first time a UK-company has measured the impact of unified, cross-screen campaign on in-store visits. Carat North served display and video ads to grocery shoppers for the leading retailer ASDA from August through October. During the campaign, Tapad utilized Statiq's audience data to measure which users visited a store after being exposed* to the campaign's ad on multiple devices. The digital campaign demonstrated a lift of 59% for in-store visits when users were exposed to ads on three devices over people who were shown an ad only on onescreen. Those who engaged with the ad were also 411% more likely to visit an ASDA store. Of those who were exposed to an ad, 248% were more likely to visit a store. Impressions served to mobile devices saw the highest success rate with an in-store visit lift of 67%. The campaign leveraged Tapad's proprietary technology, The Device Graph™, which Nielsen confirmed Tapad's cross device accuracy to be 91.2%, to serve ads sequentially on connected devices belonging to the same user. CARAT NORTH: "The ability to know which devices belong to our customer, coupled with the ability to deliver the right ad, and right message, wherever they are and on whatever device they're using, has been something this industry has long needed," said Steve Thornton, Digital Account Manager, Carat North. "We're impressed with the results that have come from the work with Tapad and Statiq for this media-first, and look forward to continuing to offer these solutions to clients like ASDA. Matching unified cross-device capabilities with real insights on campaign performance is an invaluable advantage in the marketing world." TAPAD: "This campaign is a perfect example of the capabilities of cross-device advertising," said Are Traasdahl, Founder and CEO, Tapad. "In addition to reaching users across devices, we're able to analyze campaign results and determine how different combinations of ad exposure, creative type or view frequency affected their decision to visit a location." STATIQ: "As a location data specialist, Tapad is our ideal partner – they are an industry leader and by working with them we are able to determine the impact unified messaging has on real world consumer behaviours," said Dean Cussell, Co-Founder of Statiq. "We believe this type of analysis will significantly aid brands in optimising future ad spend." About Carat North Carat North is a leading independent media planning & buying specialist in digital and non-traditional media solutions. Owned by global media group Dentsu Aegis Network, the Carat network is more than 6,700 people in 130 countries worldwide across 170 cities. Carat defined the sector when established as the world's first media independent in 1968 and is now Europe's largest media network, a position held for more than 15 years. For more information visit www.carat.co.uk About Tapad Tapad Inc. is a marketing technology firm renowned for its breakthrough, unified, cross-device solutions. With 91.2% data accuracy confirmed by Nielsen, the company offers the largest in-market opportunity for marketers and technologies to address the ever-evolving reality of media consumption on smartphones, tablets, home computers and smart TVs. Deployed by agency trading desks, publishers and numerous Fortune 500 brands, Tapad provides an accurate, unified approach to connecting with consumers across screens. In 2015, Tapad began aggressively licensing its identity management solution, the Tapad Device Graph™, and swiftly became the established gold-standard throughout the ad tech ecosystem. Tapad is based in New York and has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit,Frankfurt, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, San Francisco and Toronto. TechCrunch called the powerhouse Tapad team "a hell of a list of entrepreneurs who created some of the most valuable online advertising companies of the last decade." Among Tapad's numerous awards: EY Entrepreneur of The Year (East Coast) 2014, among Forbes' Most Promising Companies two year's running, Deloitte's Technology Fast 500, Crain's Fast 50, Entrepreneur 360, Digiday Signal Award, iMedia ASPY Award, and a MarCom Gold Award. Read the full release here. *Tapad utilized Statiq's audience data to measure which users visited a store during, or within one month of, being exposed to the campaign's ad on multiple devices. Contact us today
Welcome! Who doesn’t like a warm welcome? Whether your customer is walking into your store or just signed up on your website to receive communications from you, she expects a warm reception. It’s important to make that first impression count. A welcome series helps the conversation open up between the customer and your brand. It sets expectations on the types and cadence of content the customer will receive. Welcome emails also garner 86 percent higher open rates than regular promotional mailings – not too shabby! In a recent webinar, Saks Fifth Avenue shared that they are constantly testing new and current programs to optimize the customer experience. As a result, they discovered that switching from batch-sending welcome emails to sending welcome messages in real time increased open, click and redemption rates significantly. Here’s an example of their welcome series: Saks’ results are consistent with Experian Marketing Services’ welcome email findings which indicate that emails triggered in real time receive up to 10 times the transaction rates and revenue per email vs. those that are batched. A welcome series has also been shown to increase retention by educating customers on new ways to use products and services they’ve purchased from your brand. These emails also can remind customers of the benefits they’ll reap from enrolling in your loyalty programs or credit card. … and welcome back Even if a customer has been welcomed and has interacted with your programs, a day may come when the customer goes silent. Reactivation campaigns are an effective way to get them to re-engage. Naturally, it’s important to target your dormant customers in a variety of channels so you can reach them more effectively. Maybe you’re wondering why I jumped from the warmth of a welcome series right into reality of needing a reactivation campaign. The reason? Marketers need to understand where a customer is in their lifecycle and come full circle with customers if they have parted ways. Marketers can pique the interest of a returning customer by telling them what’s new and reintroducing them to their brand. Carnival® Cruise Lines, for example, sends a welcome-back email that features the newest social networks, offers and deals its customers can take advantage of immediately. At the end of the day, customers expect to receive relevant and engaging messages throughout their entire relationship with a brand. Customer life cycle programs deliver just that. If you’re interested in learning more about welcome campaigns, waitlist/back-in-stock programs and other remarketing strategies, check out our webcast, Driving revenue through customer lifecycle marketing featuring Josh Pratt, Director of Email & Promotions for Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH. Contact us today
It seems that every time I go into a store today, I am offered a loyalty card. From one of my favorite local restaurants to my shoe store VIP program, I feel like I am getting a host of emails and points at every turn. Statistics support my theory: according to a recent Experian Data Quality study, 91 percent of organizations use loyalty programs. Why did they become so prevalent? Today’s consumer is more empowered than ever before and driving major change within business. In the era of Yelp, digital channels and a 24/7 shopping cycle, organizations have less control. Just look at the shoe market, which you can tell I pay attention to. It used to be that you would purchase whatever your local department store or brick-and-mortar retail had to offer, which might be 50 different options. Now, you can go online, read reviews and browse hundreds of different choices based on style and color. In fact, last night I went online and searched for black boots and scrolled through six pages of different options! Loyalty programs are a counter balance to that choice and empowered customer behavior. They make sure that while I am shopping for shoes, I am probably doing it through my preferred store and earning reward points for free merchandise. And through the loyalty process, companies are collecting a lot of data. Customers usually need to provide more than three types of information to sign up, the most popular being email, followed by name and phone number. However, collecting this information accurately isn’t always easy, which is why poor data collection is one of the leading problems for loyalty programs. Eighty-one percent of companies face challenges related to these programs, the two biggest being not enough customers signing up and poor contact data. Inaccurate data means that a customer has signed up, but the marketer is unable to communicate with them in the desired channels. This clear drop in communication and a potentially bad customer experience could be by improved data collection. Sixty-four percent of respondents say this is a needed improvement. Let’s go back to my shoe retailer example. If they had collected my email wrong, I wouldn’t get my email confirmations or offers around upcoming sales. If they got my address wrong, I wouldn’t be receiving my shoes. Considering how much money I spend on shoes annually, which I am ashamed to admit, if any of those items went wrong, I might switch to a competitor. That can equate to a lot of money annually, especially when you look at it across a large number of clients. When a customer chooses to sign up for a loyalty program, they are making a commitment to the company and expecting something in return, be it points, free shipping, coupons or just company updates. However, if bad contact information is collected, then the consumer often never receives the benefits, resulting in a bad customer experience. In the next year, marketers need to data validation in place to ensure information is accurate upon collection. This type of software can be implemented across all channels where information is collected and ensure data is accurate while the consumer is still engaged. If information is accurate when it is collected, then loyalty programs have a better chance at engaging consumers and actually seeing the benefit that a loyalty program can provide. To learn more about loyalty programs and the research mentioned above, please read our new white paper, Driving customer loyalty. Contact us today