This Attribution Case Study was presented at Ad-Tech SF in April 2012 by Steve Latham, ceo of Encore Media Metrics. Special thanks for Lipman Advertising for participating in this case study. Feel free to download and use as you wish. Just remember to "Attribute" credit where it's due :-)

1. Attribution Case Study:
Insights You Can Use
April 2012
Steve Latham
CEO Encore Media Metrics
@stevelatham

2. Background
• Agency: Lipman Advertising NYC
• Client: Hotel and Resort Operator
• Campaign objectives:
– Create awareness and consideration in a way
that is measureable and insightful
– Primary goals: hotel and lodging reservations.
• Channels
– Display (150 million impressions)
– Paid search
– 3rd party email

3. Assignment
• Produce insights that matter
– Useful
– Actionable
• Measure and Interpret KPIs
– Conversion paths
– Engagement cycles
– Impressions required to influence a conversion
– True performance of vendors, placements and
keywords (beyond last click)

4. Key Takeaways
• Display was more impact than previously thought
– Accounted for 26% of attributed conversions
– Exceeded paid search (26%) and natural search (15%)
– Influenced 30% of conversions via natural search,
referring and direct navigation
• Performance by media vendor and placement
varied significantly…
– Attributed CPAs ranging from $32 to $919
– Mean was $107 with standard deviation of $67).

5. Key Insight #1
• Conversion path analysis showed:
– Converters were engaged via numerous channels
– Among Converters who were exposed to ads:
• Average Converter saw 5.2 ads and visited 4.2 times
• 1/3 visited through paid or natural search
Display% Natural% Paid%
Path%Analysis IMPs Visits Direct%Nav Referring Display% Visits%
Clicks Search Search
All Visitors 5.2 4.2 1.1 0.4 0.8 0.5 1.4 55.2% 44.8%
Cluster 4 (45%) 1.5 2.8 0.8 0.0 0.1 0.0 1.8 35.2% 64.8%
Cluster 6 (21%) 4.7 3.8 0.2 0.6 0.8 1.5 0.6 55.2% 44.8%
Cluster 3 (15%) 6.1 4.0 1.5 0.2 1.8 0.3 0.2 60.3% 39.7%
Cluster 8 (13%) 3.9 4.8 0.0 1.2 2.0 0.1 1.3 45.1% 54.9%
Relative Contribution (all) 54.2% 45.8% 9.1% 6.1% 9.5% 7.6% 13.3%
Includes Converters who were exposed to ads, grouped in natural clusters via machine-learning algorithm.
Interpretation
There is a broad distribution of conversion paths so we need to look beyond the averages. In aggregate, display ads

6. Key Insight #2
• Optimal frequency was 5.7 impressions overall
– Ranged from 1.8 to 9.6 among vendors on the plan.
Impressions*Required*by*Vendor* 9.6$
10
Visit$ Conversion$ 9.0$
9
7.8$
8
7.0$ 7.0$
7 6.6$
6.2$
6 5.4$
4.7$
5 4.4$
4 3.5$
3.0$ 3.2$
3 2.4$ 2.4$
1.7$ 1.8$ 1.8$ 1.6$
2 1.3$ 1.3$
1.1$
1
0
8
1
9
7
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5
6
4
r
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N
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d
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A
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Pu
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7. Key Insight #3
• After attributing credit for assist impressions and
clicks…
– CPA for Display Ads fell by 60% overall
• Range: 20% to 85% among placements
– CPA for Paid Search fell by 15%
Ac#ons'By'Channel' Cost'Per'Ac#on'By'Channel'
1,600 1,520$ $350 $319.96$
Lst Click Last Click
1,400 $300
Attributable 1,201$ 1,210$ Attributable
1,200 1,086$ 1,013$
1,026$ $250
1,000
$200
800 733$
609$ $131.98$
$150
600 499$
435$
400 $100
200 $50 $22.38$ $18.89$
0 $0
Direct Nav Org Search Referrals Paid Search Display Paid Search Display

8. Key Insight #4
• Engagement cycles validate the need for a
sustainable, visible presence
– 48% converted >30 days after seeing the first ad
– 49% converted within 1 day of seeing the last ad.
– Average person visited 4.2 times before converting

9. Key Insight #5
• Performance of media vendors varied
considerably (based on Attributed CPA).
– Four clear winners had an average CPA of $46
– Four “on the bubble” with average CPA of $121
– Three laggards with an average CPA of $521
Actions/ Click/ Assist/ ICE/ ICE/ Actions/ CPA:/Last/ CPA:/
Vendor Impressions Spend Rating
(Last) Assists Imps. Ratio Assists (Attrib.) Click Attributed
Publisher/8 2,046,438 333 75 107 4.7 23 431 $13,971 $41.96 $32.43 Winner
Ad/Net/1 3,427,418 63 45 1,672 7.8 214 322 $13,710 $217.61 $42.53 Winner
Publisher/9 1,227,090 8 5 610 1.8 339 352 $15,792 $1973.95 $44.88 Winner
Publisher/5 1,002,757 20 5 939 4.4 213 238 $15,368 $768.39 $64.46 Winner
Publisher/7 307,472 5 0 91 1.8 51 56 $5,863 $1172.56 $105.53 Bubble
Publisher/2 433,527 14 7 140 9.0 16 37 $3,978 $284.16 $108.83 Bubble
Publisher/1 1,735,227 11 1 143 2.4 60 72 $9,059 $823.58 $126.56 Bubble
Publisher/3 1,191,854 18 5 198 3.5 57 80 $11,329 $629.41 $142.38 Bubble
Publisher/6 238,828 17 6 0 7.0 0 23 $6,207 $365.12 $269.87 Laggard
Ad/Net/2 7,786,210 13 8 344 9.6 36 57 $21,306 $1638.95 $374.89 Laggard
Publisher/4 227,348 2 0 11 1.6 7 9 $8,157 $4078.26 $919.04 Laggard
Totals 19,624,169 504 157 4,255 4.2 1,014 1,675 $124,740 $247.50 $74.45

10. So…What’s The Point?
By understanding…
– Conversion Paths and Engagement Cycles
– Optimal Frequency
– Impact of Channel, Vendor and Keyword
…the Agency can optimize performance
The economic opportunity is significant:
% of Proforma Proforma Proforma
Group Spend Revenue ROS Impact
Budget % Budget ROS Revenue
Winners $58,841 37% $1,343,423 $22.83 59% $22.83 $2,157,823 $814,401
Bubble $65,148 41% $267,262 $4.10 41% $4.51 $293,988 $26,726
Laggards $35,670 22% $88,708 $2.49 0% n/a $0 ($88,708)
Total $159,659 100% $1,699,393 $10.64 100% $15.36 $2,451,811 $752,418
Relative Improvement 44%
Incremental Revenue $752,418

11. What’s Next
• More granular analysis
– Format and creative
• Tracking offline converters
– Via post-purchase site visits
• Excluding non-viewable impressions
– Leveraging MediaMind visibility metrics
• Attribution for Brand Lift studies
– Via partnership with Vizu

12. Criteria for Choosing a Vendor
• Consultative approach
– Planning, implementation, production, analysis
• Transparent and programmatic approach
– Known algorithms are preferred (vs. proprietary)
• Insightful, actionable and intuitive reports
– Must be useful for media planners, analysts, clients
• Flexibility
– Able to accommodate specific needs
• Level of effort to deploy and manage
– The lower the better!

13. Questions?
Steve@EncoreMetrics.com
Encore Media Metrics
Steve Latham, CEO
@SteveLatham
646.919.1809
@EncoreMetrics
http://EncoreMetrics.com
http://Attribution101.com