Why measure outcomes?
In the modern media landscape, the idea of ensuring that upper-funnel marketing activities connect directly to lower-funnel results has become increasingly important.
Put simply, outcomes measurement is a means of tracking how media investments drive specific business objectives. These are also known as outcomes, hence the name. Simple, right?
Across the industry, marketers need to understand the impact of their brand advertising budgets and to tell that impact story to stakeholders. After all, when every dollar counts, it’s crucial to know what their spend is actually delivering.
Let’s explore why connecting attitudes to action is a fundamental way of proving the value of brand media budgets in an era where every cent is fought over, and every decision made before, during, and after a campaign can be critical.
What challenges does measuring outcomes solve?
Marketers know that every campaign comes with its own challenges to solve.
For some, it is imperative to provide better proof of revenue from upper-funnel campaigns while also demonstrating the revenue-generating value of their own platforms.
“Connecting brand ad buys to real sales gives brand marketers the proof they need to get reinvestment in upper-funnel advertising that can shift not just inventory but consumer perceptions.”
Laura Manning
Senior Vice President of Measurement, Cint
As Laura Manning, Cint’s SVP of Measurement, puts it, “connecting brand ad buys to real sales gives brand marketers the proof they need to get reinvestment in upper-funnel advertising that can shift not just inventory but consumer perceptions.”
Investing in outcomes measurement techniques can be a way of gaining a competitive advantage when it comes to competing for media budgets. For example, with an outcomes approach in place, it’s possible to chart the causality between metrics like brand lift and the eventual sales lift.
On the agency side, many marketers feel under pressure from clients to go about demonstrably proving the return on investment (ROI) of agency services when it comes to launching cross-channel campaigns.
They may also find themselves wanting to stop allocating budget to performance media campaigns by, again, providing evidence that brand campaigns really are capable of driving revenue.
Why has measuring outcomes become so important? What is Cint doing about it?
Successfully integrating outcomes into wider media measurement strategies has become important for a variety of reasons.
The outcomes approach is an opportunity to “close the loop” for upper-funnel campaigns and give momentum for requests for reinvestment in brand lift. Tying ROI to brand lift through outcomes measurement also presents an opportunity to win back lost media budgets from brands taking marketing in-house or investing in direct response campaigns.
“There’s a shift happening in brand measurement. As brands use MTA and MMM to connect touchpoints across the user journey, brand marketers are expected to provide proof that upper-funnel marketing efforts are generating revenue,” says Manning. “Outcomes measurement provides the simplest solution for publishers, platforms, and agencies to connect brand lift KPIs to real sales.”
Additionally, those data points allow marketers to make truly informed campaign decisions, providing a solid basis for potential optimization strategies to be ideated and eventually deployed.
“Marketers have always known that brand investment moves the needle on sales,” said Kate Crandall, Principal Product Manager. “The goal of outcomes measurement is not just proving it, but making it actionable.”
Learn more about Lucid Measurement
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