MNI Blog  /  2 minute read

Getting Started With Multi-screen Advertising: Picking A Partner

The power of multi-screen advertising is something that the ad industry is continually trying to figure out and manage. As the number of screens that a user leverages and the

Getting Started with Multi-Screen Advertising: 2 Key Qualities to Look for in a Media Partner

The power of multi-screen advertising is something that the ad industry is continually trying to figure out and manage. As the number of screens that a user leverages and the plethora of data companies grows, the need to execute these multi-screen campaigns with as little waste as possible becomes more and more important. The two key things an advertiser must focus on to establish an omni-channel media strategy are partners and data.

1)  Partners: Look for partners who have the ability to advertise across multiple screens.

2) Data: Make sure your partner has rich data that can tie a user across platforms throughout the consumer journey.

 

The Importance of Having a Single Source for Multi-Screen Media Buying

It’s crucial to work with one partner directly to reach an audience across multiple screens, instead of partnering with multiple vendors for each individual screen. This has really been the drive to programmatic, and why advertisers keep looking for more and more of their partners to sell programmatically. A good example of this is how digital audio has begun to take off in the last six months, with Pandora being the last major player moving to programmatic capabilities. This is also why numerous larger players in the space have started buying up platforms with a focus in video or a focus in mobile, etc., to allow them to be the go-to partner for advertisers and offer them the ability to purchase each screen through one point of contact. All of this is important and will allow advertisers to spend their money much more effectively—but without data to back it up it’s can only move the needle so far.

 

Better Data = Better Targeting

Data has become the silver bullet in digital media when it comes to multi-screen advertising. That’s because an advertiser can spend money across different screens, but without the ability to tie these screens back to a single user, advertisers are wasting their money. The key reasons really equate to attribution and figuring out a media mix, as well as things like frequency capping. If an advertiser can find a partner with a deterministic data set that allows them to leverage this data across display, mobile, video, CTV native, social, etc., they will have greater control over their media spend. This allows them to look at conversion paths and see just how many impressions across the platforms it takes to truly drive users down the funnel.

At the end of the day we want to know what’s the best platform to serve that first impression that gets users to engage, and what’s the final impression that is continually driving a conversion. Also, it allows for frequency capping across multiple screens, so advertisers can spend their money more wisely and, again, gain control. Partnering with many different data sources can lead to loss of control, and increases the risk of annoying over-targeting of users.

Multi-screen advertising continues to grow. To drive increased ROI, advertisers must look to partners who can tie users across multiple devices as a single data point. Although some of this data may come at a premium, it will save brands money when they gain more control of their advertising efforts and cut back on wasted ad spend.