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Integral Ad Science’s SEA Country Manager Megan Reichelt was honoured to speak on stage at this year’s GroupM Focal on the topic of AI and actionable data.
We are delighted to share some of the key insights she discussed on the day.
What innovative data/tech -powered strategies do brands currently utilize? And how does it impact their business?
Megan: Many local and global brands in Thailand are using ad verification to improve the quality of the inventory they are buying, which helps drive greater efficiency and effectiveness across their digital media buys. Thailand marketers are using ad verification tools to ensure that their ads are viewable, by a real person, as well as served in a brand safe and suitable environment. This means advertisers can understand exactly where their media budget is going, and use insights and optimisation tools to reduce any wasted media budget and redirect their investments towards the inventory that will deliver the greatest business results. This includes a lift in brand awareness, consideration and even conversions. Ultimately, using ad verification tools helps brands maximise their media budgets by optimising towards greater quality inventory, delivering greater return on ad spend.
How can brands reach new potential target audiences beyond their existing customer base?
Megan: With the impending deprecation of cookies, marketers are seeking alternative ways to expand their reach, and target new audiences. One of the key strategies many marketers have begun testing is contextual targeting. In the past, contextual targeting was quite simplistic, you would target pages or publishers based on the category they fell into. For example a travel brand might target the travel section of a major news publisher. With recent technology advancements, and the introduction of AI, we have come a long way since then.
Marketers can now use advanced contextual technology to reach audiences based on the specific content they are viewing, at the page level. It’s now possible to target users based on the context of the content they are viewing, as well as the sentiment and emotion of the page. Sentiment & emotion analysis now enables marketers to understand if a page is positive, or negative, or does it evoke feelings of happiness, or sadness, excitement or fear. This is really powerful as you can use all of these insights for targeting purposes, meaning you can reach new users, in the right mindset, before they make a purchase. If I refer back to the travel brand, you can target users who are viewing relevant travel content, no matter where they are on the web, and now you can also tailor this further by layering on emotions. Perhaps for an upcoming valentines day campaign, a hotel chain wants to target users who are viewing pages that evoke feelings of love. This is now possible.
Advanced contextual targeting technology can help increase scale, and have significant performance benefits when compared to traditional audience targeting solutions. IAS & Mindshare worked together with a major consumer electronics brand to activate contextual targeting using sentiment & emotion analysis, and when comparing this to an alternative audience targeting solution, they achieved a 300% higher click through rate, and a 65% decrease in their cost per click.
Are there any other angles apart from Customer-related perspective that brand can leverage data and technology with?
Megan: One hot topic right now, is how brands can prioritise Sustainability and Responsible media buying. According to an IAS study, 94% of consumers believe that brands should play a role in advocating for environmental causes, and 76% of consumers are more likely to have a favorable view of brands that advocate for environmental causes. This means that when brands adopt sustainable practices, this has a positive impact on their brand reputation, customer loyalty, and operational efficiency. Data can be used to measure and analyse your marketing activities environmental impact, helping you to identify areas for improvement.
IAS works with Scope3 and GoodLoop and uses data to measure the carbon footprint of a digital campaign. Marketers can then take these insights to guide resource optimisation, waste reduction, and energy efficiency strategies.
What trends about data and technologies do you see coming and impacting the business? And what would be the negative impact if the brand doesn’t adapt accordingly?
Megan: Optimising towards basic media quality metrics such as viewability is the foundation of measurement, and something many marketers have been doing for a number of years now. Today we are starting to see marketers look beyond viewability, as they are seeking new ways to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. One of these new methods is the use of attention metrics.
Attention has become one of the most talked about topics in the industry globally. Attention measurement allows advertisers to understand and evaluate how effectively their ads are engaging and resonating with their audience.
In a number of studies we have conducted at IAS, we have identified that optimising towards Attention signals such as whether the ad is actually seen, and how long it is seen, the environment the ad is served in, as well as user interaction, is directly linked to improved business results across the entire funnel. This includes boosting awareness, consideration and purchase intent, as well as driving a significant lift in conversions for performance campaigns too. In fact, in a recent study we conducted across multiple advertisers and markets, we identified that impressions with high attention scores saw a conversion rate of up to 33x higher than impressions with low attention scores.
My advice to the marketers in the room is to ensure that when selecting an attention measurement solution, ensure you are looking for one that is directly linked to proven business results. Afterall, the ultimate goal is to achieve your media KPIs and deliver business results, across the funnel.
For more information on this topic or how IAS can help you with your digital ad campaign, you can reach out to Megan via mreichelt@integralads.com
