Factual releases ‘Measurement Intelligence’ for offline conversions and emerging channels

The company says it has deeper insights and works across channels, including CTV/OTT.

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Factual has released an enhanced version of its real-world analytics offering called “Measurement Intelligence.” The product is designed to help brands and agencies understand the ROI of campaigns using real-world store/site visitation data. It offers a self-service dashboard and detailed reporting.

Enhancements vs. 2018 measurement. In 2018,Factual introduced a measurement product but that was generally limited and provided through its third party programmatic partners. At a high level, Factual CMO Brian Czarny said Measurement Intelligence offers a range of new capabilities and features:

  • More media outlets
  • Access to Factual control groups
  • Deeper customer insights
  • Availability across emerging channels

Other location intelligence companies also offer real-world store visitation data and analytics through a dashboard. However, Factual argues that its data and tools are differentiated in that they offer more scale and accuracy. The company also said it stays neutral by providing measurement without selling media – thus “not grading its own homework.”

Factual Measurement Intelligence dashboard screens

Screen Shot 2019 04 18 At 12.20.27 PM

Control and exposed precision. Factual explains that it can also do a better job measuring actual visitation lift because it offers a very precise match between control groups and those exposed to the campaign, “using hundreds of attributes.” If the control group is not well matched to the exposed group, campaign results may suggest the campaign is more effective than it actually is.

To use an exaggerated example, if the advertiser’s target is women over 50 then a control group that includes males under 34 will distort results — males under 34 will likely not respond to the campaign. The exposed group will see a big lift compared to the control group in that scenario. Accordingly, the more closely matched the control and exposed groups are, the more accurate the ROI measurement (visitation lift).

More insights, more channels. Factual says Measurement Intelligence also provides customer insights that brands typically cannot obtain from programmatic platforms. It adds that Measurement Intelligence offers consistent attribution methodology across across platforms and channels, including online and mobile display, digital OOH and CTV/OTT.

In its blog post and press materials, Factual cites additional benefits offered by Measurement Intelligence:

  • Mid-flight campaign optimization
  • Deterministic measurement: All visits measured are actual, real-world visits observed by Factual’s Observation Graph
  • Cross-screen understanding: Expand beyond mobile using Factual’s measurement pixel, which leverages The Trade Desk’s unified ID, as well as cross-device capabilities from Tapad and Drawbridge
  • Dashboard offers a complete picture of converted customers, uncovering insights to help drive new targeting strategies for acquisition

Why we should care. Offline attribution should be standard for all companies that sell products or services in the physical world – which is most companies. And those brands or marketers not using real-world visitation and offline behavior data as inputs into audience segmentation are missing a major opportunity. Real world behavior is a better intent signal than most online signals. This holds true for companies doing pure ecommerce as well; they can still identify target audiences through offline behavior and push it to online channels through device matching.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

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