Tracking the success of an advertising campaign is crucial, not only for measuring the potential impact of your campaign, but also for long-term budgeting and planning new campaigns. That’s why Adcombi uses tracking KPIs to measure the success of campaigns, both in terms of traditional click-through rate and viewability, as well as in terms of cost-saving, engagement tracking, and – if you have the technology in place – in-store sales tracking.
Hyperlocal targeting isn’t about cost-efficiency
If you decide to target based on location, you have tradeoffs. Hyperlocal ads target specific locations, and often, you have to prioritize those locations. That often means paying more per click – with both an increase in costs and a decrease in click-through rate. Therefore, it’s not always a good idea to compare hyper local campaigns to national campaigns – unless the local advertising isn’t driving its own value.
Instead, Adcombi can help you to create a benchmark and compare costs by running a benchmark campaign for you. Normally, this means targeting the same area or zip codes, but without the hyperlocal content. You won’t be able to compare results with your national campaign, but you will be able to see what nationally branded ads do in that location versus locally branded ads – which can help you to determine efficacy and value.
Value comes from local exposure
Most hyperlocal marketing campaigns are built around the same values as paper ads and flyering. You increase top-of-funnel exposure in a local and targeted area, with information prospects need to go directly to a local outlet or store. That can drive direct foot traffic to a local store, therefore driving up local exposure and sales. And, while most businesses already know how paper ads and flyering effect sales – if you stop them, sales drop – that same data doesn’t exist for digital ads yet. That’s in part because “hyper local” ads are relatively new.
Adcombi helps you track this data in a few ways. The first is by simply ensuring that hyperlocal ads are targeted properly. Our polygon targeting uses a system of tiny radii points to cover a full zip code – rather than using a radius with a central point – which wastes as much as 30% of all clicks. In addition, we use our Geosafety feature to ensure that when someone sees a targeted ad, they’re actually in that location. We achieve this by dynamically pulling ads from the server. The GDPR means all IP addresses are hashed before the bid – you can only see the last four digits. But, once you win the bid, you can get a much more precise view of location. With Geosafety, if the bid has won an ad outside of the target location, that viewer gets an ad from that location or a fallback, generic ad depending on the location.
From there, you can measure classic metrics like exposure, viewability, time viewed, and engagement with the ad. These metrics allow you to see how many people, within your zip code area, viewed and engaged with your ad – which can be tracked in a comparable way with paper flyers and brochures.
Tracking direct impact on sales
In some cases, marketers want to use hyperlocal programs to directly impact sales and to push new products. In this case, we recommend using either footfall measurement, with in-store clickers, or money back programs to track the efficacy of the ads.
For example, one of our clients uses clickers to track the total number of people coming into its stores. When they start running hyperlocal ads, they track footfall at stores with hyperlocal ads associated to see if there’s a rise in traffic over the full course of the campaign.
In other cases, brands like Coca Cola use our hyperlocal ads to push sales of new products. Then, tools like refunds allow you to directly see who saw the ad. E.g., if you offer a promotion and allow customers to request a refund on the product via an app or landing page. Here, you buy the product, go online, scan the receipt, and you get a refund. This shows the direct impact of the ads while offering proof of concept for various types of campaigns.
Cost saving on campaign setup
Adcombi’s digital advertising offering is very similar to what you get with traditional paper flyering and brochures. You increase local exposure and therefore local sales. That’s difficult to track on an attribution basis. However, unlike with paper ads, you can directly track how many people viewed your ad, for how long, what they clicked on, and if they went through to an ad resource like a route planner or landing page. And, we have data showing that our local interactive ads result in longer viewability, directly increasing the value of the ad.
In addition, Adcombi’s unique technology means you can save time and money on setup. Our automation process allows you to quickly set up hundreds of local campaigns on the DSP – all with their own unique assets and resources. If you set up 50 campaigns, we estimate an average of 80% of time saved over setting up each campaign manually. If the campaign goal is to run those ads and have that exposure, that’s direct cost and time savings as a metric for your campaign.
Local ads are normally top-of-funnel and often are about exposure and brand awareness rather than direct sales. That can make direct attribution difficult. However, there are still plenty of ways to track the success of your hyperlocal campaigns, and we’re here to help you do so.
If you want to learn more, contact us to set up a call or to have a cup of coffee and discuss your campaign goals and needs.
