If you are trapped in spreadsheet agony, you are not alone.
When analyzing cross-channel performance data, media buyers can spend hours, if not days, recording performance data from different channels and ad types (e.g. print ads, TV commercials, Internet display ads, mobile ads, etc.) in separate spreadsheets. Then, spend more time manually comparing spreadsheet data to determine which channels are delivering the highest response rates.
This is the problem Integrate specifically details and looks to alleviate with its newly launched AdHQ offering, which, according to the advertising technology partner, provides real-time tracking and cross-channel reporting tools that compare performance metrics across online, offline and mobile paid media campaigns. Additionally, the software automatically consolidates cross-channel metrics into a single report.
"Every day, media buyers waste valuable time and resources using processes from the 1990s," said Jeremy Bloom, co-founder of Integrate. "Why should today's smartest and hardest-working people in the ad business have to rely on media management methods that came into use back when Jurassic Park was in the theater, Nirvana was on the radio, and I was in junior high?"
"We developed AdHQ to bring automation and simplification to marketing departments and agencies of all sizes," Bloom added. "The increase in operational efficiency gives agencies the ability to manage more clients with their existing staff, and gives marketing departments the ability to manage all of their customer acquisition efforts with their current resources, regardless of scale or spend."
The importance of brands and agencies having a unified advertising platform across channels is multipronged. According to Integrate it helps with:
Efficiency - When advertisers consolidate all of their media spending into a single platform, they yield significant results. Most marketers spend a tremendous amount of time completing tasks in various systems. By combining everything in one location, they instantly gain efficiency.
Quality - Additionally, when all traffic is funneled through a single system, it becomes significantly easier to monitor the quality of the traffic and results coming through.
Integrated Analytics - It's great to have a system that tracks all your sales and KPIs on the backend, but until that system feeds directly into your Media Buying tool, to execute upon these analytics involves a long process of comparing systems and pouring through excel sheets. Once actions and insight become centralized, marketers can execute hundreds of changes within minutes, allowing for real-time, thorough and effective optimization.
Unified data - When all your media buying occurs in one system, the data collected from each effort feeds all others. Audience data developed from your affiliate marketing can feed your Display. SEM efforts can seamlessly feed your Retargeting efforts, etc. When each is managed as a separate system, benefits like these rarely make it into production. Marketing-centralization is essential to implementing a truly effective cross-channel marketing strategy.
To learn more about Integrate's AdHQ launch, visit www.integrate.com.