Attribution, integration and replication: The challenges facing advertisers in the digital age

On 27 April 2017, ClickZ Intelligence presented The State of Digital Advertising 2017 webinar in partnership with Marin Software.

A report entitled The State of Digital Advertising 2017 by ClickZ Intelligence and Marin Software shows that digital technology such as the ever-increasing use of mobile are has “dominated the search marketing industry.”

At the same time, companies are increasing their budgets on paid search and paid social by significant amounts in 2017. What are the challenges currently facing advertisers, and how can these challenges be overcome?

Richard May, Head of Sales for Marin Software, discussed some of the challenges as well as some possible solutions.

Attribution remains one of the biggest challenges for advertisers

In the UK 31% of advertisers predicted attribution would be their biggest challenge of 2017. In the US this number was slightly higher at 37%.

Digital marketing advancements have made attribution even more difficult considering the multitude of touchpoints that can occur before a prospective buyer makes a purchase.

Contributing attribution between paid social and other paid channels has become an added challenge. This is especially true as paid social, specifically Facebook, has become more prominent.

Ultimately companies need to understand what value came from the interactions as well as to the degree of interaction that occurred. Richard May is optimistic that there is potential to overcome this challenge in the future with the help of publishers.

There are benefits to integrating paid search and social

According to Barron’s, 75% of time spent on the internet is divided between Facebook and Google. Additionally, the State of Digital Advertising 2017 revealed that 76% of companies increased their paid search budgets in 2016, with a nominally smaller percentage increasing their 2016 paid social budget.

When both channels are integrated properly and managed in cooperation, there is what has been coined a ‘multiplier effect.’

The importance of integrating paid search and social is apparent, yet challenges still exist. In fact integration was the second highest ranked challenge in the report. This was more so with UK advertisers (26%) in comparison to US advertisers (12%).

To overcome these challenges, information gathered through search can be leveraged in social channels by analyzing search terms. Social knowledge, such as ad interaction, can also be capitalized on search and display.

Replication across search providers is a work in progress

In regards to delivering ROI from paid search, the report showed that 37% of advertisers named replicating campaigns across Google, Bing, Yahoo or other search providers as their biggest challenge.

Replication across search providers and channels is a challenge that may require a tech partner to facilitate.  However, Marin Software has provided some solutions that can help.

• Smart Sync for Shopping: gives brands ability to retarget between Bing Shopping ads and Facebook Dynamic Product ads

• Smart Sync: Automated replication of search campaigns between Google and Bing

Interested in finding out more about how to overcome some of the challenges currently facing digital advertisers and hear more about the findings in the report? Then watch The State of Digital Advertising 2017  webinar on demand.

Also, don’t forget to download your copy of The State of Digital Advertising 2017.

 

This webinar was produced in association with Marin Software. Click here to read our collaborative content guidelines. Views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ClickZ.

For more information on how you can get involved with the ClickZ Webinar Series please contact [email protected].