Marketers are always looking for ways to improve. It’s in our blood.
The good news is, with the proliferation of data, digital marketers have never been in a better position to dig for insights and reap their benefits. Closed-loop measurement takes advantage of the customer data you’re sitting on, so you can understand how your digital marketing is impacting sales, both on and offline.
So what is closed-loop measurement, and, more importantly, what can it actually do for you?
The ‘what’
Your customers are exposed to your ads across devices-devices they might not even use to make a purchase. Closed-loop measurement is about understanding what that customer does offline, before or after they see your ad.
Here’s an example, based on a real-world use case: You know your search campaigns are impacting in-store traffic, because they just do, right? The difficulty comes in proving the impact, and measuring its strength.
By linking exposure data from your online campaigns to in-store transaction data through LiveRamp, you can identify which keywords were successful and which were underperforming. By including in-store spend when measuring digital efficiency, you can demonstrate the value you knew your ads were delivering all along.
The ‘so what’
It’s easy to think about measuring an individual digital channel in isolation; most channels have a corresponding reporting feature, or parameter, that ‘proves’ their value. But what if you could prove that a single channel had impact elsewhere? Chances are you would be in a much better position to ask for that extra budget, and you’ve given your CMO something to think about the next time he is reviewing the overall marketing budget.
Offline-to-online measurement improves the channel-specific marketing you are already running, and takes it to the next level. By onboarding your CRM data, you can link your efforts together to understand the overall effect, rather than analysing each channel in isolation.
Understanding the channels, creative content, publishers etc. that are enhancing or hindering sales allows you to make smarter decisions in your media mix. Put simply, take money out of underperforming campaigns and plough it into those that have shown strong return.
Plus, being able to show how your marketing is improving the bottom line makes for a strong case for an increased marketing budget.
All together now
Now, maybe you’re thinking, “An improved quality of ad spend AND an increased digital marketing budget? What do I need to get started!?” Or you might be wondering, “This sounds great, but it seems like a lot of work”…
We have a planned series of weekly blogs on the topic of Closed-Loop Measurement, that will aim to guide you through the challenges and obstacles of getting started. Watch this space!