November 24th, 2009
“Dear client, we are ecstatic to report that your recent banner campaign has delivered 501 conversions. What’s more due to budget cuts we only spent $0.10 on creative so the ROI is looking fantastic.
In response to this low creative budget we came up with the innovative approach of using a completely invisible banner ad for the campaign. Very creative if we do say so ourselves!
Now you may feel that an invisible banner would be slightly ineffective at building demand and driving conversions but we are happy to report that thanks to our cutting edge post view conversion tracking technology we were able to track 501 conversions from users who were exposed to this banner.”
Campaign Summary
- Campaign Impressions: 13,849,407
- Campaign Clicks: 0
- Campaign Conversions: 501
Ok, all a bit silly, but this campaign is real. TPN created an invisible banner (a 1×1 pixel) and ran this across a few popular websites on our network. We used “standard” post view (impression) conversion tracking to tag users with a cookie once they had loaded the invisible banner and then the system followed them though to the advertisers site where conversions were recorded using a TPN tracker pixel.
If this campaign was real (visible banner) we would have expected 1000 post click conversions, so 500 for not even displaying a banner is not bad 
Why would we do this?
Use of ”raw” post view conversion data is common place in the market and we wanted an easy way to illustrate the issues using such data. ”Raw” post view conversions is really a measure of a channels reach and not of its direct influence effect. For example if you exposed 100% of the internet population to a banner then all your conversions could be linked to the banner via raw post view tracking.
Just because something is an industry standard does not mean that it is correct, nuclear testing in the pacific was the “industry standard” but maybe it was not the greatest idea ever.
Now we are not saying that exposure to display ads does not indirectly benefit site traffic and conversions, but we would say that using raw post impression tracking is misleading and is often used irresponsibly just because it generates a big number and ROI.
How should you do it?
It is possible to use post view conversion tracking in a responsible way by working with a network like TPN who can exclude a “control group” who are still tagged with a view pixel but are blocked from seeing any ads from the campaign. The conversion rate of this “non-exposed” group can then be compared to the “exposed” group with the difference in conversion rates being the post view “uplift” of the campaign. This data allows the real post view conversion to be calculated.
There are still a number of other aspects that need to be taken into account if your mission is to estimate non-direct benefits of your campaign but at least you will be working with meaningful post view data rather than the “industry standard” BS.
“Real Post View” tracking is currently in beta so please contact us if you are interested in trialling with one of your TPN campaigns.
Posted in Case Studies, Opinion, Research | No Comments »
November 23rd, 2009
TPN is investing in a range of targeting technologies and user insights that allows it to put the right ad in front of the right user at the right time.
The Webjet vs Dan Brown example below illustrates the power of even the simplest targeting and the dramatic impact this can have on publishers earnings given TPNs commitment to the CPC (cost per click) model. As we can see if users in their 20’s and 30’s are shown the Webjet ad they are 7 times more likely to click on the ad than users over 50. To further validate this targeting model we can see that users over 50 are 3 times more likely to click on the Dan Brown ad than the Webjet ad.
So what does this mean for publishers?
Because TPN favours CPC campaigns the higher the CTR (click through rate) the higher the eCPM (earnings per thousand ad impressions) for the publisher. If a few simple assumptions are made then it can be demonstrated that the use of targeting on these two campaigns would increase the networks average eCPM payout by 60%. What’s more publishers with a tight set of demographics could increase earnings by a few hundred %.
Webjet vs Dan Brown - Targeted Placement
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November 22nd, 2009
General Display : Spend by Pricing Model
Does the recent IAB online advertising report start to clear the smoke and reveal what has really been happening to CPM display in Australia over the last few years?
Historical data is limited but if you look carefully at the latest IAB stats it can quickly be seen that non-CPM buys, eDMs and video have been masking the decline in traditional CPM display expenditure over the last few years.
Since 2006 “general display” has increased by $43m per quarter to $121m however non-CPM now represents 25% of general display and as performance display was limited back in 2006 it can be estimated that up to $30m of the $43m is due to the growth of non-CPM buys. If we also include the generally accepted significant growth in eDM and Video which represent $7.9m and $4.7m of the $121m then its possible that expenditure on traditional CPM banners has, at best grown, by a few % since 2006.
With the ongoing growth of performance buys, eDMs and Video ads the poor old traditional CPM banner is looking like becoming a rare beast. Applying some assumptions around the above numbers, traditional CPM banners only represent 17% of online advertising expenditure.
Email $7.9m
Video $4.7m
Posted in Industry News, Opinion | No Comments »
November 21st, 2009
To be truly effective in performance marketing it’s important to have a good grasp of three key metrics; eCPM, eCPC and eCPA. No matter how the media is purchased it can ultimately be analysed using any of these metrics:
eCPM: Effective Cost per Thousand Ad Impressions
eCPC: Effective Cost Per Click
eCPA: Effective Cost Per Acquisition (Action)
Most publishers use eCPM to measure the value of a performance display ad, and generally the campaigns with the highest eCPM will gain access to the most quality inventory. For non-priority rate campaigns TPN uses an eCPM auction to rank ads and only delivers impressions to the campaigns with the highest eCPM.
Most publishers use eCPC to measure the value of email ads and text links where impressions are not as measurable or relevant. eCPC is also a very popular metric in the affiliate marketing industry where the inventory tends to be 2nd or 3rd tier, and where the value of an impression is less than the premium display carried by ad networks like TPN.
Most experienced performance marketers use eCPA as the ultimate measure of campaign effectiveness, and this allows them to assess the value of each channel independent of the buy method. Although it should be noted that quality of placement and volume of transactions should also be taken into account for each channel.
To help you estimate your current or future campaign performance in terms of these three metrics we have created a spreadsheet that calculates eCPM, eCPC and eCPA estimates based on the parameters entered. It also estimates the number of impressions and clicks required and the likely number of conversions.
It should be noted that the spreadsheet also supports “hybrid” buys where more than one payment metric is used. For example (CPM + CPA)
Download: TPN eCPM eCPC eCPA Estimator v1
eCPM, eCPC & eCPA Estimator
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November 20th, 2009
History of Performance Marketing
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November 19th, 2009
Jon Ostler, the Founder of TPN, recently presented Everything old is new again (PDF) at the Search Engine Room conference in Sydney.
Jon Ostler Speaks at Search Engine Room 2009
This presentation reviewed the history of performance marketing from its origins in affiliate marketing dating back to 1994, and discussed the recent rise of mainstream performance marketing which has been accelerated over recent years by the success of Google’s Adwords and emerging ad networks like TPN.
It presented the premise that the rising dominance of performance media and the advances in technology are finally overturning the old world view that digital is “just another channel” and are set to turn the status quo of advertising and brand building on its head. Read More.
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November 18th, 2009
November the 18th saw the official launch of TPN Australia at the Search Engine Room conference in Sydney.
TPN is the number one performance display network in New Zealand, a position it has held since launching in 2006. TPN was subsequently sold to the Q Ltd digital group (ASX:QXQ) who are now investing in its targeting technology, product set and sales team.
Founder Jon Ostler says “the Q groups established relationships with Australian ad agencies, major advertisers and publishers provides TPN with a significant and solid foundation from which to grow”
Jonathan Despinidic (JD), TPN Australian Network Manager & TPN Founder Jon Ostler.
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November 17th, 2009
JD - Network Manager
TPN Australia is excited to announce the appointment of Jonathan Despinidic (JD) as it’s Network Manager.
JD will head up and manage all TPN activities including oversight of site recruitment, performance sales and campaign delivery.
With a background in Promotions and Marketing and his past position at Ninemsn’s Performance Media product, MSDR, JD is well placed to add value to both publishers, advertisers and ad agencies.
Jon Ostler, Founder of TPN, said “JD is a smart and high energy individual and we are lucky to have him heading up our Australian team as we look to aggressively grow TPN’s market share in Australia”
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November 13th, 2009
The Independent 12th Nov 2009
TPN received a mention in The Independent article as the pioneer of display performance advertising in New Zealand.
The article positions performance display along side other key forms of other online marketing including;
- Search Engine Optimisation
- Search Engine Marketing
- Premium CPM Display
Posted in In The Press | No Comments »
November 11th, 2009
Whether you know a little or a lot about performance marketing and advertising you will want to attend the year’s Search Engine Room Conference in Sydney and catch-up with all the industry players in one place. This year’s the focus is on “traffic” in all its forms and so it’s no surprise that Performance Marketing & Advertising are high up on the agenda.
Search Engine Room returns to Sydney on November 18 with a fresh theme - Traffic: Get It, Keep It, Use It. The fast-moving program is packed with top speakers addressing key issues, ideas, education in addition to practical traffic and customer generation strategies.
TPN’s founder Jon Ostler speaks about the evolution of performance marketing where “Everything Old Is New Again” This intro picks up on the theme of the click economy and tracks its history in a decade where everything old is new again! It also looks at the relationship between search and performance while discussing the benefits of just in time marketing.
A number of experts in performance marketing including Jon will take questions and debate this increasingly popular fast moving and dynamic form of online marketing.
Jon Ostler (Search Engine Room 2008)
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