Its about the journey.
There is no one rule for measurement; measurement follows on from client need and should align to business objectives. The key is to put in place a measurement roadmap that encompasses your objectives on your KPI, how you attribute, and whether more advanced models like incrementality are appropriate for your business.
We are seeing more and more advertisers looking for this type of solution, and recognising they can do more with their measurement. Accelerating the shift in this direction will become central to sustaining the long-term health of the industry.
Key to this is understanding the potential of programmatic and its potential to the value of their digital advertising - the holy grail for the digital marketer. The other is understanding that this is a journey, and each step of the journey will come with new revelations, some of which may contradict what came before. However, this is a process of enrichment, not a reflection of something wrong with yesterday's truth.
Agencies opting for the easy option of buying cheap inventory, and measuring a simple metric such as clicks, might not be keen to move to more complex KPIs and measurement models, as it could potentially demonstrate that their campaigns are doing little to boost conversions.
Meanwhile, brands will need to build enough understanding within the business to encourage their organisation to move away from more familiar measurement methods. However, as more brands start asking the right questions – seeking to uncover the genuine value of their programmatic spend – new methods that reflect these concerns seem inevitable.
We believe that brands deserve the best answer each channel can provide, and with the richness of data that programmatic provides now is the time to aspire to get the most out of your measurement.