Attributing Return on Investment (ROI) to Connected TV (CTV), Digital Out of Home (DOOH), and Streaming Audio ads can be challenging but essential for assessing the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns in these channels. To attribute ROI to these ad formats, consider the following strategies (ranked in order of most straightforward to most advanced):

 

Unique Tracking URLs, QR Codes, or Landing Pages: 

Create unique tracking URLs or landing pages for each ad campaign in these channels. This enables you to track website visits, conversions, and other user interactions specific to these campaigns. For visual campaigns like DOOH or CTV you can embed a QR code so people can walk up to the screen, scan, and land on the desired page and track conversions. 

 

Conversion Tracking: 

Implement conversion tracking pixels or tags to monitor actions that are relevant to your ROI goals, such as website purchases, form submissions, or app downloads. Ensure that these tags are correctly implemented across all channels.

 

Custom Promo Codes: 

Assign custom promo codes or coupons for each channel or campaign. When customers use these codes during a purchase, it becomes a direct attribution to the specific ad campaign.

 

Surveys and Feedback: 

Collect feedback and conduct surveys to gather information directly from customers. Ask them about their awareness of and response to CTV, DOOH, and streaming audio ads in your campaigns.

 

Incrementality/Lift Testing: 

Conduct A/B testing or incrementality testing by running control groups that are not exposed to your ads and comparing their behavior with those who were exposed. This can help isolate the impact of your campaigns.

 

Geo-Fencing and Geo-Targeting:

Leverage geo-fencing and geo-targeting capabilities. For DOOH campaigns you can attribute ROI by measuring foot traffic or visits to physical locations near displays. For CTV and streaming audio you can measure lift by only running one channel in specific geos and compare them to geos not supported by that channel. 

 

Attribution Modeling: 

Use attribution models to analyze the customer journey and assign value to each touchpoint along the way. Multi-touch attribution models can help determine the influence of CTV, DOOH, and streaming audio ads in the conversion path.

 

Cross-Device Tracking: 

Implement cross-device tracking to understand how users interact with ads on different devices before making a purchase. This is important because consumers may see an ad on CTV, then switch to a mobile device to complete a transaction.

 

Advanced Attribution Solutions:

Consider using advanced attribution solutions like marketing mix modeling (MMM) or time-series analysis to determine the impact of CTV, DOOH, and streaming audio in conjunction with other advertising channels.

 

Keep in mind that accurately attributing ROI to these channels may require a combination of the above methods and tools. It’s essential to develop a robust measurement and attribution strategy to track the effectiveness of your advertising efforts in CTV, DOOH, and streaming audio to make informed decisions and optimize your campaigns. 

Are you ready to implement your DSP? Check out this article with a great starting strategy: https://populationscience.com/how-to-implement-a-demand-side-platform-dsp/