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From vibrant billboards in urban centers, to point-of-purchase screens, to digital screens at EV charging stations, digital out-of-home advertising is everywhere.
Also known as DOOH, the channel allows advertisers a unique opportunity: Connect with consumers when they’re on-the-go, in contextually relevant environments, when they may be less reachable on their personal devices. And, thanks to the inherent benefits of digital technology, it lets them do so in a way that allows for targeting, tracking, optimizing, and measuring the success of those campaigns.
DOOH is an emerging channel—and one that’s quickly gaining steam. As such, more and more advertisers are embracing it as part of their larger omnichannel media strategies to reach audiences in key moments of impact. In this guide, we explore how savvy marketers can make the most of the DOOH opportunity. We dig into the latest trends, insights, and research to help advertisers leverage the power of place in their DOOH campaigns.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
Ready to level up your digital out-of-home advertising expertise? Fill out the form to download your copy of the guide today!
What comes to mind when you think of summer? Perhaps it’s watermelon slices after an afternoon spent with your beach volleyball crew, popsicles enjoyed while sitting on the edge of the pool, or campouts and picnics with friends and loved ones (and s’mores in abundance—duh!)
This time of year, the holiday season tends to be the furthest thing from most people’s minds. Then again, advertisers aren't most people. Before we know it, we’ll be rounding out September. Halloween will be just around the corner, with many other major holidays close on its tail. For digital advertisers looking to rock their holiday campaigns this year, a bit of planning amidst the summertime fun can go a long way in setting those campaigns up for success.
Read on to learn more about why advertising teams should start their holiday campaign planning now, and how this planning can ensure the months ahead are filled with merriment rather than mayhem.
If you take one lesson away from all this, make it this one: don't wait to get started!
Seriously. If you feel like this year has already flown by, buckle up—because the “holiday season” is creeping up earlier each year. This is driven in part by the growth of e-commerce, as well as shifts in consumer behavior. More and more shoppers are concerned about prices increasing as the holidays get closer, product availability, and potential shipping delays, leading them to begin their holiday shopping earlier in the year. For digital advertisers, this means it is essential to plan proactively for holiday campaigns.
“But what exactly should we plan for?” some advertisers might wonder. Though this will vary depending on the goals, scale, and complexity of your campaign(s), here are some broad questions to consider:
These questions are a great place to start. But they’re just that—a place to start. Luckily, for those looking for more, we’ve got you covered.
When it comes to holiday campaigns, intentionality and proactive planning pay off greatly in the long term. And conducting that planning in an organized and strategic way makes the process both fruitful and efficient.
So here’s our early gift to you: An ultimate holiday advertising checklist to help with your planning, buying, and reporting this year. The checklist covers everything you need to know (and do!) to ensure a successful holiday season, including key dates to plan for, how to make the most of your data, considerations for short and long-term goals, setting up your measurement and reporting systems, and more.
To sum it up: With this checklist, your holiday campaigns are sure to be elf-ing amazing.
Fill out the form to download your copy today!
Omnichannel personalization: It’s every advertiser’s goal, but one that’s not easy to achieve (thanks a lot, media complexity, data silos, the identity crisis, the list goes on...)
A personalized, cross-channel advertising strategy is even more important when people start shopping for the holidays: With increased competition and consumers feeling the stress of the season, advertisers need precise placements and sharp creative to reach their target audiences. To curate impeccable user experiences during this critical time of year, marketers need a deep understanding of how to succeed on each of the channels they plan to leverage, as well as a savviness for how to use them together to create a holistic experience throughout the customer journey.
To help you succeed with both of these tall tasks, we called on seven Basis experts to share their top recommendations for holiday advertising on programmatic display, paid search, paid social, connected TV, audio, and digital out-of-home. Read on to learn everything you need to know about using these channels effectively in your holiday advertising campaigns:
Things change considerably in Q4 and especially around the holidays, so advertisers must expect the unexpected and come with fresh and engaging creative. The market becomes very saturated, so CPMs tend to increase, which in turn reduces your share of voice. To combat this, you ideally need two things: larger budgets, and new exciting creative with strong calls to action.
Tactic-wise, programmatic display pairs well with all other channels, regardless of your goals. For example, you could take your search keyword list and use it to generate a custom contextual tactic to really hone in on relevant content programmatically. Depending on your overall strategy, display can aid in general awareness that will boost site traffic and even organic site traffic over time. Programmatic channels can also help build retargeting pools quickly and aid in conversion-based campaigns.
Google is expected to roll out some new AI features this year, either pre-Q4 or during the holiday season, so that’s something to keep an eye on this year. This will be the first holiday season where advertisers can take full advantage of a lot of the new artificial intelligence features that have hit the marketplace in the past year, so that’s exciting. It’s important to start testing and learning about these new tools as soon as possible. You don't need to spend a lot of money—just testing and dabbling will be really useful in terms of learning how they operate.
Another thing to watch out for—with all channels, but particularly search—is a holiday shopping season that is going to start in August and September. With the chip shortage and shipping delays that marked holiday shopping in recent years, consumers are going to be researching and buying earlier to ensure they get their gifts on time. So budget-wise, it’s important to make sure you’re considering that timing. There’s a lot to be said for planting seeds earlier in the year given this shift in consumer mindset.
In terms of how it fits into an omnichannel campaign, search is always going to be a nice component of any mid- or upper-funnel approach. During the holiday time period, people are spending so much money on all channels that you want to be able to maximize the reach of your TV, radio, and programmatic buys with search and social. Trying to align your buys—even with something as granular as time of day—to curate experiences is a great way to achieve that. For example: Let’s say you're watching a TV show at 8pm and you see a certain brand’s commercial, then you do a search and see that same brand, and then you go to Facebook and see that same brand. Those are the kind of seamless experiences advertisers should be going for—meeting consumers when and where they are engaged.
Social feeds are cluttered with ads and promotions in Q4, which can lead to users feeling inundated. It’s important to ensure that your ads feel authentic to the platform and relevant to your target audience. For example (and this is relevant regardless of the time of year), advertisers have to be cautious when it comes to repurposing creative content for paid social ads. Sometimes it can work, but other times it’s clear that the brand has repurposed creative from another channel or medium and it doesn’t translate as well or feel as authentic to the social platform, which can negatively impact performance.
TikTok has made a big push into the e-commerce space, with products like Video Shopping Ads (currently in beta), in addition to integrations with third-party shopping partners such as Shopify. It’s estimated that TikTok will gain just under 10 million social buyers in 2023, so there’s a lot of opportunity for brands to tap into these users that are engaged and open to making a purchase. 82% of TikTok users say they’ve discovered a small or medium business on the social platform before seeing them elsewhere, so TikTok continues to be a strong channel for garnering awareness and engagement and pushing users through the funnel throughout the customer journey. Brands should pair paid and organic content on the platform to stay top of mind with users.
It’s also important for advertisers to diversify their budget and strategies across social platforms. Advertisers shouldn’t put all of their eggs into one basket (i.e., social platform), and should instead leverage several social platforms to create a full-funnel, multi-platform social strategy.
Finally, as important as Q4 is to many businesses, advertisers should be sure to keep “Q5” in mind. While Q4 brings increased competition and rates, the rates typically drop significantly in Q5, the post-holiday timeframe. Advertisers should plan to remain active in the period between Christmas Day and into the beginning of January in order to capitalize on promoting post-holiday sales and taking advantage of more efficient CPMs.
As connected TV continues to grow in popularity—not only among consumers but also among advertisers—brands have to be aware of greater competition and, consequently, higher prices on the channel, and that will be especially true over the holidays.
Knowing how expensive it is to run CTV over the holidays, it’s important to make sure you’re putting your advertisements where they’re going to resonate the most with your audience. So to maximize the efficiency of your CTV spend, I’d recommend leveraging contextual targeting—and, specifically, using segments that are specific to the medium.
Also, make sure to diversify your inventory. So many people are advertising in the run up to the holiday season that a lot of PMPs will have remnant inventory. Hulu, for example, totally sells out, so if you were to put all your eggs in the Hulu basket, you’re not going to be in a good position. That’s why it’s important to leverage multiple inventory sources and multiple PMPs during Q4.
The last thing I’d recommend is leveraging QR codes in your ad creative to help bring audiences to your brand’s website. It’s a great way to get more users from the awareness stage to consideration.
With more consumers on the road, in the air, and taking time off to spend with family and friends over the holidays, audio is a great way to stay connected and in the ear of your target consumer, wherever they may be.
Ratings and listenership increase across all forms of audio during this time of year, podcasts included. Podcasts are continuing to see steady growth and gains in popularity, so keep them on your radar as you begin building plans for the 2023 holiday season. Research shows that digital audio ads are actually the most under-invested media used when compared to consumer time spent versus the share of ad spending received, so that presents a huge opportunity for brands.
With a large majority of the US adult population still tuning into terrestrial radio, streaming can serve as a great complement to its traditional counterpart by extending reach across the market and helping to build brand awareness. If budgets are tight, know that audio tends to be one of the more cost-efficient options to activate as well as to produce. If you’re looking to add audio into your plans, pairing it with a visual medium to help bring your brand story full circle would be wise.
As one of the digital advertising industry’s fastest-growing channels, DOOH would be a savvy addition to any omnichannel holiday campaign.
When it comes to leveraging DOOH around the holidays, best practices include:
And don’t overlook the power of creative! Our partners at VISTAR shared that, with advertisers now increasingly able to measure a DOOH campaign’s impact on site traffic and conversion, there’s a big opportunity to use that measurement data to optimize creative messaging. Lean into data-driven creative like dynamic creative or anamorphic creative to make a bigger splash this holiday season.
As marketers know all too well, there’s a whole lot that goes into planning for holiday advertising campaigns (when on Earth are we supposed to do our own holiday shopping?!) If you’re looking for an easy way to make sure you’ve covered all your bases, check out our holiday advertising checklist!
The automotive sector was forced to slam on the breaks back in 2020, when a semiconductor shortage brought some serious roadblocks that’ve had lasting effects on the industry (OK, OK, we’ll pump the brakes on the car puns!) Shortages of some chips may continue through this year and next, but the situation has significantly improved, with global car production up by 3% year-over-year.
Still, the semiconductor shortage isn’t the only development driving change in the industry—there are plenty of other trends for auto advertisers to keep up with. To get a pulse on what automotive advertisers can do to adapt to these changes and thrive in this moment, we met with Jim Zabel, Basis Technologies’ VP of Brand and Agency Development – Auto—an auto marketing veteran who has worked on both the brand and agency side during his 25-year career, contributing to brands like Nissan, Hyundai, Honda, and Volkswagen.
Read on for Jim's top insights for auto marketing in 2023:
Jim Zabel: The first one is expanding your marketing spend beyond search and social. Investing in those channels is still a wise choice, and for most automotive brands, they make up a majority of digital media spend. But marketers need to take a look at when they start to see diminishing returns. I don’t see automotive clients leveraging programmatic as much as they could, so that’s an opportunity to leverage that tactic more effectively.
Another big one is the use of first-party data and audience modeling. Obviously, this is a big deal as we face the prospect of losing third-party cookies in Chrome next year, plus there’s a clear consumer sentiment for more privacy-friendly advertising practices. But even beyond that, a first-party audience is typically going to be your highest-performing audience, and there are a lot of new tools and tech that allow marketers to better collect and extend their first-party data.
Finally, there are some new and exciting attribution capabilities that auto advertisers should be taking advantage of whenever they can. Take Basis Technologies’ partnership with Polk Automotive as an example: Polk provides audiences to Basis users through LiveRamp IDs, and we can then target those audiences with our Basis ad ID. Then, based on the exposed audiences, we can match back actual sales and vehicle registrations to the individuals we targeted and gain learnings on what ads and channels are resonating with specific audience segments. Overall, attribution is a great space to keep an eye on, because there are a lot of new capabilities that you can take advantage of.
JZ: One of the biggest things I’ve seen proven out time and time again is that brand awareness raises all lower funnel metrics. There's really no substitute for telling your story, and telling it well. Marketers should keep investing in content that details their brand and product stories and crafting those stories based on the pain points and aspirations of their target audiences. Tapping into the automation, efficiency, and targeting offered by programmatic is a great way to ensure you’re then activating the right channels and reaching high value consumers to make sure that those messages reach the right people at the right time.
JZ: One of the biggest things that comes to mind is automotive market intelligence. Data that helps dealers acquire vehicles, price, and manage their inventory has been around for well over a decade. To date, dealers have used these solutions to improve vehicle sales velocity and profitability.
What’s newer is that AI and machine learning tools can now also make recommendations around optimal advertising spend. For example, these tools might recommend to a dealer or agency that, instead of discounting a vehicle by $2,000 to sell it, they instead spend $500 on advertising and discount that vehicle $500, thus saving them $1,000. Soon, every single campaign will have this kind of intelligence informing it, in addition to first-party and other third-party audiences that you can layer on. There’s a real shift here, where it’s going to be the norm to deploy budget in real time, in an automated fashion, towards a vehicle based on its value in the market and the right audience that is ready to buy.
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Looking for a deeper dive into the automotive space? Check out Jim’s article on how automotive marketers should address pent-up consumer demand.
And if you’re interested in working with experts like Jim, connect with us to learn how our media strategy and activation services can rev up your campaigns.
What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? This month, Robert Kurtz, Basis’ Group VP of Search Media Solutions, and Colleen Fielder, Group VP of Social Media Solutions, compiled all the latest news, trends, and resources for easy access.
Thousands of subreddits went private this month as users protested Reddit's decision to eliminate free API access for developers, replacing it with a pay-as-you-go model. The protest has seen more than 8,400 subreddits going dark, including major communities like r/funny and r/gaming. While the initial 48-hour blackout is over, some subreddit communities are considering extending the protest indefinitely in response to the company's dismissive response to user concerns.
Reddit maaaay be in for a fight.
Reddit has introduced new ad options, including Contextual Keyword Targeting, which allows advertisers to associate specific keywords with their brand and reach users engaged in relevant discussions, which expands an advertiser’s reach beyond specific communities. Additionally, Reddit is launching Product Ads, which provide product descriptions, pricing information, and a “Shop Now” call to action, aiming to generate direct shopping activity on the platform.
Google is integrating ads into its conversational generative AI platform, Search Generative Experience (SGE), which allows users to converse with Google about their interests and needs. Google can now insert ads that are tailored to the user's specific interests into these conversations. For example, if a user discusses plans for a vacation, Google could insert an ad for a travel agency. Some privacy advocates have raised concerns about the move, arguing that it could lead to a bombardment of unwanted ads. However, Google says this is the latest step in its ongoing effort to make its advertising more personalized, relevant, and engaging.
Thanks, Google, don’t mind if we do!
Google Marketing Live focused on artificial intelligence, with various announcements around integrating AI into Google Ads. Conversational AI can now be used to create campaigns within Google Ads, while Google Search Generative Experience will integrate search and shopping ads. Google PMax and Google Product Studio introduced AI-generated assets and images for campaigns, and Google Merchant Center Next will replace the current Merchant Center. Additionally, new features include brand restrictions in broad match, AI in Smart Bidding, and two new campaign types: video views and demand generation. These AI-driven updates aim to provide better automation, control, and time-saving benefits for advertisers.
TikTok has introduced Open Applications, an audition-like process that enables brands to find creators with unique stories and connections to their brand and provide more collaboration opportunities. Brands can filter and screen applicants based on criteria such as demographics, follower count, and relevant experience, as well as invite specific creators to apply. Verification of a TikTok Creator Marketplace account is required to use this feature.
If you’re going to audition, make sure you stand out.
Meta is developing various generative AI tools to stay on top of emerging trends and capitalize on major shifts in technology. One is a new AI chat option on Instagram that allows users to ask questions and receive advice from an AI system within any direct message. This feature aligns with Meta’s goal to incorporate generative AI into social apps and serves as a starting point for more advanced AI functions in the future.
Meta recently introduced updates to its Performance 5 best practices during last week's Performance Marketing Summit. The framework includes actionable strategies to enhance ad performance, such as simplifying account structure, utilizing automation tools, differentiating creative by audience, utilizing the Conversion API for improved measurement, and implementing Conversion Lift, A/B testing, and marketing mix modeling. Several companies have already seen positive results from implementing these practices, including increased purchases, improved return on ad spend, and reduced acquisition costs.
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Well, that flew by—can you believe that the first half of 2023 is already in the rearview mirror? There’s never a dull moment in the digital advertising world, but these past six months have seemed particularly eventful. From the explosive emergence of generative AI, to social media turbulence, to convergent TV and the writer’s strike, advertisers have had more than enough to keep track of.
To help you make sense of Q1/Q2 and prepare for Q3/Q4, we called on three Basis Technologies experts to share their biggest takeaways from the start of 2023, and to share their predictions for the next six months.
Basis Technologies: What trend do you expect to dominate the conversation in the advertising world in the second half of the year?
Kelly Boyle (Group VP, Client Strategy & Insights): Artificial intelligence will continue to be a hot topic. Marketers, agencies, and ad platforms will continue to experiment with the fast-growing technology, testing out its use in everything from creative development to product features.
BT: How do you expect ad spend to shift in the next six months?
KB: We've seen an increase in ad spend thus far this year, and that’s expected to continue. Connected TV and streaming will continue to grow as a focus for advertisers, as video continues to capture more of consumers’ attention and as a result of the turbulence we’re seeing in linear TV.
Basis Technologies: Google recently announced that it will disable third-party cookies for 1% of all Chrome users in Q1 2024. With only six months to go until then, what's your sense of how prepared advertisers are for the impending loss of cookies in the world’s most popular browser, and what are the most important things they need to do to prepare?
Zach Moore (SVP, Digital Media Operations): Generally, I’d say there’s more acceptance of Google’s timeline at this point, given that they are slow rolling the migration of users over to the Privacy Sandbox and seem to be taking a more cautious, realistic approach (versus the previously-rumored hard shutdown for all Chrome users). Marketers now have some idea of how they’ll be impacted—namely, when it comes to targeting, attribution, frequency management. On the measurement end, many have really started to dig into modeling-based approaches, along with panel/survey-based measurement, understanding how cohorts may be useful, and getting more comfortable with tools like privacy compliant data sandboxes.
Basis Technologies: What were the biggest advertising-related regulatory updates in the first half of the year, and how are advertisers adjusting in response?
Derek Zolner (General Counsel): Privacy continues to be front and center. In the first half of 2023, companies had to prepare for four different state privacy acts (California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Virginia) that became effective on either January 1 or July 1, 2023. Companies that had already done the work to comply with the first California law (the California Consumer Privacy Act, aka CCPA) could largely adapt that foundational work to the new statutory requirements.
BT: What will be the biggest regulatory challenges facing advertisers in the second half of the 2023?
DZ: More privacy. Five states (Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Tennessee, and Texas) have passed consumer privacy laws in 2023, and a handful of others are poised to do so as well. The continued proliferation of these differing state privacy laws underscores the need for a federal privacy law with one unified set of compliance obligations.
Additionally, AI is taking over the world, and this includes the regulatory space. As lawmakers continue to come to grips with the strength and scope of AI, I expect that they’ll make some attempt at regulation, but struggle to find a meaningful way to address these increasingly powerful tools.
Farewell, Q1 and Q2! If you’ve taught us anything, it’s the importance of embracing agility in order to weather all the paradigm shifts characterizing the digital advertising space this year. Here’s to a successful, and hopefully somewhat less turbulent (hey, we can dream!) second half of 2023!
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What do the Star Wars movies, the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and Converse Chuck Taylors all have in common?
They’re classics. Never go out of style. Oldies but goodies. Each and every one has stood the test of time—and for good reason.
Another thing we’d add to this list? Broadcast radio. Yep, you heard that right. Whether it’s blasting the Billboard Hot 100 hits in your car on a cross-country road trip, blaring at the local bar in your hometown, or serving as background noise to the weekend project you’re tinkering on in your garage, broadcast (aka traditional) radio is part of the soundtrack of our lives.
Sure, digital audio may be getting more airtime these days (it is digital advertising’s fastest-growing category, after all), but AM/FM radio is still a force to be reckoned with in the audio world.
Today, we’re exploring the latest broadcast radio stats and digging into why savvy marketers are using it as part of their holistic media mix.
Ready to rock ‘n roll? Let’s dive in.
Before we explore how traditional radio fits within an omnichannel strategy, let’s take a look at some of the most recent stats on the channel:
Beyond accounting for a substantial amount of media time, having a powerful reach, and amassing the majority of total audio ad spend, audiences deeply connect with traditional radio. In fact, 51% of listeners say they’re more trusting of radio and podcast advertisers than on any other medium.
“Okay, cool,” some marketers might say. “Sounds like traditional radio still slaps. But what’s the best way to utilize it?”
We’re so glad you asked! We’re total proponents of using traditional radio as one of many channels within a holistic, omnichannel campaign. With its significant reach and established credibility, it’s a great way to connect meaningfully with audiences when and where they’re listening, to build broad awareness of your brand or product, and to tell your story in your own words.
But make no mistake—we certainly don’t suggest throwing all your other channels (or any, for that matter) out the window. Like most advertising channels, broadcast radio works best when used as part of an omnichannel approach. Though traditional radio has many benefits, it is less measurable than digital channels like display, mobile, video, and audio, and is best used as part of multi-channel campaigns.
So, what might this look like in practice? One way radio could be used is to expand reach within a holistic digital audio campaign. This could involve running ads in digital content like podcasts and streaming music, as well as on traditional AM/FM radio.
In a more omnichannel context, it could mean running broadcast radio ads, as well as using geotargeted digital out-of-home ads, to build broad awareness and drive consideration for your brand or product. Other channels—say, social media, connected TV, or podcasts—could then be used for lower-funnel ads (and retargeting) to drive conversions.
Thanks to advancements in programmatic technology, a good DSP will allow you to tap into all of these types of inventory through a single sign-on platform. In Basis, for example, advertisers can plan, buy, and measure programmatic radio buys within the context of their larger omnichannel campaigns.
Though podcasts, streaming music, and other forms of digital audio are booming, traditional radio is still a prominent player in the world of audio advertising. When used as part of a holistic audio or omnichannel strategy, broadcast offers advertisers the ability to connect with listeners in a variety of locations and contexts. And, by harnessing the power of programmatic broadcast radio, marketers can tap into this channel in an automated way and measure the results of their radio ad spend.
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Now that you know all about how to leverage broadcast radio in your omnichannel campaigns, why not become an expert in digital audio as well? Check out our guide to digital audio advertising for everything you need to know.
You’re setting up a programmatic campaign and reviewing your digital checklist before the campaign goes live. Have you targeted a specific audience? Check. Established the KPI? Check. Set the bid, uploaded the creatives, and chosen the inventory? Check, check, check. Now you’re ready to sit back and watch the data flow in... right?
Not quite.
While setting up a campaign involves careful planning and execution, there’s a world of potential that lies in continuously monitoring and refining its performance. Through data-driven insights and strategic adjustments, optimization empowers marketers to enhance targeting precision, maximize conversions, improve ROI, and ultimately drive impactful results.
In today’s ever-evolving digital landscape, adapting and optimizing campaigns is key to effectively engaging your target audience. Read on to learn more about what digital marketers need to know about campaign optimization.
Similar to how an athlete’s performance is impacted by how much training they put in before the game, programmatic performance is largely shaped by the decisions made during the planning process. In order to have something to optimize toward, you should look at your goals and translate them into measurable KPIs during planning (CPC, CPA, CTR, conversions, etc.) It's a lot like picking a campaign targeting tactic. Without doing the work and research beforehand, you’re playing a guessing game and casting your net too wide.
Here are some questions advertising teams might consider throughout their planning process:
All of these factors will influence campaign performance and an advertiser's ability to optimize effectively.
Once you’ve decided what you want to achieve, and once your campaign is live, it can be a challenge to figure out how to start optimizing. Let’s break down the different optimization strategies to help you get started:
First things first, you need data. But that doesn’t mean you can or should make major optimizations based off just any amount of data. The sample size needs to be large enough to be valuable and allow for informed decision-making.
Optimizing a campaign based off one hour of campaign data is not sufficient. Generally, you want to wait until either 10-20% of the campaign is delivered, or the campaign has been running for one week.
Once you’ve got campaign data, advertisers should leverage a combination of manual and tech-based optimizations, as each has its own focus.
Manual optimizations have a broad scope and can impact performance by drawing upon historical insights, considering additional metrics beyond the key performance indicator, and accommodating campaign intricacies (such as directing funds to a nascent market with limited brand awareness).
Technology-based optimizations employ advanced algorithms to uncover patterns, trends, and opportunities that are solely focused on the key performance indicator. These optimizations also automate repetitive tasks, effectively conserving valuable time and resources for advertisers.
Minor optimizations can be made on a tactical level to push spend towards delivery and performance, and include adjusting the bid for win rate and efficiency or shifting your budget to higher performing tactics. You can also look at your top spending sites to see if they are meeting or exceeding your KPIs. If they are, increase your bid, and if they’re not, turn the site off.
Some sites might get thousands of impressions, but not enough engagement. That’s often a sign that an ad might not be reaching the right audience, or that the content on the page doesn’t have a strong call-to-action. If that happens, you may want to consider turning those sites off and reallocating budget to sites that are producing better results.
Major optimizations are made once you notice the campaign needs more dynamic changes. As a best practice, a tactic should spend at least $1,000 or deliver 1,000 impressions before teams make any major optimizations.
Once a campaign has reached this threshold, advertisers should focus on:
By identifying domains that demonstrate exceptional performance as well as those that underperform, advertisers can strategically develop an allow list comprising top performers or implement a block list to exclude domains with subpar results.
By reviewing creative performance, advertisers can optimize out of poor-performing sizes or versions. As a best practice, each creative should have delivered at least 10,000 impressions before determining whether it should be shut off. In addition, advertisers should consider uploading a different creative type or style in the same size if a particular ad size is doing well.
Through analyzing data provider and tactic performance, advertisers can strategically redistribute their budget to prioritize top-performing entities while also exploring the availability of additional data segments offered by these high-performing data providers.
Advertisers can identify if a particular exchange is hurting performance and remove it accordingly. It’s important to note that this should only be done on campaigns running for a few months or with a large budget (at least 10,000 impressions per exchange). Don't be afraid to make a change and see what happens. If removing an exchange doesn’t produce the desired results, you can always add the exchange again.
Whether an advertiser is implementing a minor or major optimization, there are some best practices to keep in mind:
In the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape, mastering the art of optimization is essential for advertisers to unleash the full potential of their campaigns, connect with their target audiences, and drive strong performance. By using these strategies and best practices, advertising teams can optimize their campaigns in an intentional and data-driven way to maximize return on ad spend.
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Hungry for even more knowledge about campaign optimization? Check out our optimization learning path on AdTech Academy!
The following is adapted from Basis Technologies’ guide, Cannabis Advertising in the Roaring 2020’s. For even more cannabis advertising-related insights and statistics, download the guide today.
"Of course I know how to roll a joint.”
If you had to guess which celebrity is responsible for the above quote, would you choose A) Snoop Dogg, B) Seth Rogen, or C) Martha Stewart?
If you guessed C, you’re correct! Stewart, the legendary chef and entrepreneur, has publicly shared her forays into cannabis, serving as a strategic advisor for marijuana firm Canopy Growth and even launching her own CBD product line.
Stewart’s use of cannabis may seem surprising precisely because of who she is: a wealthy, female baby boomer who gives off major mom vibes. But research shows that Martha’s demographics are actually representative of a significant portion of cannabis consumers.
The fragmented nature of the cannabis landscape means that there’s limited data on consumer characteristics and behaviors. As the substance has become increasingly mainstream thanks to more and more states legalizing its use, all kinds of folks outside of the “stoner dude” stereotype have chosen to indulge.
Want to learn more about what demographics are consuming cannabis and how to market to them? Check out the following five cannabis consumer personas:
Women represent one of the largest untapped cannabis audience segments—and their consumption is booming. In fact, 37% of US women report consuming cannabis, and 28% say they use it at least once a month. Even more, from early 2020 to late 2021, cannabis sales to women increased by 55%. Some of the most common reasons women report using cannabis include to reduce anxiety, to help with sleep, and to relieve pain.
That said, stigmas around women consuming cannabis linger. As a result, there’s an opportunity for brands to help break down these stigmas via education, which will also help them form meaningful connections with female consumers.
Another big audience segment is the over 65 crowd, which represents one of the United States’ fastest-growing groups of cannabis users: The number of monthly users in this age group increased by 96% from 2017 to 2021.
Messaging focused on normalizing cannabis use for boomers—such as this campaign that sought to break down “war-on-drugs misperceptions”—can be particularly impactful. Still, many marketers struggle to reach this audience because they spend less time online. Utilizing traditional ad formats to educate boomers about how cannabis and CBD can fight the side effects of aging is one viable tack marketers can take to capture their attention.
Millennials are major consumers of cannabis—in fact, 39% of millennial users report consuming cannabis multiple times a day. And most millennials tend to use marijuana socially, with 62% reporting that they consider themselves “primarily or only recreational” users. Another common feature of the millennial audience is an interest in social justice and activism. Some brands have used marketing to both raise awareness of the racist history of cannabis regulation and capture the attention of socially-aware groups like millennials and Gen Z.
While people in the US have historically understood cannabis as an intoxicating substance, that perception is changing. It has been almost 30 years since California became the first state to legalize medicinal cannabis, after all! If you’re still not convinced, check this out: A 2023 study from the American Medical Association found that medical cannabis treatment resulted in “significant improvements” to survey participants’ “health-related quality of life” and that these improvements were “largely sustained over time.”
This changing general understanding of the uses of cannabis has created a big opportunity for brands to educate potential recreational consumers who are interested in using the product as part of their wellness routines—for instance, to promote relaxation, improve sleep, or relieve stress. The caveat is that marketers cannot assert that recreational products can diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease, per the FDA’s guidelines (learn more about cannabis advertising regulations here).
All the above groups—and many more—contain potential newcomer consumers. And, research shows that first-time cannabis consumers often dive into their new habit with gusto: 50% report consuming it five or more times per week, and 22% say they use it multiple times per day. Cannabis brands of all sorts can benefit by using marketing to educate and destigmatize cannabis for the US public. MedMen’s “Forget Stoner” campaign, which featured entrepreneurs, designers, and even police officers, is a good example of how brands can extend a hand to folks who may not have considered cannabis as "for them."
The cannabis opportunity is clear: In the US, the market was valued at $7.7 billion in 2020, and is forecast to reach $40 billion in 2030 (coincidence that that’s an increase of almost exactly 420%? We think not!).
To succeed in this emerging landscape, marketers must do their research, stay agile, and think outside the box. Those bold enough to embrace the industry’s complexity are bound to find some of their most rewarding and successful work ahead of them in the cannabis space.
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To learn more about how the cannabis landscape has evolved, how marketers can navigate cannabis advertising regulations, and how to set your campaigns apart, check out our cannabis advertising guide, Cannabis Marketing in the Roaring 2020’s.