E346:🎙️HOW TO PROVE WHICH DIGITAL MARKETING SPEND IS WORKING - EVEN INSIDE WALLED GARDENS
The Future of Attribution: Insights from Provalytics CEO Jeff Greenfield
Welcome to another enlightening episode of the eCommerce Edge podcast. In this discussion Jason Greenwood interviews Jeff Greenfield, CEO of Provalytics, an innovative attribution and marketing planning platform. Provalytics aims to transform the marketing landscape by providing tracking solutions that don't rely on cookies, IP tracking, or other invasive methods.
Introduction to Provalytics
Provalytics positions itself as a forward-thinking solution in a 'cookieless' world. They claim to track marketing performance across walled gardens without using tags. This is timely given the increasing focus on privacy regulations like GDPR in Europe and various state-level laws in the U.S. Jeff Greenfield shares that their platform functions well even in these restrictive environments by using aggregated data and advanced modeling techniques.
The Skepticism Surrounding Privacy Concerns
Jason Greenwood expresses skepticism about the true motivations behind major tech companies' privacy measures. He argues that these 'protections' often benefit the companies by further entrenching their walled gardens. Jeff agrees but acknowledges the reality that regulations are here to stay. This is where Provalytics steps in, offering a compliant way to measure marketing performance without relying on user-level data.
Rediscovering Marketing Mix Modeling
The conversation highlights how modern marketing can benefit from older methods like marketing mix modeling. Provalytics combines these traditional techniques with today's machine learning and AI. This allows brands to optimize campaigns at a granular level without the need for invasive tracking methods. Essentially, they bring past methods into the future, enabling more accurate forecasting and planning.
Balancing Immediate and Long-Term Goals
One of the key points Jeff Greenfield makes is the importance of understanding the long-term impact of advertising. Most marketers are tempted to focus solely on immediate conversions. However, effective marketing also involves building upper-funnel awareness. Provalytics helps brands understand the lagged effects of their marketing activities, ensuring that they don't just optimize for the short term but also invest in future growth.
Navigating the Complex Attribution Landscape
Jeff emphasizes the challenges of the current attribution landscape, where multiple platforms often claim credit for the same sale. This results in inflated metrics. Provalytics aims to solve this by providing a more accurate picture of what's driving sales, allowing marketers to allocate their budgets more effectively.
The Shift to Aggregated Data and the Future of IP Tracking
Both Jason and Jeff discuss the imminent end of third-party cookies and the probable regulation of IP tracking. Provalytics is already ahead of the curve, focusing on aggregated data to provide insights. This makes them resilient to future privacy regulations, which will likely further restrict invasive tracking methods.
Integrating with Modern CDPs
In the current marketing landscape, Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) play a crucial role in segmenting and understanding customer behavior. While CDPs offer granular insights into customer journeys, Provalytics complements this by providing high-level visibility into how different marketing initiatives contribute to overall success. It's about combining detailed, customer-level insights with big-picture, channel-level performance data.
Upcoming Features and Initiatives
Looking ahead, Provalytics is working on specialized features for Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands and expanding their platform's capabilities with Databricks integration. This aims to improve data processing speed and scale, making it even easier for brands to gain actionable insights from their marketing data.
How Provalytics Charges for Value
Provalytics operates on a month-to-month subscription model, aligning with many agencies' contract structures. They believe in proving their worth every month. For brands, investing about 9-10% of their marketing budget in understanding and optimizing their spend can yield significant returns, often increasing sales by 25-50%.
Free Attribution Certification
To help marketers navigate the complexities of modern attribution, Provalytics offers a free Attribution Certification course. Available at attributioncertified.com, the course provides a foundational understanding of the industry's history and current trends. It’s a great resource for anyone looking to deepen their knowledge of marketing attribution.
Conclusion
As the marketing world continues to evolve, so must our tools and strategies. Provalytics offers a glimpse into the future of marketing attribution, combining traditional methods with modern technology to provide comprehensive, compliant solutions. For those looking to stay ahead in this changing landscape, Provalytics might just be the partner you need.
For more information, visit Provalytics [https://provalytics.com] or reach out to Jeff Greenfield on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com].
(Note: This blog post was crafted based on an insightful conversation on the eCommerce Edge Podcast. For more episodes, visit Greenwoodwood Consulting.
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