Ever since the term “binge-watch” entered our lexicon a decade ago, global content and advertising consumerism have evolved significantly, impacting our social lives. As consumers, not only do we want content anywhere and anytime, but today, we also demand a seamless experience across devices. Programs need to stay cued at the exact spot we left them, and our preferences should remain with us regardless of whether we are on our phones during a commute or on laptops at home. This is where viewership analytics helps.
Consumer Viewership Measurement and Its Challenges
This transition in viewer behavior, aided by the global pandemic’s technological push, is fueling both innovation and competition while putting pressure on business models to keep up. As a result, there is a greater need than ever before for more granular and comprehensive data insights about viewership.
However, the challenges for content providers and advertisers working across channels remain insurmountable, especially when measuring impact across services.
Inconsistencies Across Channels
The metrics used to measure video on linear TV and digital platforms differ greatly, making it difficult for media buyers to assess the relative value of cross-platform ad inventories.
Previously, media companies and advertisers relied on Nielsen to establish the media currency that informs ad purchases, but the rise of media measurement vendors has now opened up a world of cross-channel audience viewing data and insights.
Quantifying Metrics Across Channels
Year after year, digital revenues account for an increasing share of the media industry’s total revenues. And experts predict B2C traditional and digital ad spending in the United States will be even by 2023.
Advertisers and content creators today want a thorough understanding of where their audiences are and what they are doing. While marketers understand that the key to identifying an addressable audience is to use mobile, social, and digital behavior, they are still struggling to quantify the impact and support those strategies with the right technology.
Customer Segmentation: Going Beyond the Click
The competition for ad dollars in an increasingly omnichannel world means that media measurement solutions are constantly looking for improvements that can improve decision-making.
Without having to decipher the origins of a last-click attributed conversion, cross-channel viewership analysis provides insights into customer behavior at every stage of the buyer’s journey.
In fact, beyond the last click, cross-channel viewership analytics can identify and assign external influencers for activity. Furthermore, advanced segmentation within households by demographic, interest-based, retail, and lifestyle categories is possible.
Impact of Cross-Channel Viewership Analytics
Today’s advertisers and media companies need omnichannel media analytics to better value media assets and compare cross-channel outcomes.
Cross-channel viewership analytics facilitates this by integrating third-party and first-party audience intelligence and behavioral data. For advertisers, that means more efficient and effective media buys.
Let’s look at some of the ways cross-channel viewership analytics can impact the advertising ecosystem:
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Personalized Messaging
Marketers can create a personalized strategy by combining customer activity and feedback from multiple channels. It has been noted that a lack of a cross-channel strategy can result in significant revenue losses each year, as an IDC study found that consumers who shop across multiple channels demonstrate a 30% increase in Lifetime Value.
Cross-channel viewership analytics enable advertisers to analyze data from multiple touchpoints in one location. This will give a clearer picture of online patterns. It allows viewers to be targeted with more personalized messages for better results.
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Better Insights
With consumers calling the shots on their ad experience, marketers need to understand their preferences better. As digital viewership grows, advertisers will need deeper insights that take into account cross-channel viewership.
In reflection of this trend, NBCUniversal partnered with iSpot.tv this year to ensure the Super Bowl had ratings recorded across both linear TV and digital channels.
Content creators can learn where their audiences spend the most time by analyzing cross-platform viewership and behavioral data.
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Improved Reach
Audiences are spreading their attention, and today’s viewership goes beyond mere programmed content. Using cross-platform viewership analytics, media buyers can access attribution numbers to inform programmatic buying better. Advertisers can maximize reach across devices using a modeling mix based on digital audience activity.
Additionally, advertisers will be able to view available ad inventory by the network (broadcast/TV or digital) along with relevant metrics such as projected ad exposures and reach per network.
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Optimized Results
Advertising performance is frequently dependent on the ability to conduct ongoing measurements to fine-tune campaigns. Cross-viewership analytics extracts useful information from clickstream events. Advertisers will be able to attract the right audiences at the right time through the right channels. If they enable optimization at both the awareness and conversion stages.
Also, with improved viewership data, advertisers will likely be more interested in bidding for ad space in real-time to get in front of trends that attract relevant audiences.
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Pinpointed Audience
Cross-channel viewership analytics is enabling the results as personalization remains a dominant mantra. Advertisers can now be confident that they will reach their target audience wherever and whenever they are online. Thanks to the access to aggregated viewership measures, reach, historical trends, and projections for the program and commercial ratings.
Likewise, cross-viewership analytics advances provide finer detail in audience profiling and segmentation into demographic, interest-based, and purchasing patterns.
Final Thoughts – A Pivotal Moment in Viewership Analytics
The rise of artificial intelligence and innovations in data management is propelling online advertising and digital content into a new era of effectiveness. Moreover, as the industry shifts away from legacy metrics, the impact on all players in the advertising ecosystem will be significant.
And businesses that work with a system that enables cross-platform audience viewership data and attribution will be geared for success.
Vishal Kumar Jindal is a Business Architect and Subject Matter Expert for Media, Martech, Adtech, and Digital domains across projects, products, and technologies. He has over two decades of proven expertise in business and domain solutions, product and program management, and business development. As an active follower of the Media and Entertainment sector, he is a specialist in digital advertising, media measurement, content management, and OTT solutions.
