The base of our optimization process is comparing Ad Platform data to Analytics and/or Attribution data, as the advertising platforms are both judge and jury when it comes to the data they give you.
We firmly believe that the data they provide should not be trusted blindy.
To analyze your digital marketing performances, whether it is at channel or ad level, you should always use Analytics and/or Attribution KPI in addition to the Ad Platforms ones.
For example, if you want to analyze the profitability of a Search campaign, create a performance report with the following metrics:
Ad Platforms clicks
Landed clicks
Ad Spend
Ad Platform conversions
Analytics conversions
Attributed conversions
Ad Platform CPA
Analytics CPA
Attributed CPA
A campaign that is measured as very profitable by the Ad Platform can in fact be measured as less profitable or even non-profitable by the Analytics or the Attribution platforms.
And the opposite is also true!
Send this report to your agency or your campaign manager in order for them to optimize the performances on reliable & transparent data. The platforms are pushing the campaigns or ads they perceive as the most profitable, but what if those campaigns are in fact not the most profitable ones?
One of the main reasons why Ad Platforms conversions are over estimated compared to the ones measured Analytics & Attribution Platforms: they don’t deduplicate the conversions!
Compare metrics from different sources not only for conversions & profitability, but also for traffic evaluation of your campaigns.
Use as metrics:
Ad Platforms clicks
Analytics sessions
Landed clicks
Useful click
Ad Platforms CPC
Cost per landed click
Cost per useful click
The difference between Ad Platforms CPC, cost per landed click & cost per useful can be significant. Ask yourself: do I really want to pay x€ to bring a user to my website? To pay x€ for a user to see a product page? And optimize accordingly!