By: Scott Lichtenthal, Batu Kesoglu and Melaina LaSalle
Published: September 13, 2024 | Updated: September 16, 2024
Read time: 5 minutes
Thirty years ago, TV, radio and print were the only ad channels. Today, advertising is evolving at a head-spinning rate, with new channels appearing daily.
Current ad spending is dominated by digital advertising through social media such as Google, Facebook and Instagram. But those are far from the only channels. Retail media networks (RMNs) are a significant trend, with brands like Uber, United Airlines, Target and Walmart showing ads to a captive audience on their apps and webpages.
Internet advertising revenues reached a record high of $225 billion in 2023, increasing 7.3% year-over-year overall between 2022 and 2023. Given the revenue at stake and the emergence of new advertising channels like RMNs, the environment for ad dollars is highly competitive.
Publishers face growing pressure to prove to advertisers why their channel can deliver superior Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). What is the value of a publisher’s ad inventory? The answer requires a reliable measure of the impact and ROAS of ad inventory – something publishers have traditionally struggled to secure. This growing importance of “attribution” demands that publishers offer the ability to track the effectiveness of ads across different platforms.
Mastering measurement
Lower-funnel metrics measure revenue at the “reaction” stage in the customer journey where a customer is making a purchase decision. Those metrics – a “Holy Grail” of media measurement – indicate whether a campaign reached the right customers with the right message at the right time and then saw them convert to paying customers.
Connecting ad exposure to actual purchases is an essential part of monetizing ad inventory effectively. It provides answers to advertisers’ questions about how audiences are reacting to ads and whether they’re creating changes in consumer behavior. The challenge of tracking ad exposure and linking it to both offline and online consumer purchases becomes even greater when ad campaigns appear across multiple properties and devices. Some examples of metrics that show the effectiveness of media include spend lift, net new customer lift and transaction count lift.
Taking a privacy-first approach
Consumer privacy concerns are at an all-time high. Any media measurement solutions must consider privacy as a core tenant and adhere to the highest consumer privacy principles. It’s never okay to compromise on privacy for the sake of accuracy.
A privacy-centric approach to media measurement, regardless of the status of cookies, is essential in complying with ever-evolving privacy regulations such as CCPA and GDPR. Partnering with a data provider that offers a future-proof, privacy-first solution can ensure long-term viability in the face of evolving regulations.
Tying commercials to consumer action with Mastercard Media Measurement
How does media measurement work in the real world?
Imagine a global leader in the media industry that delivers premium content to audiences across platforms worldwide. That publisher offered insights generated by Mastercard’s Media Measurement solution to its advertisers to allow them to monitor reaction to ad campaigns in real time across linear and digital properties. They were able to provide full transparency across outcome metrics and lower funnel performance indicators, so that the customer could view real-time insights into:
- Total exposures
- Total ad spend
- Incremental sales lift
- Transaction count lift
- Net new customer lift
Mastercard Media Measurement empowers advertisers with unparalleled transparency and actionable insights. Advertisers can make informed decisions and optimize their campaigns effectively using detailed analysis. It drives better outcomes, leads to increased engagement and helps understanding of ROAS, loyalty and customer acquisition.
What is Mastercard Media Measurement?
With Mastercard Media Measurement, publishers can leverage Mastercard spending insights and Test & Learn®, our measurement solution, to assess the impact of advertising on Mastercard spend across the advertiser’s store locations or websites. Real, first-party data allows for accurate measurement without relying on cookies or tags. This cookie-less, scalable, privacy-centric approach can transform how you measure the impact of your ad inventory.
Mastercard can measure ad performance across different screens, purchase channels and devices, offering a comprehensive view of campaign effectiveness for publishers and advertisers.
Why Mastercard?
You can rely on Mastercard and our focus on privacy through real, first-party data and our ability to measure cross-screen campaign performance.
- Our history and expertise in financial services provides a foundation for trust and security in handling the first-party data that’s critical in the media measurement space.
- Mastercard’s real, first-party data provides a competitive edge and allows for accurate measurement without reliance on cookies or tags.
- Our proprietary measurement methodologies are trusted by many advertisers.
- We measure ad performance across different screens and devices, offering a comprehensive view of campaign effectiveness.
- We can distinguish and measure in-store, online and total purchases to get a more comprehensive look at conversions from an ad campaign.
- Our solutions are resilient in the face of industry changes such as evolving cookie policies and privacy regulations, ensuring greater stability.
Walled gardens, which are ecosystems that control and restrict campaign performance data, present a challenge for closed-loop attribution. However, Mastercard data provides purchase insights regardless of purchase channel.
Conclusion
The advertising landscape has undergone a significant transformation, shifting from traditional channels to a digital-dominated space, with social media and Retail Media Networks (RMNs) emerging as key players. That’s introduced new challenges in measuring ad effectiveness, a task that’s crucial for publishers to demonstrate the value of their ad inventory.
Mastercard Media Measurement offers a solution that leverages real, first-party data to provide accurate, privacy-centric media measurement across multiple platforms and devices. This approach is resilient against industry changes and provides publishers and advertisers with a comprehensive view of campaign effectiveness, ensuring a competitive edge in a highly dynamic environment.
To learn how Mastercard can help you elevate your media measurement game and leverage our data for planning and activation, contact us.
Related resources
