Measuring Linear TV and On-Air Radio Branding Campaigns
It’s not cut-and-dry like digital, but there are ways, with reporting tools and Google Analytics, to measure some impact on traffic and conversions.
Measuring and reporting on on-air radio and linear TV advertising, especially with branding campaigns, involves gathering data and analyzing it to assess the effectiveness and reach of advertising campaigns. At NuSpark Consulting, we utilize tools that combine media campaign data with Google Analytics data to provide a comprehensive overview of how campaigns impact website traffic and results.
The key steps involved in this process include establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that align with your advertising goals, such as reach, frequency, and response rate for radio, and reach, frequency, and ratings for TV. Furthermore, we analyze website analytics to measure the impact of your radio and TV ads on website visits, conversions, and other relevant metrics.
By translating this data into actionable insights, we help inform future advertising strategies, highlighting what worked well and areas that require improvement. Additionally, we emphasize the importance of regularly monitoring and adjusting your advertising campaigns to ensure maximum impact and return on investment.
Examples of Reports That Show Overall Traffic & Conversion Lift
Conversion & Event Tracking
Can certainly compare website analytics before and after media campaigns; and see the results of overall conversions, events, and website actions.
Organic Traffic Trends
If there’s a lift in organic traffic, typically your name as a keyword, during the media campaigns, then we can see the affects of the advertising, and prepare a “cost per lift” over a period of time.
Traffic vs. Media Strategy
Here we can overlay overall website traffic by day or week with station spots and costs to see website performance from a granular level; and track trends.
These are samples of the number of reports that are available, but we focus on results, and being able to make decisions on all channels, even ones that are hard to track, or part of an overall branding campaign.
More on Attribution for Linear TV Reporting
In the context of TV attribution, linear TV refers to traditional television content that is broadcast in real-time, on a set schedule, by cable or satellite TV providers. TV attribution software tracks the performance of TV ads on such platforms by connecting viewer behaviors (like website visits, app downloads, online purchases) with the specific TV ad airings that likely influenced those actions.
Here’s how TV attribution software typically tracks linear TV:
- Ad Airings: Attribution platforms usually receive ad logs or ad airing data directly from broadcasters or third-party monitoring services. These logs contain information about when and where an ad aired. Some advanced platforms also use Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology to independently verify ad airings.
- Viewer Behavior: The software then monitors viewer behavior, which could include website traffic, search queries, online sales, app installs, and other metrics, over a specific period following each ad airing.
- Time-Based Matching: By analyzing the timing and frequency of these viewer behaviors, the software can correlate specific behaviors with individual ad airings. This correlation is often based on time-based algorithms that look for spikes in activity shortly after an ad has aired.
As for how stations export their log files into these tools, it largely depends on the specific software being used. However, it often involves the following steps:
- Data Collection: The TV station or broadcasting network collects data about their ad airings. This log file usually includes data such as the date, time, channel, and program during which the ad was aired.
- Data Transfer: The log files are then exported, often in a universally compatible format like CSV or Excel. The specific method of transfer can vary, but it often involves secure file transfer protocols (SFTP), API calls, or manual file uploads.
- Data Integration: The TV attribution software then integrates this data, matches it with observed viewer behavior, and uses it to create detailed reports on the performance of each ad.
In my experience, these steps ensure that the information from TV ad airings is accurately captured and reflected in the TV attribution software, allowing marketers to understand the impact and effectiveness of their TV advertising campaigns.
Key Benefits of Our TV Attribution Solution
Tech built for TV in one single platform
- AI powered media buying tools and best-in-class measurement
- Direct supply enables enormous efficiency gains in pricing
- Measures outcomes with modern metrics
- Buy Linear (both spot and upfront), + Streaming (Direct or programmatic)
Measurement Outcome-focused, digital-like, and uniform across all TV media
- Next-day reporting
- Immediate vs delayed
response - View-through vs incremental measurement
Performance Measurement
Measure beyond views or impressions and use closed-loop attribution to track outcome-based metrics such as CPV, CPI, and CAC; ultimately proving ROAS.
Example Screen Shots of TV Attribution Platforms we Recommend
Measure the true incremental impact of your TV campaigns
Incrementality is achieved by measuring campaigns in a way that separates net new visitors, buyers or installers, from users that would have taken an action – such as visiting a site, making a purchase, or downloading an app
Immediate vs. Delayed Response
The easy-to-customize dashboards display network, daypart, or creative performance, the true incremental lift from an ad campaign, and when people take action on their website or app after viewing an ad—whether it’s minutes after viewing or 30 days later.
Customizable Reports
Reporting tools allow you to perform deep campaign analysis to see precisely how creatives, networks, and streaming platforms performed in a given week. Easily build, customize, and export reports to answer campaign performance questions.
