Why cross-platform marketing
matters more than ever
Americans have never had more exposure to media than they do today. According to one study, the average individual in the United States spends 12 hours and 39 minutes per day consuming media.
That level of consumption translates to massive exposure opportunities for marketers, but only if you’re reaching those users where they are — which is why programmatic advertising has become a crucial weapon in the arsenal of marketers in the US and beyond.
Worldwide total media ad spending has nearly doubled since 2016 and will cross the $1 trillion threshold in 2025, and digital ad spending will account for more than 75% of worldwide total media ad spending for the first time.
A specific area of growth in the ad spend sector is programmatic advertising, which has expanded rapidly over the past five years, with spending more than doubling since 2019. It is expected to exceed $200 billion by 2026. It leverages data from every media interaction to make real-time decisions on the right person to see an ad at the right moment.
As such, programmatic advertising plays an important role, enabling ad placements to be determined by efficient machines using vast data, rather than fixed decisions by advertisers. Despite this, marketers remain accountable for their ad spend.
With big brand campaigns using every possible channel, brand lift measurement provides a compelling way to demonstrate the effectiveness of ad dollars. 56% of marketing professionals now rank brand lift as their top priority measure of performance.
The Cint approach
Cint is one of the leading companies powering cross-platform measurement studies, utilizing the scale of our global programmatic research platform to help advertisers reach and survey audiences that power our best-in-class brand lift solutions.
Lucid Measurement by Cint is our always-on, cross-platform measurement product built to surface easy-to-understand brand lift metrics for advertising campaigns and to allow media optimization while the campaign is in-flight.
Trusted by companies like Disney Advertising, The Trade Desk, and more, countless brands, agencies, media owners, and tech platforms look to Cint for holistic, actionable brand-lift insights that power some of the biggest campaigns in media.
In parallel with our recently published Cross-Platform Measurement in 2025 guide, Cint spoke with Christopher Pope, Senior Director, Data and Measurement, to address some of the major challenges for agencies getting to grips with a topic as big — and as vital — as cross-platform success.
Setting goals
Devizing clear and actionable goals in the cross-platform space can become an issue due to the complexity of analyzing data tracked across multiple platforms, devices, or channels.
Because different platforms may have different tracking systems, user behaviors, or metrics, defining unified goals isn’t always as clear-cut as marketers may like it to be.
How, though, do you overcome that challenge and set a series of KPIs in motion for your campaigns?
“The best way to formulate your cross-platform study KPIs is to really evaluate what your media campaign is intending to achieve and match your KPIs to these objectives,” says Pope.
“For instance, if your media campaign is focused on driving awareness as the key objective, then you should focus your study KPIs around KPIs that focus on awareness, like aided or unaided awareness targets, for example.”
With so many potential avenues to explore in cross-platform campaign environments, Pope recommends taking advantage of a solution like Lucid Measurement to maintain consistency and accuracy in tracking user behavior across different channels.
What are the common challenges to avoid when integrating cross-platform measurement tools for digital tracking, and how can they be addressed?
“Looking at all of your measurement data with a single dataset and methodology gives you a much more accurate picture of how the campaign is performing,” says Pope.
Acting on insights
You’ve run a campaign, made in-flight optimizations, and studied the data. How, though, do you go about turning those insights into action points?
After all, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data at your disposal once a cross-platform measurement is either in motion or has come to an end. How can marketers avoid data-derived headaches?
“I think the key takeaway here is to focus on a few key KPIs and a few media tactics on each study,” says Pope. “The KPIs that best align with your campaign goals are the ones that should be highlighted.”
Asked about how to devise solid strategies for turning cross-platform derived insights into actionable marketing decisions, Pope offered the following.
“When looking at cross-platform brand lift insights, the area where we see most marketers focus is on understanding how different partners have performed across the campaign. These insights can help inform your next quarter or campaign’s media strategy.”
Conclusion
Want to know more about how to optimize cross-platform strategies and media measurement in 2025?
Explore the importance of brand lift and discover how it can drive your marketing success with our new guide.
This comprehensive guide offers valuable insights and proven strategies from industry experts. You’ll learn how to set effective campaign objectives and track your media placements for optimal performance, empowering you to fine-tune your campaigns as they unfold.
Head here to download it today.
