Optimizing Search and Digital Marketing With Multi-Channel Attribution Modeling

Success of digital marketing is often attributed to the assists of other channels. While attending ClickZ Live San Francisco’s session on "Optimizing Search and Digital Marketing With Multi-Channel Attribution Modeling" by Crispin Sheridan, I had a good opportunity to provide our SEW readers with the SAP viewpoint on how they created their attribution models as well as the impact it had on their business. Unfortunately, Sheridan could not attend the session due to an illness. However, he was replaced by a well-known advocate in the search industry, Bill Hunt of Back Azimuth Consulting.

SAP started the switch to attribution modeling based on the needs of their business and identifying their customer journey. The long sales cycles, multiple individuals involved in interacting with all media types on multiple platforms, and the significant spend on pull and push marketing were certainly driving factors. They knew that all of the assists by their channels, from the first touch to the last, mattered, but how much? Where does the customer journey start and where does it end, and what is the best investment mix to drive maximum revenue?

By looking at their tactics, they found that the last-click attribute unfairly assigns the credit to direct or pull channels (example, SEM), where the first-click attribute unfairly assigns credit to awareness or the push channels (for example, display ads). After putting together a report of each siloed marketing tactic, the results were stunning - each division of digital marketing was claiming credit for leads that weren’t necessarily attributed to them; even worse, the real lead amount was very different from the reality.

Identifying Models

Once the SAP team knew how impactful not providing attribution modeling to their reporting was, they had to review which types of attribution models would work for them. Putting together the types of attribution models helped them decide how they would give credit and why. The three models to look at for attribution methods are:

• Linear: splits everything evenly
• Weighted: assigns credit on a curve, requiring them to make judgment calls
• Recency: based on time stamps, which assigns credit based on length of time passed.

Each one, they found, has its benefits as well as its challenges.

It was not only the macro media mix modeling that would come into play here. Beyond determining which attribution models would work for the organization, they also had to look at the micro attributions of each digital marketing tactic, as one change can greatly influence the impact of another attribution.

By testing and learning on the micro level, they were able to understand how channel overlap impacts conversion rates, the true reach and frequency across touch points, and the contribution of each action, channel, and message, as well as the optimal sequence of channel exposure to drive conversions.

Getting Started

The first requirement to attribution modeling is setting up good tagging governance and processes. It’s critical that the master tag is across all digital touch points and that the tag management system that you use provides the ability to tag each individual component correctly so you can do multivariate testing when it comes to optimizing the micro attributes.

Next, every touch contribution needs to be indexed based on its contributing factors to the last click.

The Results

Initially, SAP found that they might be buying more exposure than necessary, there was a lot of channel overlap, and that optimizing the volume would net better results.

Once this was done, they were able to determine frequency of exposure and conversion rates of each specific tactic. This would finally result into the report that they’d been waiting for, which answered the question of what impacts the conversion and to what degree.

This led to the action of re-allocating budgets from banners to SEM. Surprisingly, they found banners act more as closers, where SEM acts more as an opener. SEM gained 14 percent additional conversion credit because it indexes very high as an introducer and has a high overlap with other vehicles. Introducers get the majority of the credit from the models.

The Test Lab

Now that the attribution modeling systems were working, the next step to SAP’s success was to put together a globally mandated test lab over a period of two years. Out of the first 80 tests that were launched, they were able to generate more than 25,000 incremental inquiries, increase their lead value, and gain more than 100 important insights.

5 Key Optimization Discoveries From the Test Lab

1: Turn heroes into action heroes

This was a multivariate test, where in addition to the button in hero, SAP tested body with images versus no images and then tested a more human-oriented image for the background of the hero – the big win was getting an offer (CTA) into the hero and injecting some clear action in that key area. SAP found that the more human touch on the hero image didn’t help and also found that whether they had thumbnail images or not in the body content didn’t have meaningful impact on response/conversion. This lead to a 19 percent increase in conversions.

2: Photographic imagery sharpens response

As SAP started to leverage more pictograms, questions started to pour in about what works best, pictograms or photographic images. Par for the data-driven course, we put the question to the test. Photographic images have been driving more response consistently across tests from various geographies. This led to a 46 percent increase in conversions.

3. Great results don’t have to be complex

The ultimate test is one that yields great gains with very little cost. SAP is always searching out quick wins and low-hanging fruit. In the example that was provided, a simple copy change that leverages the word "download" – which reinforces a "tangible" resource that will always be accessible – helped drive 47 percent gains in the related lead form submission rate.

4. Make those CTAs easy to spot (and click)

CTAs are often the keys to the conversion, so in SAP’s testing efforts they sought what the impact would be to make them easier to find. The result was 7 percent more clicks, which, when factoring in the snowball effect of syndicating out the result across thousands of pages and dozens of country websites, has profound impact on overall business value.

5. Test surprises happen, which is why we test

SAP has a mix of content offers that are gated (behind registration) and not gated (freely available). The organization thought it would be useful to give site visitors some visual distinction as to what requires registration. They decided to test this and see what the impact was on their lead generation efforts and found that the visual cues actually suppressed registration rates. The theory in hindsight was that the distinctions fueled more efforts to "seek out" the free stuff. This led to a 17 percent increase in conversions.

Finally, the results come to this:

The key takeaways from Sheridan’s well-written presentation were this:

• Distinguish between macro and micro optimization – Correctly form a macro attribution model, then look at each tactic to create micro optimization and evaluate the impact.
• Drive to your most relevant attribution model(s) – You may have been putting too many resources into the wrong marketing channel. Learn from the data and attribute your budgets correctly.
• Ensure proper tagging structure (master tag) – Make sure your tagging is correctly implemented so that the data you are seeing is correct. You may also need a full-time "tag manager" role.
• Apply multivariate modeling and testing to optimize the impact of each tactic – You will certainly find that by doing so, your conversions may dramatically increase.

All in all, once you’ve "wired up" your digital landscape and are collecting the data, the correct model or models will be easy enough for you to find.

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10 Ways to Avoid Common Email Marketing Mistakes in 2014

Email marketing has always had critics. These skeptics will tell you all the reasons why the email marketing channel will eventually fizzle out. However, recent studies have shown the average return on investment in email marketing to be anywhere from $32 to a whopping $44.25 for each dollar invested.

If you are not yet experiencing this level of ROI, use the checklist below to detect areas for improvement:

1. Disabled Images

- Studies show that up to 80% of your recipients have images disabled. Some are disabled by the email provider. Other people have made the choice to avoid downloading images.

- Take the time to insert alt text for your images. That way, even if they cannot see the image in your email, they know what is present.

- The search engines cannot ‘see’ the image. Your alt text lets them know what you have posted.

2. Scan-Ability

- People rarely take time to actually read the entire content of your email marketing. So, your message must be easy to scan. Even before the impatient buyers of today, professional copywriters honed the skill of scan-able content

- The scanning reader emphasizes the need for strong headlines and sub-headlines, plus bulleted lists

3. Mobile Ready

- Ease of reading has become even more important as email recipients are moving to mobile devices.

- Studies show that email is checked on a mobile device around 34 times each day.

4. Analyze frequency

- No one can tell you exactly how often to send emails to your target list. Frequency varies greatly from one industry to the next.

- Use your CRM software to set up dashboards to analyze open and click through rates. When you know what causes your sales lead to respond to your email marketing effort, you can apply that knowledge to the frequency of sending the group emails.

- Watch for unsubscribes. An uptick in requests to unsubscribe can mean many things such as poor value in your content. The most common reason for requesting to be taken off your list is that you send them emails too often.

5. Segments

- Try to keep your email lists chunked down into groups that share something in common. You may want to segment them by lead source first because that is relatively easy. Ultimately, you may want to segment the list by such things as order volume or even hobbies. The more targeted your email – the more relevant the message can be for them.

6. Personas – targeted and relevant

- Relevance is critical for your email marketing to be effective. For each segment, develop the persona of the ideal client within the category. This persona is a composite and fictitious human being that is at the center of all communication to each segment

7. Conversational language

- Once you have identified the composite persona of your best clients, write your emails as if you were sitting with them face-to-face.

- Formality does not have the power to engage and should not be used in email marketing. Even your C-level sales lead does not want a stuffy, formal email.

8. Pithy Subject Lines

- With the volume of emails received by your targeted message, getting the email opened is a huge challenge. Intrigue them with something that provokes curiosity.

- A/B test your subject lines. Some people get up to a 28% increase in open rates from changing only one or two words.

9. Engaging content

- When the recipient has opened the email, you better deliver something worth reading or they will quickly click away.

- Email marketing that essentially says “Buy My Stuff” become old very quickly. Give them something more and keep promotions to a minimum.

- Today’s consumer wants to be educated and entertained.

10. Compelling call to action (CTA)

- It is a shame if you spend your time and effort following this list of tips, then leave it up to the customer to figure out what comes next.

- Give the reader a specific action to take once they have consumed your email content. It can be anything from “click here for a free report” to “share this story with friends” or anything else you want them to do.

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3 Simple Ways to Measure Your Social Media Results

#1: Quantify Your Social Media Listening

“What you’re doing [on social media] needs to have impact. It needs to actually have revenue. And often times we try to make it fuzzy about that.” – Frank Eliason, Citi’s Director, Global Social Media (@FrankEliason)

Listening is one of the most often overlooked uses of social media, yet it’s probably the most important. If you’re not listening to your customers, you’re missing the point of social media.

But how do you measure listening and how does it impact your revenue?

In this example, we’re going to look at using Twitter to answer that question.

• In Twitter’s search field, enter your business name.
  

  Twitter’s search field.
• You can then select whether you want to view Twitter’s “top” tweets about your business, “all” tweets containing your business name or tweets that contain your business name from only those people you follow.
  

  Twitter search.
• As you filter the tweets, look through them and decide whom you’d like to follow. These are likely either potential customers or your current customers.
• Monitor their tweets on a daily basis. Engage with them, answering their questions, adding value and helping them whenever possible.

Twitter’s Advanced Search is powerful too, especially if you’re a local business. You can use it to search specific terms related to your business that people who are near your location are talking about.

Twitter is an amazing tool for providing real-time customer service. You can learn things like:

• Exactly how many people you’re helping
• If you’re growing that number of people
• The issues customers are experiencing with your business
• What’s broken in your business

At the end of the measurement period, prioritize the problems you identify and use that intelligence to implement fixes and improvements within your business. You canmeasure the direct impact on your business by looking at the additional revenue or cost savings that these new fixes give you.

#2: Create a Rating System for Your Social Engagement

“Put a [tiered point system] in place rather than looking at how many likes you have.” – Scott Monty, Ford’s global head of social media (@scottmonty)

This is a simple yet effective strategy to use when you’re trying to generate awareness and buzz. It’s a smart way to measure the response to your efforts on Facebook, Twitter or any other social channel you’re using.

Here’s how it works.

Say you’re launching a product or service and want to build buzz about it on Facebook. You post an update to your Page about your launch and you get a bunch of likes on it. The next day, you post a different type of update. You get some likes on it, but you also see that people are engaging more with the second update by sharing the post and commenting on it.

Likes show support and comments indicate a deeper interest but shares are most valuable because they move the update beyond your page.

At the beginning of the campaign, translate your objective to a numeric goal. Then,use a tiered point system to weight different types of engagement according to which is most valuable to you.

Here’s an example of a tiered point system for Facebook:

• Likes: 1 point each
• Comments: 5 points each
• Shares: 10 points each

During the campaign, a quick sum of values will help you determine if your efforts on Facebook are moving you closer towards your goal or not.

Assign a point system to likes, shares and comments.

You can create similar point systems on any of the social channels you use. For example, on Twitter, 5 points for a reply and 10 points for a retweet.

#3: Add Tons of Value, Then Sell and Measure

“Jab, jab, jab, right hook.” – Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee)

This strategy is the concept behind Gary V.’s upcoming book and it’s based on providing great content that adds tons of value for your customers before asking for the sale.

The Corcoran Group, a NYC real estate firm, adds value via their social media outlets.

For example, say your restaurant is rolling out a new healthy menu. Your goal is to get 300 customers into your restaurant to try the new menu over an upcoming weekend.

Since your food is visually appealing, you develop a Facebook or Instagram strategy. You post pictures of your food, create content around the importance of healthy eating and curate information on your Facebook Page about farmers’ markets in your area.

Offer this valuable content to build trust with people.

Then offer a coupon for your restaurant on your Facebook Page. The number of people who claim and redeem your coupon is a result you can quantify.

Here’s how to measure your efforts when using this strategy:

• Use the tiered point system described in strategy #2 to determine if your content is moving you closer to your goal.
• Use coupons that are specific to your social media campaign, thus making the return on your investment easy to track and measure.
• Create unique landing pages for each of your campaigns where your customers can download or purchase what you are promoting. Since the landing page is used for one specific campaign, this will allow you to clearly see how successful your campaign is.

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How to make video advertising that delivers

Image via CrunchBase

As video ad consumption soars, so do marketers' video budgets.

There are more than 785m visits to online video websites in the UK each month. Spending on online video advertising in the UK hit 109m in 2011, more than double the previous year.

And the mind-blowing numbers keep coming – comScore’s May estimates for U.S. video views topped 10 billion for the very first time.

But when will the digital ad industry rise to the challenge?

Right now, brands that want to capture online audiences have few options and the benefits from pursuing them are limited. For the most part, video-ad targeting remains primitive, the resulting metrics are inadequate and brand safety is rarely assured. Marketers often fail to look beyond pre- and mid-roll, which bring their own constraints, and consumers barely even register on most brands' lists of strategic priorities.

If we as an industry want to create video advertising that truly delivers on its promise – bringing together the best of television and digital to engage consumers in entirely new ways – we need to shift gears, and soon.

We must not focus simply on basic execution issues like placement, positioning and pricing. We also need to improve on the targeting, accountability and brand safety fronts. Finally, we need to consider the consumer in a new, more thoughtful way.

Smarter targeting

First, we need to help the brands and agencies we support reach the audiences they need. Display brand advertising works best when it’s contextually relevant to the content of a page, and the same goes for video advertising. Until we can offer video ad targeting that leverages the full breadth of digital data and its environment, we’re selling ourselves short.

Reconsidering ROI

Brands and their agencies love digital for the belief that they can track all aspects of performance; with online advertising we can measure to our hearts’ content. However with pre-roll – the lion’s share of video advertising – the numbers we get are typically completion rates and CTRs, confusing and often contradictory measurements that reveal nothing about ad effectiveness or user engagement.

We should be able to tell advertisers how long a user was engaged (not because they were forced to!) watching a video, what they did afterwards, whether they shared the ad and what the impact was.

The scale vs. quality dilemma

To look at those soaring video-consumption numbers, you’d think quality inventory was bottomless. On the contrary: One reason video might well continue to lag behind television is the impossibility of competing with the latter’s scale.

With video, brands face a difficult decision: Should we go for reach and compromise quality, or sacrifice scale to protect our brand? Until now, there’s been lots of demand for premium video advertising, but not enough premium content to fulfill the requirement of pre- and mid-roll execution.

For video to realise its potential, the industry needs to make a more concerted effort to respond to the needs of agencies and marketers, either by looking to new channels for content or by thinking more broadly about how to reach audiences in the right environment with video.

In part, this is about analytics keeping pace with technology. For example, until reporting agencies like comScore broaden their definition of “video network” – which still dates to the era of embedded video players – to accommodate new delivery platforms, agencies and advertisers won’t understand the full range of solutions at their disposal.

Putting consumers in the picture

Finally and most importantly, the industry needs to pivot 180 degrees to put user experience at the center of every video campaign. With our consumer hats on, we need to consider the “value exchange” of video advertising. Brands need to look closely at what they offer users in return for their time and attention. And they need to think anew about what people want, to create advertising in the interest of the consumer.

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