Sharona Meushar, Author at CodeFuel

Google Shopping Ads 101 – A Beginner’s Guide + Alternatives

by Sharona Meushar | Oct 26, 2021 | Advertising, Shopping

Product ads are everywhere and for a reason. They bring results and continue to see growth year after year. Using shopping campaigns now is a standard advertising strategy. They drive additional revenue and increase the brand’s presence on the web.

Google Shopping Ads are the most popular, but there are alternatives, like Bing Shopping that can bring you straight to your intended market.

In this post, I’ll walk you through the basics of Google and Bing Shopping ads as well as tips to implement a successful shopping ads strategy.

In this post

What are shopping ads?

Shopping ads are a type of advertising that includes product information like an image, price, and merchant name to promote a product. The ads can be created by using product information that you submit to your ad platform. For instance, Google or Bing. This type of ad shows when a user is searching for a specific keyword.

For example, let’s say you’re looking for succulent plants to decorate your living room. As soon as you type, I’ll be getting different product images together with the product title, price, store name, and reviews. These ads give you information about potential products that may interest you.

Shopping ads give consumers useful information about the products they are looking for

The difference between search ads and shopping ads is that the latter display detailed information that encourages purchase, such as product title, price, store name, or reviews even before they visit the online store.

6 Benefits of Shopping Ads

1. More reach

Unlike common assumptions, Google Shopping ads are not limited to Google’s SERP. The platform increased the number of channels where they display shopping ads. That means you can reach more potential customers. Examples of where you can find Google Shopping ads include the shopping tab on Google Search, Google Images, Search Partner websites, YouTube, Gmail, and other members of Google Display Network.

2. Increased ROI

Investing in shopping ads is a smart move for your marketing strategy. Shopping ads perform better both in terms of click-through rate ( CTR), cost-per-click (CPC), and conversions. Let’s see some numbers:

A recent report showed that users are twice more likely to click on Google Shopping Ads than on text ads.
Another study on ad performance showed that campaigns that use shopping ads have lower CPC ($0.66 vs $1) than search ads.
Research by Merkle advertising showed that shopping ads have a 30% more conversion rate.

These ads are more effective in bringing traffic and sales, thus resulting in better ROI. By displaying a lot of information, these ads simplify the entire customer journey.

3. Attract more attention

Shopping ads help your products get the most visibility because naturally, images drive more attention than text. Secondly, did you notice shopping ads tend to be at the top of the result page? That’s on purpose! This makes it easier to catch the attention of potential customers.

Let’s imagine you are looking to buy some women’s boots for the upcoming winter season. When you search for that in Google, your results will look something like this:

Ads with images stand out more than text ads

The images just pop off the page, right? They draw the eye immediately, that’s why shopping ads need to look attractive on search results pages so viewers are more inclined to click.

4. Better quality traffic

The ads are shown to people with a higher customer intent since they are looking for the products you are displaying. What’s more, many people searching for products on a search engine like Google already decided to buy the product. So if the search shows relevant ads like yours, the customer may find exactly what they are looking for.

5. Easy to set up and manage

Google Shopping campaigns are popular because their setup and management are really easy. To set up a shopping campaign is a simple and automated process done in the Google Merchant Center.

You don’t need to add the information about each product manually. They are tools that can pull the data from your store to generate your ads. You can also set priorities for the campaign. For instance, if a Google search calls multiple ads from your feed, the platform will show the prioritized products, for example, the ones on promotion.

6. Easy to track performance

Google Shopping ads give a complete picture of how your products are performing. You can track your product performance, filter how products are performing at the product, and analyze your metrics. You can also benchmark data, which gives you an idea of how your campaign is performing compared to your competitors.

How do Google Shopping Ads Work?

Shopping ads are automated based on the data sent to the search engines. To achieve that, you need to send the feed via a feed provider to the engine Merchant Center, linking your feed to the engine.

What’s a merchant center? Is an entity from a search engine that centralizes the information and helps manage shopping feeds. For example, you’ll need to create an account in Google’s merchant center before you can send your feeds to GoogleAds. To understand how all of this works, let’s go over the process of creating a Google Shopping Campaign.

How to Create a Google Shopping Campaign

Creating a Google Shopping campaign comprises a few simple steps:

1. Create your Google Ads account.

2. Create your Google Merchant account and link your Google ads account to it.

3. Set your product feed on the Google Merchant Center.

Add your product data, like product title, category, and price. Once you send the feed to Google Merchant Center, you can build campaigns in Google Ads.

How does the merchant center work? In Google or Microsoft, you submit your product data and create a feed according to certain specifications. There is a difference between Google and Microsoft merchant centers: while GMC is a separate entity and you need to create an account on it, on Microsoft the merchant center is under the Microsoft Ads user interface/ tools.

How do you send your feed to the Google or Microsoft Merchant Center?

You can send your product data to GMC in a couple of ways. If you have a few products, you can integrate Google Sheets directly with the GMC that will pull the product data from it automatically. If you have more than a few products, or you have a Shopify or BigCommerce e-store, there are apps in their system that automatically send feeds from your store to Google Merchant Center. Another option is to outsource with a third-party feed provider, but this means you still need to send your data to them first.

Once you choose how you’d send your feed, take care of any setting and admin areas in the Merchant Center. For instance, get your shipping, taxes, business information, and any other settings so you can start advertising your products right away.

4. Set up your campaign

To create a campaign you first need to link your Google Ads account in the Google Merchant Center. To do that:

Go to the Merchant Center
Click the Tool icon and select “Linked Accounts”

Image source

You’ll be requested to add your Google Ads Customer Identification Number (CID) and click send.
Go to your Google Ads account. Select “Linked Accounts” You’ll see the Merchant Center Invite option.
Accept the invite.

Building effective campaigns on Google or Microsoft Being is something for another article. Nevertheless, I’ll give you some tips to follow:

Try multiple campaigns on your account so you can test the bidding and adjust the keywords for the right products.
Look at how your customers search and base your bidding on the natural categories.
Choose the main segment categories and then add them to campaigns. Then add segmented product categories into the ad groups.

Conversion tracking setup: Do this before creating your first campaign

Before setting your campaign, make sure you can track how effective your ads are. Setting up Conversion tracking helps you see how every click on your ad converts into customer activity on your website. By setting a conversion action you can track customer actions on your website and understand how clicks on your ads lead to sales and leads.

From your Google Ads account select the Tools icon/ Measurement/ Conversions
Click the plus button
Click Website
Select the type of action you want to track (Sales, Leads)
Enter the name for the conversion you want to track on “Conversion name”
Select a description for your conversion action
In “Value”, choose how you want to track the value of each conversion. You can use the same value for all or assign different values to each conversion.

You can also choose how you want to count the conversions, how long you want to track them, and what to include in your “Conversions” column. Once you are finished with all the options click “Create and Continue” For more information about how to create a conversion tracking, see here.

Campaign creation: Standard Shopping vs Smart Shopping Campaigns

On Google, when you select Shopping as your campaign type, you can choose which type of campaign you want to run. There are two types of shopping campaigns you can run in Google: Standard Campaigns or Smart Campaigns:

Let’s compare both options:

	Standard Shopping Campaign	Smart Shopping Campaign
Reach	Limited	Wide
Bidding	Manual and automated	Automated
Level of Control	High	Low
Optimization	High	Low
Remarketing	Optional	Included
Where will your ads appear?	Google Search Network	Search Network, Display Network, Search Partners, YouTube, Gmail
Transparency	High	Low
Best used for	New users	You want to automate your campaigns

Standard campaigns offer more control and transparency. This means you can set the maximum CPC for each product. With Smart Shopping, all this process is automated. You are subject to the “Maximize Conversion Value” Strategy, which optimizes your CPC automatically.

How to Create a Bing Ads Shopping Campaign

Bing shopping campaigns are very similar to Google Shopping. There are a few differences though. For instance, instead of appearing at the top of the page, they appear in a grid format, on the right-hand side of the search results page.

How do you run Bing shopping ads?

If you are just coming to Bing Shopping, you need to create a Bing Merchant Center account:

Go to your Bing Ads account
Choose Tools / Bing Merchant Center / Create a Store

This will show Bing where your shopping catalog is stored. You’ll need to update the catalog at least every month.

How to create your Shopping Catalog

There are two main options to create your shopping catalog (also called feed):

If you already have a Google Shopping feed, you can upload it as-is because it integrates with Bing.
If you want to create a new catalog, you can do it as well. Here you can find the requirements for categories

To create a new feed:

Select Tools/ Merchant Center/ Feeds from the top menu.
Select Create Feed and enter your catalog name
Choose your preferred options including country of sale and currency. Here’s help if you want to show your product in multiple countries.
You will need to create a catalog file. You can do it in a spreadsheet or text file. Here is an example.
Once created the catalog you need to submit it. You can manually upload files under 4MB, use an FTP/SFTP if your file is on-premises. If your file is online, you can download the file from the URL or download the feed file from Google Docs. Here you can find instructions on how to do it.

Here are some best practices to ensure your feed will work properly:

Update the catalog at least once a month.
Make sure the information, prices, description, and title are accurate.
Use high-quality images that show the product clearly with a clear, solid background.
Don’t leave any fields blank if possible. Here’s a table with required and recommended fields:

Required fields	Recommended fields
ID– Product ID Title– Product Title Link– The product landing page URL Price– The product price Description– Detailed product description Image link– the URL of the image with a minimum size of 220px by 220px.	Product category– according to Bing taxonomy and predefined categories. Product Type– advertiser’s taxonomy Sale Price Effective date- when the item sale price starts/ends Condition– New/ Used/ Refurbished Custom Label– Identifiers for campaign filters

Custom labels can help you create different product groups. For example, in the table below, you find some ideas for custom label metrics you can track and the values you can use to filter campaigns.

Custom Label	Values
Popularity	High demand, low demand
Price range	High end, low end, sale
Stock level	Limited supply
Profit margin	High, low
Seasonal products	Winter, Summer, Holidays, Christmas

Create your campaign

Go to Create Campaign/ Sell Products from your account dashboard.
Choose your settings, for example, priority level. This setting tells Bing which campaigns to prioritize. There are three priority options:

High priority: This refers to focused campaigns, such as seasonal campaigns. When you choose this setting you are telling Bing to show these products first.

Medium priority: Use this setting for products that perform well on a normal basis.

Low priority: A sort of a catch-all campaign is the one Being will look on the last when choosing relevant products for a query.

Segmenting your ad groups

Once you create your campaign you can create your ad groups. Ad segmentation brings a lot of confusion to new users. Think of it as starting with a bucket containing all your ads. Then you divide the content into smaller buckets according to categories. For example, by brand, condition, any of your custom labels, product category, or type. You have a thousand ways to segment your ad groups in the way that best fits your account and campaign.

Ways to get your products into Shopping results

If you want to take advantage of Google Shopping and make sure your products show there are three routes you can take.

The first is simply aiming for organic search discovery. This means when a consumer type a product on Google and you hope your product will appear without needing paid promotion. Google calls this method Surfaces by Google and includes displaying a product in image results instead of text search results.

The second way available is the one we describe in this article, by using Shopping Ads through the Merchant Center. This allows you to set up shopping campaigns and view how the ads are performing.

The last option is a new experience which is called Google Shopping Actions. This marketplace is Google’s option to compete with Amazon and enables sellers to display their products on multiple google platforms including the Google Shopping mobile app and the Google assistant for mobile and even Google Home devices.

Tips to monetize your website with shopping ads

If you own a website, one of the best ways to earn extra revenue is by adding shopping ads to your digital property. How does it work? To put it simply, you partner with an advertising network (Like Google, Bing, or CodeFuel) and they display relevant ads on your website. Every time a viewer clicks on the ads, you get paid.

Ad networks usually pay publishers a rate per click, called Click-Through-Rate. For publishers, one of the most popular ad networks is Google AdSense. Check out our guide on How To Make Money With Google Adsense for more information.

To know more tips and strategies to monetize your website, check our Monetization Guide for Beginners in 2021 article.

How do shopping ads work on apps?

By showing your ads on mobile apps, you can reach a broader audience. How can you show your ads in apps in the Display Network?. Keep in mind that because of Google’s new rules, Google Ads no longer allows targeting app inventory via AdSense for mobile apps.

On your Google Ads Account, select and click Display campaigns.
Select Placements.
Choose the ad group you want to show to apps.
If you want to target a specific app category, choose from App categories.
If you want to target specific apps, choose Apps, and search by name.
You can also target multiple apps if you know their IDs by choosing to enter multiple placements then enter the IDs.
Once you finish your selection, click Save.

If you don’t want the hassle, you can use an ad network or monetization platform that can automate your in-app advertising. If you are new to In-app advertising, check our complete guide In-app advertising: All you need to know and the best networks

5 Strategies to Maximize Revenue When Using Shopping Ads

To ensure you get the maximum revenue possible with shopping ads is not enough to create a perfect product feed and send it into the world. You also need to create and optimize your Google Shopping Campaign. Here are five tips you need to know to optimize your shopping campaign so you avoid wasting money on underperforming products.

1. Optimize your product feed

This should be where you start. By optimizing your product feed you are making it easier for Google to learn the information about your products. The more data they get about your products the better chance you have they are presenting them to your potential customers. Here are some tips to do it right:

Optimize your images. Make sure you comply with Google’s rules and regulations. You can also conduct A/B testing to check what works best with your audience.

Get the price right: Ensure Google is pulling the correct price, and in the right currency.

2. Optimize your campaign structure

This is another strategy that you can use for success. While you may not have a lot of control over your ads there are some things you can try. For instance, you can bid differently for different products. This will allow you to account for differences in profit margins, popularity and conversion rates.

Take advantage of the possibility of dividing your products into different groups. As we mentioned above you can divide them by category, brand, item ID, product type, and custom labels.

3. Find your weak spots

Normally, some of your products are going to perform better than others. By finding your “winners” and “losers” you can adjust your campaigns accordingly. The winners are the products that bring sales, the losers are the ones that albeit getting many visits, don’t get transactions.

You can find which ads are performing well and which aren’t by going to Reports/ View/Shopping.

4. Add negative keywords

You can limit the searches for which the ads will show by adding negative keywords. For example, if you sell silver jewelry, you may want to avoid people looking for gold jewelry. Thus you can add “gold” as a negative keyword. How do you do it?

Go to Keywords
Click on Details/ Search terms/ All
Select the terms you want to use and add them as negative keywords.

5. Bid higher for selected search queries

This tip enables you to bid higher for the most valuable search queries. Here’s how to do it:

Identify which search queries bring more value to your business.
Create a copy of your current shopping campaign
On one of the campaigns, you’ll exclude these queries and decrease the CPCs.
Change the priority setting of this campaign to Low while the other is set to Medium. This is going to tell Google to pick the medium campaign thus enabling you to bid higher for better queries.

Shopping Ads Vs. Text Ads

Text ads and shopping ads often appear on the same search results page. Text ads are more flexible in terms of landing pages, ad copy, headlines, and keywords. Shopping ads, on the other hand, are more rigid in their structure. The following table highlights a comparison between the two ad types:

	Text Ad	Shopping Ad
Destination URL	Landing page or product detail page	Product detail page
Character count limit	Three 30-character headline fields. Two 90-character description fields.	70-character title field and up to 1000 character description field.
Avg. Click-through-rate	3.17%	0.86%
Extensions	Affiliate location, callouts, sitelinks, structured snippets, call, lead form, price, app, promotion, automated.	Price, promotion, local inventory, product ratings.

Which ones should you use? You should use both. Text ads allow you to direct the customer to the landing pages. There is a significant value for brands that develop an integrated approach using both formats.

Shopping Ad FAQs

Where do shopping ads appear?

Shopping ads appear beyond Google’s SERP page. They appear on the Shopping tab, on search partner websites, on related sites like YouTube, on the Google Display Network, and the price comparison Shopping service.

What triggers shopping ads?

When a consumer is searching for a product, Google takes the relevant products from your product feed and shows them. That means you advertise based on product types.

Are shopping ads the same as display ads?

Shopping and text ads are based on keyword search. Display ads, on the other hand, display your visual ads beyond the search results page on an array of websites

How CodeFuel Optimizes the Performance of Shopping Ads

Optimizing your shopping ads can seem complicated, but CodeFuel simplifies and ensures high intent consumers are getting your ads. By basing our platform on contextual intent-based monetization, we encourage purchasing decisions from searches and increase conversions.

Learn more about how intent-based shopping ads optimize your campaigns and bring more revenue by contacting us.

Best Mobile Ads Networks for Publishers in 2023: Boost Your App Revenue with These Powerful Platforms

by Sharona Meushar | Oct 25, 2021 | Advertising, Search

An ad network is an excellent way for mobile publishers to monetize their applications or mobile sites by selling ad space to advertisers. In this guide, we’ll explore the best mobile ad networks for publishers and what you should consider before choosing one.

In this post

Short in Time? These Are Our Top 11 Ad Networks for Mobile

CodeFuel

Publift

Unity

Golden Goose

Ad Colony

AdMob

Smaato

ironSource

Taboola

Facebook Audience Network

Inmobi

Offers a complete holistic solution for publishers, with multiple ad formats and monetization options by enhancing engagement and user experience. Start Now! (read more)

A programmatic platform that offers personalized ad solutions for mobile publishers (read more)

Ad network that specializes in monetizing mobile games with video ads. (read more)

Cost-per-action platform targeted to publishers and advertisers for mobile traffic monetization. (read more)

SSP platform for developers and publishers. (read more)

is Google’s solution to mobile ads. (read more)

A digital self-serving ad tech platform for publishers and advertisers. (read more)

Mobile app monetization and mobile advertising application (read more)

Native advertising platform that publishes recommended content in various news sites and spaces.(read more)

A popular social media digital advertising platform with excellent targeting (read more)

Mobile marketing platform for advertisers and publishers

What is a Mobile Ad Network?

A mobile ad network is an integrated platform that bridges advertisers with mobile app publishers. It enables developers to monetize their applications through passive income from mobile ads.

Mobile ad networks can cater to publishers or advertisers. When they are geared to publishers, they are called supply-side platforms (SSP). When an ad network is geared toward advertisers, it is called a demand-side platform (DSP).

How Mobile Ad Networks Work

When app publishers sign up for an ad network, they get paid for making ad space available in their apps. The network collects the ad space from all publishers and offers it to buyers. When selling, the ad network takes a percentage of the ad revenue or increases the ad space rate.

Mobile ad networks use an advertising structure similar to other digital advertising services, but the difference is that these ads are served via ads.

Some mobile ad networks use a goal optimization model. In this model, the advertiser pays the network to achieve a specific goal with the ad. For example, downloading the app, or converting an in-app purchase. A mobile ad network optimizes the ads to achieve a specific user behavior rather than to get impressions. Goal optimization bidding means the buyer bids for the goal. Some networks, like Facebook, allow advertisers to pick the event they want to bid.

Regardless, all networks use optimization algorithms to find the best publisher for the ad. The algorithm considers the user behavior in the app and serves the ad according to the targeting criteria.

What is a Mobile Advertising Platform?

A mobile advertising platform enables advertisers to publish text, graphics, or animated advertisements on mobile websites and applications.

These software solutions provide mechanisms to facilitate monetizing applications. It works as an intermediary between mobile publishers and advertisers. A mobile advertiser pays a publishing fee for each user’s action via the ad, like clicking on it. The platform’s business model can include pricing models like Cost-per-Click (CPC), Cost-per-Mille (CPM), or Cost-per-Action (CPA).

What to Consider When Choosing an Ad Network?

Choosing the right ad network for your business can be confusing. There are too many choices, and the jargon can further complicate things. Should you choose CPC or CPM? An extensive or niche ad network? Let’s review some key factors to take into account before signing up with an ad network:

The size of the network

Theoretically, an ad network with tens of thousands of advertisers can give you better performance than one with a thousand. A more extensive inventory means more options to match an ad to your website via contextual targeting.

A large pool of advertisers also means you can target a wider geographical area, increasing the chances for your inventory to be sold. Using a large ad network may also increase your profits. Since ad networks sell inventory to the highest bidder, you have more chances for high bidders when you have more advertisers.

However, the size of the network is not the only factor that matters. That’s what brings us to our second point.

Ad formats available

The ad format is even more critical in mobile advertising. An ad that is not fitting well with the phone’s small screen is a waste of money. Look for an ad network that offers multiple ad formats, standard display units, custom unis, text ads, rich media, video, interstitial, search box, and more.

If you are new and don’t know which format goes better with your application or mobile website, going with a network that offers multiple formats allows you to A/B test the ads for performance.

The quality of the ads

Technically, every ad the ad server algorithm serves you is highly related to the user preferences. But many times, this differs significantly from network to network.

Many publishers don’t care what ads are being served on their websites or apps. While it seems a good idea to increase profits, serving every ad that comes your way can hurt your brand. You can lose all the benefits from creating engaging content for your website or giving your application the best user experience.

Low-quality ads damage your user’s trust, and your reputation may suffer from associating with those types of ads. Users can drop your application like hot coals.

The technology behind the ad network

Look for a network that offers the best technology you can find. Publishers should look for features that not only maximize your yield but make your ad management easier. Features like a centralized ad management system, automated reporting tools, real-time updates, contextual targeting are some of the functions you may look for.

Switching from a legacy ad network to a network based on artificial intelligence and machine learning can help you reach higher-paying advertisers while enhancing your user experience.

Payment terms

Networks pay publishers in a variety of methods, for example, CPV (cost per view), CPM (cost per mile), CPC (cost per click), CPA (cost per action), or fixed costs.

You probably need to try different pricing models to check which one will give you the best revenue. Alternatively, signing with an ad network that offers other compensation models saves you from having to switch between networks when you want to try a new pricing model — you start a new campaign in your existing interface.

Best 11 Mobile Ad Networks for Mobile

1. CodeFuel

CodeFuel is an all-in-one monetization platform that leverages high-intent ads, search and news for websites and mobile applications.

Features

Complete intent-based monetization for applications and mobile sites.
Offers search mediation via monetization pages.
Uses contextual targeting to present relevant shopping ads that encourage high intent users and increase conversions.
Multiple ad formats.
Supports multiple platforms and verticals.
Advanced tracking and analytics.
Centralized dashboard.

Pros

The highly relevant ads generate a higher yield for publishers while enhancing the user experience.

All-in-one solution. Search, shopping ads, and news for digital property.

Multiple integrations with MSN, Bing, Yahoo, AOL, and over a thousand quality publishers. Access to premium Google AdSense programs.

Cons

Best suited for publishers with middle to large user audiences.

Monetize Your App With CodeFuel Today!

2. Publift

Publift is a programmatic ad platform geared for publishers. It offers personalized ad solutions optimized for the app content.

Publift

Features

Multiple ad types, playable, native, banners, interstitial and mobile video.
Sticky footer ads.
Interscrollers
Advance A/B testing
Reporting and analytics

Pros

Large inventory base.

Good tracking for key performance indicators.

All-in-one platform

Cons

Support is slow.

3. Unity

Unity Ads is an ad network specializing in monetizing mobile games. It allows game apps to monetize by adding in-app video ads.

Unity

Features

Compatible with iOS and Android and all game engines
CPI or CPM campaigns
Interstitial, video, and banner ads

Pros

Accurate interest-based targeting

Easy to use

Strong technology.

Cons

The integration is challenging for beginners.

Integration is only available for Native platforms, so it needs an SDK for cross-platform.

Monetize Your App With CodeFuel Today!

4. Golden Goose

This ad network for mobile offers over 600 mVAS services from around the world. They have a cost-per-action model.

Features

CPA platform providing mobile traffic monetization tools for publishers and advertisers.
Fraud detection.
Pay per action

Pros

Good support.

Fast approval process.

Non-intrusive ads.

Cons

Single payment mode.

5. AdColony

This ad network specializes in mobile advertising for app developers. Offers multiple formats. They started with a focus on gaming apps and later expanded to other types of mobile publishing advertising.

Features

A platform for developers and publishers
Multiple ad formats
Ad mediation

Pros

Transparent.

Large inventory.

Cons

Not suitable for niche or specific products or services.

6. Google AdMob

One of the largest Cost-per-Click networks offers tools to monetize apps and mobile websites. AdMob is primarily popular among small businesses and gaming companies.

Features

Waterfall mediation and bidding.
Users can issue, manage, and create reports for their inventory.
Easy to use dashboard
High profit based ad serving platform
Designed to serve ads without disrupting the app user experience

Pros

Good quality inventory.

Multiple ad formats.

Good reporting and analytics.

Cons

Very low prices for impressions and clicks.

Tends to have security issues and allow sensitive or G-rated ads.

7. Smaato

It is a digital self-serving ad tech platform for publishers and advertisers.

Smaato

Features

Large pool of over 90,000 advertisers
Multiple ad formats, including video, interstitial, interactive and rewarded ads.
Optimizes demand sources with Dynamic Demand
Ad mediation with other ad networks
Real time bidding

Pros

Excellent control for publishers.

Good support team.

Premium inventory.

Cons

Inventory is a bit pricey.

The reporting dashboard is limited.

Lacks transparency about margins.

8. ironSource

It is a mobile app monetization and mobile advertising application. It is used primarily by enterprise-level companies.

Features

In-app bidding
Cross-promotion
Multiple ad units, including rewarded videos, interstitials, and banners.
Premium advertisers

Pros

Large video inventory.

Premium inventory in tier 1 countries.

Managed platform.

Cons

The anti-fraud control is very basic.

Poor inventory in small countries.

Expensive CPMs.

9. Taboola

It is a native advertising platform that publishes recommended content in various news sites and spaces.

Taboola

Features

Mobile-only ads that send users to the app store.
Mobile campaign manager allows to manage mobile campaigns wth a content discovery network.
App install – a feature that encourages users to download the application.
A mobile SDK that allows apps to offer Taboola feed.

Pros

Easy to set up campaigns.

Good support.

Many options for targeting.

Cons

The user interface is not easy to navigate, manage campaigns or view performance.

Doesn’t have performance whitelisting.

It is difficult to get traffic from a single region.

10. Facebook Audience Network

Facebook audience networks enable advertisers to show ads on the Facebook ecosystem via mobile applications.

Features

Remarketing
High targeted ads
Real-time bidding, no waterfall.
Native, interstitial, banner, rewarded video, and playable ads.
Game monetization with player-friendly ads.
View placements and formats
Analytics and reporting, including data on attribution, ROI, and conversions.

Pros

The Facebook Audience Network enables you to reach beyond Facebook ads, according to them, the network reaches up to 16% more people than on Facebook alone.

Facebook renders the ad size to fit any placemen type you wan to use, including native, banner, interstitial, and video.

It is easy to use.

Large audience.

It is an affordable way to build reach among specific audiences.

Cons

Low quality of the publisher sites.

The platform does not show lead generation.

Poor control over how their ad is displayed, because it is determined by Facebook.

11. InMobi

Is a platform geared toward monetizing mobile applications with the aim of maximizing CPC and CPI campaigns.

InMobi

Features

Wide range of ad formats, including rich media, video, and native ads.
Premium advertisers with over 5000 programmatic buyers.
Dynamic pricing and real-time bidding.

Pros

Provides CPc and CPM mobile ads.

Wide range of configuration posibilities.

The SDK can be preloaded.

The SDK collects geolocation data.

Cons

It doesn’t support several payment methods, only bank transfer and PayPal.

Other Mobile Ad Networks We Recommend

1. Start.io Startapp

StartApp is a mobile tech platform that enables advertisers and publishers to deliver great mobile experiences for their users.

Features

Mobile SDK gives access to premium demand
Dashboard that allows control placement
Analytics and reporting

Pros

It is stable and reliable.

It integrates easily with DSPs.

Large base of publishers.

Great customer support.

Premium traffic.

Cons

The data is not on real-time.

Users complain of a lot of downtimes.

2. AppleSearch ads

Designed for the iOS mobile platform, Apple ads leverage searches to bring traffic to developer’s apps. You can set CPI campaigns automatically with a minimum budget of $5000 per app.

Features

Automated campaign optimization
Real-time bidding
Engaged user base
High conversion rates
Two tiers- basic and advanced ads.

Pros

Simple set up

You pay only for installs

Minimal management

Cons

You cannot optimize keywords

You cannot adjust the audience

It has a minimum budget

There is a limit on the number of apps a developer can promote.

3. Snapchat Ads

There is a Snapchat Ads network for iOS platform, CPI and CPC campaigns. It offers filters and lenses unique to this platform.

Features

App install ads
Ads direct users to the app store or a website to download the app.
Multiple app formats
SkAdNetwork

Pros

One-on-One engagement

You can reach a younger audience

The discover feature allows advertisers to post their content to increase brand recognition

Cons

The user engagement is limited

There is no re-share option

Videos are only 10 seconds

4. Twitter Ads

Advertisers can get traffic to their app via Twitter channels. Its deep linking technology means ads can be linked to a specific section on an app. Twitter ads support Android and iOS platforms, and all ad formats are auto-generated.

Features

Multiple ad types and formats, including Promoted Ads, Follower Ads, and Trend Takeover.
The Twitter Ads Manager allows advertisers to activate campaigns.
Your account must be eligible to run ads
The ads are served alongside relevant Tweets, replies, and queries.
Twitter Amplify pairs brands with publishers’ videos n their target audiences.

Pros

Less competition

Twitter has a distinct audience

Users are more open to reading detailed content

Cons

Poor conversion tracking

Not very user-friendly

Top 5 Picks for Mobile Apps for Advertisements

1. Codefuel

A holistic monetization platform, CodeFuel is a comprehensive solution for monetizing mobile apps through search and shopping ads.

2. InMobi

Is an Indian mobile advertising technology company. Their mobile-first platform allows brands, developers and publishers to deliver contextual mobile advertising.

3. TapJoy

Is a mobile advertising platform that supports iOS, Android and Mobile web. A difference to other mobile ad networks, Tapjoy offers users virtual currencies to unlock content from applications.

4. AdMob

Is the mobile advertising branch of Google, one of the largest global mobile ad networks. It connects with other Google ad services and offers a large reach.

5. Smaato

Is a digital ad tech platform with a self-serve omni channel monetization solution. It allows multiple ad formats, including interstitial, banner, and interactive ads.

Top 3 Best Ad Networks for Gaming

Everybody is familiar with ad networks like Google and Facebook, but there could be other networks where you can acquire high-level users for gaming apps.

Applovin

Applovin was rated #1 for ad spends on iOS and Android. Their platform attracts users on both systems for multiple types of ads. Applovin reaches 470 million mobile gamers.

Unity Ads

It offers a monetization solution specifically designed for gamers, enabling the integration of relevant ads in-game.

Vungle

It is a self-serve advertising platform. The platform offers tracking tools that help optimize ad spend by tracking KPIs in real-time.

Network Name

CodeFuel

Publift

Unity

Golden Goose

Ad Colony

AdMob

Smaato

ironSource

Taboola

Facebook Audience Network

Inmobi

Setup

Easy

Challenging

Easy

Challenging

Easy

challenging

Easy

Multiple Units

Yes

yes

Buyers pool size/quality

Large/Premium

Medium

Low

Large

Medium

Large

Publisher’s control

High

Medium

Low

Medium

Low

Medium

Low

Medium

Optimization Features

Yes

yes

Who Are The Biggest Mobile Advertisers?

Today, mobile and app advertising comprise the largest percentage of the digital advertising market. Google leads the pack as the nr. 1 player in mobile advertising, since acquiring AdMob, who at the time was the leader in mobile advertising.

Mobile advertising has the advantage of reaching the user where it hangs out most: their smartphones. So, a number of top mobile advertising companies compete for the industry leadership:

MAAS

Smaato

RevX

Perform

An unified platform that connects mobile advertisers directly with publishers. It is a mobile-first DSP, and offers managed and self-service platforms.

It focuses on omnichannel marketing and offers a protected marketplace for advertisers to buy from publishers

It uses programmatic advertising to help app developers engage users. KEy features include retargeting.

It is a platform for app businesses that focuses on performance-based user acquisition.

Why Spend Money to Advertise on Mobile?

The goal of advertising is to reach the target user in the most efficient way possible. That means to reach the user where they are, and today, this means on their smartphones or computers. US mobile users spend over 3 hours on their phones per day. Of all users surveyed, Gen Z is the demographic that spends more time on their phones.

Advertising on mobile has several advantages:

Easy access: Statistically, people spend more time on their phones than on their computers, and mobile comprises half of the web traffic. So, as we mentioned, you are reaching the user where they spend their time most.
Immediate engagement: Mobile ads can reach customers at defining times according to the application context.
Cost-effective: Digital and mobile advertising is more cost-effective than traditional advertising. The targeting is also more effective, as you get to customers with intent.
Personalization: Smartphones enable ads personalization by gathering data about the user’s preferences. You can narrow the target to the person based on location, previous purchases, or preferences.

Tips From CodeFuel for Mobile Publisher Success

At CodeFuel, we are experts in mobile publishing. Over the years, we collected from our customers and researched what works and doesn’t when monetizing apps and mobile sites. Whether you are trying to monetize your app or your mobile site, there are some tips to consider:

User engagement is critical: If user engagement is high, it means users are happy. This is especially true for app publishers. The more time users spend in the app, the more likely they will purchase.
Reward loyal users: Discounts and perks can help convert users who are uncomfortable with in-app purchases. Also, users visiting your mobile site are more likely to purchase if offered “mobile-only” promotions.
Create a community: People love interacting on their mobiles, and some sites and apps thrive with communities. Users tend to purchase more when they belong to an online community.

Checklist to create the perfect mobile advertising campaign

Answer these questions to have a campaign plan:

What are your goals?
Who is your target audience?
Which ad format do you need?
How long will the campaign last?
Which devices will you target?
How will you manage user data?

Once you answer these questions, you can proceed with the following steps:

Design the ads.
Focus on using high-quality graphics, mainly if you target iPads and tablets. Your content copy should be compelling, crisp, and clear to encourage a call to action.
A/B test
Test different types of ads to check which works better. An assessment after launching the campaign can tell you how ads are performing.

Mobile Ad Formats of Ad Campaigns

When choosing an ad network, it is vital to consider what ad formats they offer. Here is a preview of different ad formats to help you decide:

1. Interstitial ads

These are full-screen that will appear in the app’s interface. They are usually displayed between app screens or different levels on a game app.

2. Banner ads

These are static or animated images placed inside an app’s interface. They are typically used for advertising a third-party product or promoting the expansion of the app’s functionality.

3. Native ads

These ads may consist of textual or video advertisements that can match the style and form of the application or site they are placed on.

4. OfferWall ads

These are static, dynamic, or interactive. They are typically displayed within a mobile app to provide users with offers to engage with. Mobile games and mobile e-shopping sites use this format for advertising promotions or other games from the same developer.

5. Rich media ads

include video, audio, and interactive ads, encouraging viewers to engage or act on the content. They can be short (under one minute) videos. Video ads can be in-stream or out-stream. In-stream means streaming inside an app, before, within, or after a video. Out-stream video ads are displayed on a web page inside the mobile app. These types of ads have the highest engagement rates.

6. Push notifications

These ads can catch your audience’s attention when they are not using the app—for instance, sending notifications based on location triggers.

7. Click-to-download ads

When users click on these ads, they are directed to Google Play or Apple Store to download the advertised application.

8. Click-to-call and click-to-message ads

You can see these ads in social media, usually prompting users to click on the ad to send a Whatsapp message or call the advertiser.

9. Search ads

These ads catch your audience’s attention and remind them to use your app while the user is searching for relevant keywords and categories.

10. Social media ads

These ads promote your application directly on their social media feed, for instance, sponsored Facebook posts.

Mobile Advertising Business Models to Use

Mobile advertising can take different forms. They may include

Cost per click (CPC).

Publishers get paid each time a user clicks on the ad unit. This is the best model for advertisers because they only pay when they take an active interest in the ad.

Cost per mille (CPM)

In this model, publishers get paid for every 1000 ad impressions. This model best suits publishers because the revenue doesn’t depend on the ad’s number of clicks. The publisher can even forecast revenue if the site or app has a steady user base with reasonably stable traffic.

Cost per view (CPV)

In this model, the publisher gets paid each time a user views the video ad. Mobile ad networks provide advertisers with video ad campaigns. Every time a user watches a certain percentage of a video ad (usually half), the advertiser charges.

Cost per Action (CPA)

Publishers get paid every time a viewer completes a pre-set action, for example, downloading the advertised app or completing a registration form. This model benefits both businesses and publishers. Publishers can monetize their inventory faster, and the model offers more options for advertisers too.

Cost per Install (CPI)

The CPI is a set price that the advertiser pays to the publisher every time a user installs their app as a direct result of the advertiser’s ad. This rate shouldn’t be confused with eCPI, the price advertisers pay for installs regardless of how they come in.

How do you calculate the Cost per Install?

CPI = Marketing campaign spend / Nr of app installs

Fixed cost.

The publisher sells the ad inventory for a fixed price for a specific time. This model is uncommon and typically involves selling inventory directly to advertisers.

Why do mobile publishers need an ad network after all?

Mobile advertising, In-app advertising, in particular, is a growing trend. According to Statista, global mobile advertising spending was $276.21 billion in 2020, from $230 billion in 2019. The market is expected to reach $341 billion in 2024.

Source

App revenue is also soaring. Despite the pandemic, mobile advertising spending in the US reached $96 billion and is expected to reach $117 billion in 2021.

Source

There is a huge potential for revenue in mobile advertising. If you are thinking of monetizing via mobile ads, consider using an ad network. The web sells your ad space to marketers and advertisers, getting the highest paying possible bids for your space. When using an ad network, you sell the ad space in your app or mobile website and generate passive income.

An ad network provides revenue while enhancing the user experience by showing related ads. As a publisher, you’ll want a network that protects your reputation by serving highly targeted advertising in various ad formats.

Benefits of in-app advertising

If you want to know how to do in-app advertising effectively, check here.

As we mentioned above, in-app advertising is steadily growing. Mobile apps provide a way to reach consumers where they are, on their phones. They capture consumers’ attention and encourage conversions while the user is consuming content or actively browsing for products or services.

In-app advertising typically offers a higher click-through rate than web advertising, ranging from 0.1% to 0.2% for desktop ads. Additionally, in-app ads get higher click-throughs than mobile web ads. 0.58% in apps vs. 0.23% in mobile web.

Finally, running ads through an ad network is more effective than using a Demand-side platform. Click-through rates on ads placed by ad networks are 0.6% vs. 0.11% in exchanges.

Who Are The Best Mobile Ad Network with Mediation?

1. CodeFuel: If you are looking for an all in one solution, look no further. CodeFuel is a complete monetization solution to maximize publishers’ revenue. Ad mediation is one of its key features, leveraging search, shopping and display ads for mobile apps, websites and extensions.

2. AdMob: AdMob is the Google platform for app ad mediation. The platform integrates with more than 30 ad networks. It has a large reach and useful features like automatic audience segmentation.

3. AppLovin: Is a popular name in the app development space, and the app ad mediation solution is very popular with developer.

4. ironSource: Their app ad mediation tool is one of the best in the market. It connects publishers with advertisers but has an auto optimization algorithm.

5. Fyber: It offers a unified auction on more than 180 DSPs. Publishers can conduct manual waterfall optimization or run programmatic auctions.

FAQs

What is mediation in mobile advertising?

Mediation is the process of connecting ad networks within a single software. This system browses the networks for the advertisers with the best eCPM and features them on your site.

A mediation single software kit (SDK) optimizes the ad bidding. If you want to sign up for multiple ad platforms, choose one that offers mediation to get the highest yield.

How effective is mobile advertising?

Mobile advertising has significant advantages over other channels. Czech research found that mobile ads are 30 times more effective than Internet ads. The average mobile response is 2.72% and can reach 11.8% for the most successful campaign. In comparison, an average Internet campaign has a 0.02% average.

What are programmatic advertising and real-time bidding?

Programmatic advertising is the buying and selling of advertising via advanced software. All types of advertisements are traded via programmatic advertising, not only mobile. For mobile, though, programmatic advertising happens through real-time bidding (RTB). Real-time consists of a live auction in which the demand-side advertising platforms bid on personal impressions from an advertising exchange.

What is the difference between an SSP, a DSP, and an ad exchange?

Demand-Side Platforms (DSP) are advertising trading desks that provide advertisers with a dashboard to buy mobile advertising inventory. The platform bids on mobile advertising inventory on behalf of advertisers.

Ad exchanges are the digital marketplace that acts as an intermediary between advertisers and publishers. They present the inventory from publishers to advertisers.

A Supply-Side Platform (SSP) is similar to a DSP but from the publisher’s side. They use programmatic technology to sell publishers’ inventory.

What is premium inventory, and how can I get it?

Premium is the highest quality inventory for advertisers, belonging to apps and sites with a large user base and quality content. These popular apps and sites are often strict about the types of ads they allow.

How CodeFuel increases engagement and conversions for mobile publishers

CodeFuel offers an innovative and comprehensive solution that leverages intent-based contextual targeting for mobile advertising. It provides news, searches, and shopping ads to monetize your application or mobile site. By focusing on the user intent, advertising gets high relevancy and converts more.

Ready to increase the revenue of your mobile app or site? Sign up for CodeFuel.

What Is Contextual Advertising in 2025? The Ultimate Guide for a Cookie-Less Landscape

by Sharona Meushar | Oct 19, 2021 | Contextual Advertising

Contextual targeting is the new frontier of advertising. Contextual advertising is an advertising technique that targets ads to people based on what they are looking at on a website.

With the latest regulations and concerns about behavioral tracking online (for example, with third-party cookies), there is a huge demand for personalized marketing strategies, hence, contextual advertising.

Thankfully, the advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning allow marketers to learn what customers look at on a publisher’s page and deliver ads targeted around it. In this guide, we’ll explain to you the ins and outs of contextual advertising.

In this post

Contextual Advertising (Infographic) What Should Publishers Know?

Is the fast growing advertising trend

The market will reach $297.68 billion by 2023.

What is Contextual Advertising?

Is delivering the right ads at the right time to the customers.

Elements of contextual advertising

How Does it Work?

Language

Location

Time

Device

Past behavior

Purchase history

The software analyzes the content of the page and sets of the categories.

When the user visits the page the ads displayed are matched with the data, delivering relevant results.

What does Contextual mean in Marketing?

The context in marketing refers to all factors surrounding the potential customers along the customer’s journey. Their intent — what they are looking for —their demographics, the industry they work in, and their location are some of the factors that provide the necessary context to deliver ads that will resonate with the user.

Using the context to target ads allows marketers to deliver the right content to the right people at the right time. It also maximizes the impact of its advertising campaigns instead of shooting in the dark, hoping the ad will reach the right customer.

How Does Contextual Advertising Work in CodeFuel?

At CodeFuel, we bring the power of context to maximize the impact of campaigns and publisher’s yield by delivering intent-based ads to high-intent customers.

Our Intent Discovery Platform (IDP) generates dynamic contextual ads that allow serving the right ads at the right time on every site.

Some benefits of CodeFuel’s contextual advertising:

Publishers get more revenues by accessing millions of ads.
Visitors enjoy an enhanced user experience by discovering ads related to the content they are reading.
The relevance of the ads to the topics presented on the page increases the likelihood of conversion.

Provides an infinite search demand

CodeFuel gives publishers access to a wide demand of advertisers in an array of verticals. The IDP optimization layer enables the ads best suited for the audience.

It Leverages Artificial Intelligence

The machine learning process generates the perfect ad unit that at the same time offers publishers high yield, and offers a great experience for users.

Use cases

A user visiting a cooking blog and reading a recipe can get ads related to the ingredients or cooking ware.
A person looking at the best winter hikes recommendation article will get ads related to hiking boots and gear.

Contextual advertising involves targeting ads through an ad server that places the advertiser’s ad on pages that meet the desired criteria. There are a few steps on this process:

1. Contextual Targeting is built around keywords

The platform needs to know what the campaign is about before placing the ads on relevant web pages. To do that, the system relies on the keywords associated with the webpage. If the topics the advertiser chose match the theme of the website, the ad can show on the site. For example, an advertiser can select vacation rentals, then use related keywords like beachfront, number of rooms, location, and other subtopics.

At CodeFuel we add a new layer of relevance by matching visitor intent as a factor for displaying the relevant ads on the page.

2. Contextual Advertising and First-Party Data

As the timeline for third-party cookie phase-out in Chrome is approaching, organizations are searching for cookie-less solutions that are equally effective as current methods.

Any approach that wants to be effective in the near future needs to tap into first-party data to understand customers. Publishers, for example, need to strengthen their first-party data collection in order to sustain their revenue. This means ensuring the maximum number of their audience have opted-in to receive targeted ads, so they can leverage the ad inventory while keeping privacy compliance.

CodeFuel’s Intent Discovery Platform enables publishers to get new revenues and optimize ad campaigns.
Start monetizing today.

The Types of Contextual Advertising

Contextual ads can take many shapes. They can be text ads, banner-like ad units, or videos.

Contextual text ads

These are the ads you commonly see when you type keywords on a search box or search engine, but they can also appear on a website or a blog. Most search engines will require text ads to be labeled as such to prevent misleading users.

Contextual display advertising

This type of contextual ad can include images and text and is usually displayed on websites relevant to the content. For example, the NYT book’s section has an ad for LinkedIn since professionals are a great part of the New York Times audience.

In-game contextual advertising

Contextual ads are not exclusive to websites, blogs, and search engines. Video games also offer opportunities for monetization by running ads related to the game context. With games, it is important to preserve the user experience and don’t let the ad disrupt it.

In-game advertising allows brands to reach massive audiences. Considering the millions of users that play computer and mobile games, the possibilities for monetization are really attractive. In the UK alone, there are over 37 million gamers.

Here’s an example of a billboard in the game Battlefield 2124 as an example of dynamic in-game advertising.

Image source

In-game advertising can also be static, for instance as the advertisements mimicking real boards in the FIFA games.

Image source

In-video contextual advertising

There are also opportunities to display advertisements in videos. The advantage of in-video contextual advertising is that it doesn’t disturb the experience, since the ads are related to the content seen. The viewer finds the advert closely related to what they are watching, and as such it generates more interest in the product. Contextual ads prevent the harmful effects of interrupting ads that may turn off the viewers.

Artificial intelligence plays a key role in enabling in-video ads. For example, advertisers can place ads according to what is happening in the video. AI recognizes scenes, understands facial expressions, and other computer vision applications like logo and image recognition enable it to place the ad where it will most likely blend with the content.

Native contextual advertising

Native advertising is a form of contextual advertising where the ads or sponsored content appear like the native content of a website. Native advertising blends seamlessly with the content, although good practices require you to add a “sponsored” label.

Native advertising is not-intrusive: this ad format integrates an advertisement into the editorial style or content.

There are two main types of native advertising:

Infeed/ In Content: these ads are embedded into content pieces or social feeds. The ads blend with the content and create a non-intrusive user experience.
Content Recommendation Ads: these are displayed as recommended content along with editorial content. For instance, at the end of an article or along the side.

An example of native advertising could be the Spotify campaign for Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things. For the premiere of the season, Spotify users could enter the “Stranger Things” input in the platform and get a playlist assigned according to a character from the show.

Image source

Contextual Advertising Examples

Contextual advertising is one of the most popular advertising methods. Most probably you’ve seen contextual marketing in your online activity without realizing it. Let’s see some examples:

Google product ads

When you look up a product on Google, you often see sponsored ads in the form of a carousel at the top or in a side column, like in the example above. The ads show precisely the type of products you are looking for. For instance, if you are looking for coffee makers, you will, along with french presses and espresso jars.

How does it work?

Google takes your online behavior history, search query, and demographic data, such as your location, to serve contextually relevant ads. That’s why setting your targeting as close as possible to answering your customer’s specific pain points and queries is important.

Amazon recommendation system

Did you notice that whenever you look for something on Amazon, you get a row of recommended items below your search results? This is contextual advertising applied to Amazon shopping. The system proposes products that can complement what you are looking for.

How does it work?

Let’s continue with the coffee maker example. When you search Amazon for coffee makers for the home, you get the catalog of offerings and, embedded inside, sponsored ads for related coffee makers. Amazon takes your search history and queries, as well as the location, to deliver ads that relate to your search intent.

How to do Contextual Ads in short?

Although each ad network will have slight differences, some steps are common. Here are, in short, the main steps of the contextual targeting process:

1. The advertiser sets the criteria for targeting.

The first step is to set the targeting criteria on the ad network. For instance, the topics, keywords, demographics, search intent, and location for the ad. These factors will give the network a picture of what type of content is relevant to display your ads.

2. The platform analyzes the page’s content.

The ad network analyzes the content on web pages as well as search results and places the ad where it can be more relevant. The language, keywords, search queries, and other targeting factors will be considered. For search result ads, one of the criteria is to have a search query with relevant keywords.

3. The network displays the ad.

When all the criteria are met, the network displays the ad on a placement that matches the ad context.

Difference Between Contextual and Behavioral Advertising

While they are easily confused, contextual and behavioral advertising differ. Behavioral targeting is a method that uses web user information to enhance ad campaigns.

This technique gathers data about the customer’s online searching and browsing behavior to deliver targeted marketing activities, including ads. The targeting is based on the user’s past behavior. For instance, a user reads an article about vacation spots, and now they are on a fashion site, they may see an ad related to vacation spots.

On the other hand, contextual targeting involves displaying ads related to a site’s content based on relevant keywords. This technique focuses on the environment in which the users browse and shop. Contextual advertising involves assigning relevance to content, keywords, images, and topics. For instance, a traveling website user will see ads for hotels and flights.

Image source

Why is Contextual Advertising Important?

Online advertising offers an alternative to behavioral advertising that doesn’t rely heavily in first-party data in a post-cookie market. It is easy to implement and more cost-effective than other advertising models.

Here are some reasons contextual advertising is especially relevant in this market. As we mentioned previously, contextual advertising relies less on first-party data, which results in lower implementation costs. Because it doesn’t rely on personal data, such as the ones collected by cookies, it is safer for advertisers wanting to comply with privacy regulations.

A common concern for advertisers is finding their ads in environments with little or no relevance to their brand or, worse, in unsafe environments. Contextual targeting ensures the page where the ad is displayed is relevant to the topic and the user’s intent.

Finally, personalization is good, but context is better. For instance, I love baking and cooking, so I’m always looking for new techniques and recipes. I’m more likely to click on an ad related to the content I’m looking at.

Although this ad, in theory, relates to my business interest, it doesn’t relate to the topic I’m looking for. If I’m looking for recipes, I don’t want to be reminded of the business

On the other hand, when looking for a recipe to use rice noodles, I got served a video ad that teaches to do easy tortilla wraps. The recipe is available in a cookbook for sale. I will more probably click on that. This is a perfect example of contextual advertising.

Benefits of Contextual Advertising

Although it seems that contextual advertising only benefits advertisers, in reality, it also delivers value to publishers and consumers. Let’s explore the benefits of contextual advertising for each one.

Benefits for Consumers

Contextual advertising addresses the privacy concerns of consumers that don’t want their data tracked while at the same time giving them the relevant content they want.

Contextual ads analyze the content being consumed therefore, it doesn’t need a third-party cookie. The personalization is based on the contextual data from a webpage so consumers don’t usually need to opt-in to share their data.

Benefits for Advertisers

Advertisers benefit from contextual advertising because they can continue engaging customers without having to rely on third-party cookies. It allows them to reach consumers at the time they are likely to purchase.

Benefits for Publishers

Publishers greatly benefit from contextual advertising. They are also pressured to find cookie-less advertising solutions that allow them to continue monetizing the audiences. Contextual targeting provides a solution to place ads without third-party cookies.

Another benefit is that it allows going beyond keywords, determining a page’s relevance and safety. Finally, it enables niche publishers to also monetize their sites, giving their content the opportunity to be relevant to specific audiences.

What Are The Cons of Contextual Advertising?

There are not a lot of disadvantages to contextual advertising, but here are still a few:

Paid ads may be expensive for advertisers.
Ad placement depends on the result of the auction and your competitors.
Ads can be distracting and disruptive.
It is not suitable for all products and services.
They can be overwhelming and cluttering, therefore ignored by the user.
Ads may be placed along with those of competitors.

How Do You Use Contextual Advertising

A contextual advertising platform operates in three main steps:

Powered by Artificial Intelligence technologies, such as computer vision and natural language processing, analyzes the information on a web page. The platform scans the following elements:

Content Category
Keyword
Page Safety and Sentiment
Events
Text and Images

The data is translated into insights to target customers.
The contextual platform then places contextually relevant ads on the page that aligns with the content the user is consuming.

Contextual Advertising in a Cookie-Less Landscape

The industry is leveraging technology to deliver results equipable to cookie-based advertising. Here is how contextual targeting is improving in 2021 and beyond

Text and Image Analysis

Natural Language Processing allows marketers to understand the content and the sentiment of a website. In addition, machine learning helps advertisers provide the most relevant content.

Brand Safety

Machine learning technology ensures that ad copy only appears to relevant content. This enables them to sell more ad inventory and provide additional scalability.

Creative Optimization

Contextual advertising platforms ensure marketers can optimize their campaigns in real-time, delivering relevant product recommendations and sections of content.

Contextual Advertising on Mobile

With people using their phones for almost everything, targeted advertising includes in-app and in-mobile advertising. As a result of mobile popularity, the in-app advertising market is growing steadily, and it is expected to reach $339 million by 2023.

Image Source

A contextual ad system scans the mobile site and the application for relevant keywords and serves the ads that go better with it.

In-app contextual advertising offers many benefits:

Provide a better experience: by reducing the intrusiveness of ads.
Protect user privacy: by targeting users without collecting data.
Increase engagement: generate higher results because users see ads related to the app.

How CodeFuel’s Contextual Advertising Helps You Reach Your Audience

Publishers can add value to their sites by offering an intent-based journey. CodeFuel’s machine learning capabilities enable it to deliver high yields on every page, with a context-driven company. It is easy to deploy, use, and report.

CodeFuel is a complete monetization platform geared to maximize publisher’s yield by delivering the highest relevance based on intent and advanced analytics. Start monetizing your digital property today. Sign up.

FAQs

What is a contextual advertising example?

A simple example of contextual advertising would be an advert for cookware on a cooking website. Or an ad for running shoes on a health and wellness blog site.

What does contextual mean in advertising?

Advertisers want to increase their ads’ conversion and enhance the user experience. The more the user feels the ad relates to what they are looking for, the more likely the chances of conversion. Context enables advertisers to link the ads to the user’s interests.

What kind of advertising is contextual advertising?

Contextual advertising is done automatically via software solutions such as ad networks and monetization platforms. The automated systems display ads relevant to the content of the site and the user’s search query.

Is contextual advertising programmatic?

You can use contextual advertising with Programmatic Advertising campaigns because it is done automatically.

These 3 Industries Changed Forever in 2021

by Sharona Meushar | Oct 17, 2021 | Search

Following the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the global economy shifted significantly. Referred to by some as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the world has entered into a new frontier regarding how business owners operate and how people live their daily lives.

In this post

Among the many changes the world saw in 2021, none are bigger than those that occurred in virtual communications, digital marketing, and the eCommerce industries. These three industries changed forever in 2021 and changed the economy’s future trajectory.

1. Virtual Communication Technology

Prior to 2020, virtual communication tools like Zoom and Google Meet were used by schools and businesses only minimally. Before 2020, only about 19.5% of undergraduate students enrolled in an online class. In business, virtual tools were typically used to connect people for international conference calls or when meeting in person was not an option due to extenuating circumstances.

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down the economy, companies turned to virtual technology to continue operating despite the quarantine. Video conferencing tools, virtual group messaging platforms like Slack, and job assignment boards like Monday and Click Up allowed small businesses and large corporations to retain their employees and continue producing work.

These platforms also changed the way people attend classes for college and K-12 education. Without virtual communication tools, students would have received no education in 2020 and part of 2021; instead, virtual classrooms were used to keep students on track for graduation and certification.

After 2020, an estimated 98% of colleges have moved to online classes, and even in the business world, it is suggested that online courses will account for 98% of future corporate learning scenarios.

Although most quarantine restrictions were lifted in 2021, virtual communication is still thriving. Many businesses have turned to real time virtual communication to shift from in-office employment positions to fully remote job opportunities, opening up a wide range of options to people in other states and countries.

Jobsfuel.com can help you find a remote or hybrid job that meets your positive liberty needs ensuring you have the freedom to decide where you want to work. This flexibility provides autonomy in choosing your work schedule, freeing you from micromanagers, traffic jams, and office noise.

Additionally, schools and universities have adopted hybrid and fully online classes to accommodate those who wish to continue socially distancing themselves from big groups of people.

Perhaps the best part about how the virtual communications industry has changed over the last year is how it has revolutionized what society considers legitimate work and instruction. No longer are these tools seen as extras that are only used in emergencies or there for the rare occasion that people cannot come into the office.

The advances in virtual tool capabilities and reliability, along with their now-ubiquitous use, have allowed people to save time and money while still meeting the needs of the company they work for.

2. Online Digital Marketing

Online digital marketing is another industry that fundamentally changed over the past two years. Online marketing changes in the 2021 pandemic were brought on by increased time spent on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram during quarantine and the advertising strategies that digital marketing companies use to reach consumers.

Online digital marketing has changed the way marketing teams reach consumers and boost their client’s online presence. Before the 2020 pandemic, many companies remained loyal to traditional marketing methods, such as printed ads and coupons and radio and T.V. spots.

While these methods are not obsolete, the push toward online retailing and eCommerce during the lockdowns forced many businesses to rethink their marketing strategies and shift to digitally-based marketing techniques.

Now more than ever, developing a robust online presence through online marketing is what companies need to thrive. They do this with content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), ad spending on social media, and hiring online marketing agencies that implement and track important engagement data throughout the customer journey.

Content Marketing

One of the pillars of online marketing in 2021 is content marketing. Content marketing uses social media posts, videos, blogs, and other content to inform and engage a business’ target audience. This type of content existed before 2021; however, the pandemic increased the number of people who use social media and search for information online, making content marketing vital for both the consumer and the business or service provider.

SEO

SEO has also been around for several years, however with increased online activity, utilizing the best SEO optimization practices has become a vitally important element in the success of a business’s marketing content and website discoverability through search results pages, otherwise known as search engine results pages (SERP).

In the past, search engines would recognize and rank a page based on how many keywords were included for a topic. This led to useless content filled with robotic language and repeated keyword phrases.

Now, search engines penalize articles of this kind. Instead, they recommend the content that is most relevant to the search request. This encourages marketing companies to utilize current SEO practices such as backlinking to authoritative sites, including relevant keywords, and providing thoughtful, engaging content for their clients.

Marketing Services

While the online marketing industry has changed over the last year, so have agencies’ marketing services. Many digital marketing companies have shifted to social media management, website development, content development, and the utilization of software programs or apps to track conversion rates and customer engagement.

These four services are by no means the totality of what online marketing companies offer their clients, but they are indicative of the economy’s shift toward online-based consumerism and business.

3. eCommerce and Online Retail

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, eCommerce sales for the second quarter of 2021 were over $222.5 billion, a 9.1% increase from the same quarter of 2020. In 2012, eCommerce sales made up about 5% of the total U.S. retail sales. This number has steadily risen, with eCommerce sales making up over 15% of the country’s total retail sales.

Thanks to stay-at-home orders and increased reliance on online retailers for entertainment and home staple items, consumers have turned to online shopping and eCommerce retailers for a large portion of their spending.

Supply chain shortages at the local level forced people to order groceries and medical items from big online suppliers. People who were stuck at home during the pandemic ordered everything from books, to cleaning supplies, to clothes from big warehouse delivery companies to stay stocked and entertained while isolating in their house.

Although physical stores have reopened, this sudden shift toward eCommerce stores over their brick-and-mortar counterparts shows no signs of stopping. eCommerce has revolutionized consumer behavior to digitally focused consumerism.

eCommerce stores and online retailers are booming due to this change. Businesses that formerly ran physical stores have opened up online boutiques and shopping options. Businesses such as restaurants and coffee shops offer customers online options for table reservations and food selection.

When combined with the revolution in the digital marketing industry, the shift from eCommerce being a growing industry to a ubiquitous industry in people’s everyday lives was almost overnight.

The Big Picture

Each of these three industries experienced a core-changing experience during the past few years. These specific changes have also affected a change in the overall world economy and daily life.

While many industries are still recovering, eCommerce, digital marketing, and virtual communications are three sectors on the rise. Not only this, but these three industries helped keep the economy from completely collapsing during the pandemic.

Without virtual conferencing, all non-essential businesses would have stopped running, and students would have lost out on an entire semester’s worth of classes. Without eCommerce, thousands of people would have been unable to access their basic daily needs like food and medications.

The future of the world’s economy is being driven forward by the changes in the virtual communication, eCommerce, and online marketing industries. The abrupt changes to people’s lifestyles in 2020 showed the world what was necessary to keep the economy moving while facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, and these three industries stepped up to the plate. They have now become a part of everyday life, which is perhaps the biggest change of all.

What is Media Mix Modeling(MMM) and How to Measure it?

by Sharona Meushar | Sep 8, 2021 | Media buying

The saying goes that you cannot manage what you cannot measure. When it comes to choosing the right media mix to achieve your marketing efforts, how do you know what is working and what isn’t? Media mix modeling is a group of technologies and practices geared to identify the impact (in money and results) of your marketing tactics on your ROI. In this guide, we prepared all that you need to know about media mix modeling to start optimizing your campaigns.

Short on time? Here’s the table of contents:

In this post

What Is Media Mix Modeling in Marketing?

Media mix modeling (MMM) is a marketing analysis technique that determines the impact of marketing efforts on sales. An organization’s media mix is part of the marketing mix model and consists of combining an organization’s communication channels to get its brand message and marketing tactics to potential customers.

The media mix may combine traditional advertising channels, like print, broadcast, TV, social media, and online advertising. Companies talk about the marketing mix when planning their campaign goals, which is an essential part of their marketing strategy.

What Is Media Mix Optimization?

Organizations optimize their media mix in order to gain insights into what they need to target their audience effectively. Not all companies can optimize their media mix because it is more suitable for online marketing. It requires looking into the analytics and ROI of different marketing strategies.

This is where media mix modeling comes to help.

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How does Media Mix Modeling MMM work?

Media mix modeling, also called marketing mix modeling, analyzes collected and processed data from the channels that form the marketing mix. Some solutions enable marketers to factor in traditional channels, promotions, seasonality, and other variables.

The modeling collects data from disparate sources, which then applies advanced statistical analysis to, and enables to get insights into how effective the current campaign. MMM leverages metrics and variables like sales, ratings, or online analytics, allowing analysts to have a broader picture of the impact of the campaign in the marketplace in a measurable way.

MMM analyzes linear and non-linear variables. This means there are variables that a direct relationship with sales can measure. The more you increase the marketing input, the more sales grow. But other variables, like broadcasting, are more difficult to track. If a marketer would do that manually, it would be extremely difficult. MMM technology enables marketers to use artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to find out a quantifiable impact of each marketing effort, regardless of the channel.

The goal of a media mix modeling study is to measure the impact of each marketing activity on each channel. It works by quantifying the effect of advertising, pricing, PR, and sponsorships.

The term was coined in a paper by the Harvard Business Review, and the technique has been around for a few years. Thanks to the advance in statistical methods and artificial intelligence, media mix modeling can be done now in a simpler way.

The factors that may affect the marketing mix can be categorized as:

Incremental drivers: this refers to business outcomes generated by marketing activities like print ads, digital spending, price discounts, social outreach.

Base drivers: this refers to outcomes achieved without any advertisements, usually due to brand equity. These outcomes usually don’t change unless there is an economic or environmental change.

Other drivers: related components of baseline factors, measured over a period of time.

Example of a media mix modeling diagram (Image source)

How do you measure MMM?

Media mix modeling is measured by using regression analysis, specifically multi-linear regression. The model uses dependent and independent variables to identify a relation between them.

Analysts form an equation between the dependent and independent variables. Depending on the relation between the variables the equation can be linear or nonlinear. Here’s an example of an equation of multi-linear regression where each beta shows that an increase affects the total increase of sales.

Example of a sales equation (Image source)

MMM helps marketers in optimizing future spending and maximizing the effectiveness of the marketing campaign.

Media Mix Modeling Ratio

Besides complex equations, the MMM ratio consists of three key components:

What marketing channels are you using?
How much money are you spending on each channel?
What were previous campaign results and insights?

The answer to these three questions may determine what is the rate of effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Marketing Mix Modeling Examples

Understanding media mix modeling can be daunting at first. Let’s explain it better with some marketing mix modeling examples:

Case 1.

A fashion brand that wants to find out how each media channel’s marketing contributes to sales. Let’s say the brand has both online and social media ads, and they want to know if it should focus its efforts more on social media. They’ll take the collected sales data during a specific time frame, typically two to three years. Then they use MMM to run a multivariate test, which can show how sales would look when changing the media set.

Case 2.

A company that sells across different geographic regions. They want to know what of their marketing campaigns is affecting more on a specific region’s sales. They have to break their marketing budget by different channels, for example, paid search in Google vs. Bing. The MMM models their data and then tries to explain it without marketing input.

Some tips we can take from these marketing mix modeling examples include taking at least two years of data so you can have two seasonal cycles and combine marketing and non-marketing data.

What Elements does the Media Mix Modeling Measure?

MMM Is a marketing analysis technique that measures what is the impact of a campaign and determines how each part of the marketing mix contributes (or not) to its success. The results of a media mix modeling study can give you insights that you can use to improve a campaign. Let’s summarize this with a definition:

Media Mix Modeling is a top-down approach that uses tools and advanced analytics to evaluate how media and marketing activities, pricing, seasonality, and variable factors impact sales and ROI. It provides a measure of how activities contribute to the company’s ROI.

Marketing analysts use data science techniques such as multi-linear regression to determine the effectiveness of each marketing input in terms of ROI. The goal is to identify which marketing efforts have higher ROI and are thus more impactful.

MMM model example (Image source)

1. Sales Volume

Sales volume is one of the key elements measured in MMM. But the model considers two different aspects: base and incremental sales.

Base sales: These are the sales influenced by parameters like long-term trends, seasonality, brand awareness, brand loyalty, and pricing. We can also consider baseline sales as the revenue you could have without marketing input.

Incremental sales: They are the part of sales influenced by marketing activities. You can calculate incremental sales by applying the following formula:

Incremental sales = Total Sales – Baseline Sales

2. Media Marketing and Advertising Impact

What should you look into when measuring the impact of media and advertising on sales? For instance, comparing how effective are 15-sec vs 30-sec ads. Or comparing how ads running on different platforms perform. Or finally, comparing the outcomes of running ads during different times.

3. Pricing models

Sales are highly sensitive to pricing, but how much changing the pricing can influence your sales? You can see the impact with the help of MMM. Knowing this percentage is essential for your pricing strategy.

4. Distribution Systems

Distribution is key to preventing overlooked expenses, which can drive growth. Applying media mix modeling can help teams understand how changes in distribution can impact the sales volume across channels.

5. New Product Creations

Every product launch can impact the overall sales volume. A successful launch can pick up sales, but also increase the marketing budget. Marketing mix modeling can help determine how much of the sales volume is a result of the new product.

Common use cases for using MMM

Media mix modeling or as is also known as marketing mix modeling can be used to measure and optimize your marketing channels in terms of ROI. Here are some use cases you can apply this technique to:

Budget setting and optimization: Large companies with geographically distributed campaigns across multiple media channels can benefit from the scalability of media mix modeling. Media mix modeling leverages automation to perform large-scale marketing effectiveness.

Media measurement: You can measure the impact of different types of media campaigns, paid, owned, and earned. You can use media mix modeling to measure the customer journey in its path to purchase. The insights you get can be used to optimize your spending and actions across those channels.

Measuring sales drivers: Marketing mix modeling can be used to find what are the factors driving sales, so you can invest more in the winning strategy.

How to Use Media Mix Modeling?

Media modeling gives marketers the opportunity to support their decisions with data, creating a data-driven approach that is more accurate and actually can save money and effort.

Research from a Forrester study, “The Current State of Marketing Measurement and Optimization”, shows that 71% of marketers are impaired by inefficient measurement methods and tools. Here is how to make the most of your media mix modeling:

1. Collect data at the personal level

At this moment, when third-party cookies are about to become a thing of the past, marketers everywhere are trying to collect the information they need. Personal level data allows you to have an accurate picture of how customers relate to the media mix you chose.

Person-level data means you assign data from sources to an individual consumer with the goal to answer business questions and pinpoint interactions at the user level. [CLICK TO TWEET]

In the Forester report mentioned above, 99% of marketers not currently using person-level data would like to use this approach today. This granular approach allows you to conduct analysis at the user level instead of using the already aggregated data.

2. Check the type of data

Media modeling works better if you are working with digital channels than for traditional marketing methods. It is more difficult to measure the results of a newspaper ad or a radio broadcast. Achieving the right marketing mix, with a greater investment in online marketing channels (including mobile) can give you a more accurate picture. This is also consistent with trends towards online and mobile content consumption by users. By migrating campaigns to online channels, you can measure ROI more accurately and have better insights for decision-making.

3. Choose a platform that’s right for your organization

Using analytics software gives you an advantage. You can analyze the media mix by using platforms that collect user interaction data and provide tracking reports. The best approach is to choose a platform that gives you complete visibility of all the channels you are implementing. A software that can provide accurate and timely reports is also a must. You need to know how your channels are performing individually and as a part of your marketing campaign.

4. Analyze the data

Before getting into the analysis, you need to choose what metrics you want to measure for each channel. The wrong metrics can give you a completely different picture that is not akin to reality. Choose the metric you want to measure according to the goal you want from that channel or activity. For instance, email marketing newsletters can be measured by click-through rate more effectively than by measuring opening rates.

Once you chose the metrics and got the data, it is time to analyze and understand the reports. It is important to know what the data is telling you to use it to your advantage. Following the example of the email newsletters, if you see a high CTR from them, it is a sign that you should use this strategy for the next campaign for that audience.

Try to find the “high-performers” and the “low-performers” too. Knowing where your strengths and weaknesses in the campaign will help you adjust and improve it for next time.

5. Keep in mind social sentiment and brand perception

The success of a marketing campaign is not only measured in terms of conversions or clicks. Understanding how your potential audience perceives your brand can provide context and help you interpret the data better. Factor consumer opinion in your media mix model. How do you do it?

Conduct social media and search for sentiment analysis. Take note of what people are saying about your brand, the positive and the negative. You can use that information to create a survey and prove your findings by rating your company. Specifically, asking how likely they would recommend your business to a friend and what type of marketing content would they like to see more. This will give you an idea of where to focus your marketing efforts next.

How Do You Know The Media Mix is Right for Your Brand?

How do you determine the right media mix for your campaign? Let’s look at some of the factors you should consider when choosing your media mix.

Using multiple marketing channels to promote products and engage your users is a popular approach. However, randomly choosing as many channels as possible is not only ineffective but also can lose you a lot of money. Choosing the right mix is essential to achieve a successful campaign.

How do you start? By knowing and understanding your target audience. After all, your goal is to engage them. There are two key steps in choosing the right mix for your marketing strategy:

Define your target audience

This is the foremost step because without understanding your audience you are in the dark. Start by mapping basic demographic data: Location, gender, income, age, education level. Then you can further dig into finding interests, platforms they visit. How do you do it?

Check at your competitors: you can gain a lot of information about your potential customers by checking your competitor’s campaigns and social media sites.
Search in social media groups of interest: your customer talks about products related to yours on social media and review sites. Take a look at what they are saying, where they are located, and such.

You should know who the potential customers are for your product or service. A good rule of thumb is to create buyer personas to have a detailed idea of who is your ideal customer.

Collect and use reliable data

Gather data on your target audience according to what you know about your audience. For instance, organic research, competitor audits, sentiment analysis. Check data from media viewing research sites too to have a broad picture. The right data can provide the insight you need to choose the market mix that works.

Why is it worth Implementing the MMM (Marketing Mix Modeling)?

Marketing mix modeling is worth implementing, because it can help your organization understand the data behind your sales, understanding exactly how much exactly your marketing tactics are working. With the MMM you can understand how different activities drive a product’s metrics. You can use the modeling to optimize your marketing budget and get the most ROI.

Media mix modeling vs Data-Driven attribution modeling

Modern marketing is based on hard data, especially digital marketing. One of the questions prevalent in marketing departments is where the marketing budget goes. Attributing where the money was spent to lead generation and marketing goals is one of the key objectives of every marketer. Despite ongoing efforts and data-driven analysis, it is a challenge to attribute accurately. Marketers diverge if attribution modeling or media mix modeling is the best measurement model to use. Let’s examine each one.

What is the Attribution Model?

Attribution Modeling is a bottom-up approach used for measuring marketing efficacy. This method analyses and identifies the value of each marketing initiative by looking at the actions users take before converting.

Attribution modeling focuses on the outcomes of the marketing efforts as measurements, online sales, advertising, and similar conversion efforts.

There are five types of attribution models:

Last interaction

This involves attributing the credit of the conversion to the last lead a user interacted with. This method is used by default in many marketing teams. For example, if a user finds your site by a Google Ad, but makes the purchase finally from a Twitter ad, the ad gets 100% credit for that sale.

First Interaction

This involves assigning credit to the first introduction of the user to the business. In the above example, the Google ad would get credit instead of the Twitter ad.

Last non-direct click

This model also attributes all credit to a single interaction. The basis of this approach is that the last action is triggered by the last non-direct click because it is when the user is exposed to your marketing efforts.

Linear attribution

This model divides the attribution equally among all user interactions before conversion. That means ⅓ would go to the Google ad, ⅓ to your website, and ⅓ to the Twitter ad. The problem with this model is that it doesn’t account for the level of influence of each interaction.

Time decay attribution

An evolution of the linear attribution model takes into account when each interaction takes place and gives more importance to the interactions that happen close to the time of purchase. This would give the Twitter ad more value than the other interactions.

Position-based attribution

This model also splits the difference when allocating conversion credit. It gives 40% to the first interaction, 40% to the last, and 20% to divide among all the other interactions.

The difference of Media Mix Modeling

Media mix modeling uses a regression analysis evaluating the impact of multiple variables on a single variable like sales figures. It calculates the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable.

Attribution modeling could have worked in the past for simple marketing strategies with few channels. However, this proves difficult for the complex and distributed strategies of today’s marketing. Media Mix Modeling can account for a wide range of data from diverse sources.

Measured vs. Platform Reporting, Multi-touch-Attribution (MTA), and Media Mix Modeling (MMM) Comparison Table:

General

Neutral and Independent

Measurement

Causal incremental

Scale testing

Granular insights

Cross channel

Walled Garden

Transparent

Decisions

Tactical

Strategic Planning

Timely Insights

Data Management

Built for marketing analytics

Data Quality

Measured

General

Measurement

Decisions

Data Management

Other Measurement

General

Measurement

Decisions

Data Management

Other Measurement

General

Measurement

Decisions

Data Management

Other Measurement

General

Measurement

Decisions

Data Management

Measured Advantage

Trusted measurement;

Productized Experiments

Identify saturation curves

Future proof

Depth of Measurement

Comprehensive

Transparency

Daily and Weekly Insights

Bottom Up Forecasting

On Time, reliable

Analytics Ready

Source of Truth Platforms

Pros and Cons of conducting a MMM

When should you use MMM? Implementing a media mix modeling can be more effective:

There is enough data to estimate the parameters in the model.

There is a range of variability in the advertising levels and control variables.

The model inputs vary independently

The model accounts for the drivers that may impact ROI.

The model captures the relationship between variables

There are challenges from issues that may affect the reliability of results from MMM.

So, what are the pros and cons of using marketing mix modeling? Here is a summary:

MMM Pros

It is a great starting point for planning a marketing budget at a high level.

It provides a holistic approach to marketing trends.

It highlights trends and insights on what is working on the campaigns.

MMM Cons

It doesn’t give insights at a granular level.

It is difficult to measure digital and traditional marketing ROI.

It doesn’t account for cross-channel impact.

Doesn’t account for different times to send marketing messages

Limitations of MMM Marketing Mix Modeling

When using marketing mix models, marketers need to take into account several elements across their ecosystem, which may include:

Person-level, behavioral data
The impact brand authority has on the marketing spend
What are the key times to send marketing messages
What’s the proper attribution on individual media effectiveness

Taking into account all these metrics may have caused issues of the reliability of the media mix modeling. Marketing mix models enable marketers to unify the measurement.

Another problem with marketing mix models is that they usually require a lot of data to give accurate insights. Typically, two years of historical data. Many organizations don’t have the data infrastructure in place needed to collect and process these massive amounts of data.

Advantages of Marketing Mix Modeling

While MMM cannot identify individual opportunities to optimize their campaign optimization. It gives the starting point for high-level marketing budget planning, providing a holistic approach to general market trends, giving marketers a full-circle view into their prospective markets.

Common myths about MMM

Like many analytic solutions has become very popular, but does it live up to all the hype? Here are a few misconceptions people have around media mix modeling:

Media mix models are obscure: since there are datasets and advanced analytics involved in media mix modeling, these methods are considered lacking in transparency. This raises the question of how do you know if the model is accurate if you cannot see it all? The right approach is implementing a transparent approach, determining deliverables, outlines, milestones, and reports.

MMM doesn’t provide real-time data: the truth is that MMM is based on historical data. However, modern media mix models can provide near real-time marketing insights, that can evaluate new campaigns, and assess the effectiveness of a running campaign.
Is biased to offline/online channels: media mix strategies may focus more on offline channels. But modern media mix models consider all channels, digital and offline. Media marketing models are adapted to take into account each channel and its importance as a factor.

The History of MMM

Marketers started to use Media (or Marketing) Mix Modeling in the golden age of advertising, around 1960-1970 when marketing was much simpler than today. One of the early users of media modeling was Kraft Foods when they launched Jell-O.

Traditional MMM allowed Kraft to see how sales would be affected according to different levels of advertisement and geographical location. For instance, how would sales increase by running campaigns in 10 cities instead of four?.

Nowadays, with the application of artificial intelligence data analysis to media mix modeling, analysts can get insights practically in real-time as campaigns are running.

What to look for in MMM tools

To implement an effective media mix modeling you need marketing performance tools that give you the insights you need. Here’s what you need to know when looking for a solution:

Balancing long and short-term growth: most of your efforts should be focused on long-term growth but don’t overlook short-term goals. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising suggests a ratio of 60/40 long and short-term marketing activities. Your marketing performance tool needs to analyze how both campaigns will grow your business.
Collects and measures data from disparate sources: this is one of the basic features of a marketing performance tool. To be effective at media mix modeling you need a tool that can collect, process, and analyze data from digital and traditional media. Since most of these data sources have their own analytics, you need an orchestration platform that can ingest the data from these sources and give you the insights you need.
Takes into account external variables: political, economical, and social changes can affect marketing efforts. A good tool needs to recognize disrupting variables and assess how they would impact your long-term campaigns.
Consider the customer journey: a media mix modeling needs to account for the interactions along a customer journey. Your tools should be able to tell you what is the impact of each step, considering customer purchase patterns and predicting consumer trends.

FAQs About MMM

How do you do a market mix model?

Base variables or incremental variables are taken into account, quantifying them and breaking down business metrics to find out how marketing and promotion activities contribute to ROI.

What type of Modelling method is critical for marketing mix evaluation?

Marketing Mix analysis is typically done using linear regression. Other effects as non-linear and lagged are included to have a broader approach.

What is market mix Modelling?

Market Mix Modeling is a technique that helps to quantify several marketing inputs on sales or market share. The goal of marketing modeling is to understand how much each marketing technique is affecting sales in terms of ROI. The idea is to detect which marketing inputs have a higher ROI and which ones need adjustments.

How CodeFuel optimizes media buying and management

Media buying is an essential part of media mix modeling. After all, the channels you use will determine how they will impact your marketing campaign. CodeFuel simplifies media buying by serving intent-based search and shopping ads. By delivering the right ads to the right buyers at the right time, your campaign is more effective. Start optimizing your marketing campaigns effectively with CodeFuel today. Sign up.

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