Purple Haze in Retargeting Attribution
Comparing Website Traffic Sources from 4 Companies
Purple Haze isn’t just a classic rock song by Jimi Hendrix. No, I’m not talking about Mary Jane either. Ok, after jamming to Hendrix for a minute keep reading.
Seriously though, I have seen several companies get into a Purple Haze of sorts with their retargeting ad attribution and I have been into it myself. There are many options out there to push your ads in front of potential customers by displaying them on websites they visit. This starts after your website drops a cookie on their device when they first visit. Now I’m getting the munchies. :o)
<—Retargeting Platforms
As a marketer you obviously hope they will decide to come back and make a purchase. The question here is how are you measuring this or better yet, do you know how your retargeting partner is measuring this? Because this is where you get into the Purple Haze.
Digital attribution can be a tricky endeavor and it gets a little bit more hazy with retargeting. Basically, there are a couple of key metrics in a typical attribution window for ad retargeting. You have clicks and views. If a user clicks, obviously they have shown some intent to potentially make a purchase. However if they only “view” the ad (meaning it was shown on a page they visited) then their likelihood to purchase gets into Purple Haze territory.
This is where you need to be smart and make sure you understand how your retargeting campaigns are being measured and establish an attribution model that best suits the business or industry. As I have started working as a digital marketing consultant full time, I have audited a handful of retargeting campaigns and have discovered retargeting companies taking credit for 100% of “view” sales up to 30 days after an ad was displayed to a user.
Industry standard is 1-3 days for view sales and 30 days for click sales. Meaning an ad was displayed on a page that a potential customer visited. Now the potential customer (as often happens) probably didn’t even notice the ad, or even worse, it was below the page fold, and they didn’t see it at all. Let’s say this customer makes a purchase 29 days later. In this scenario, with a 30-day view attribution window, the retargeting company takes full credit for the sale. Are you starting to see the Purple Haze?
It is SO important to understand how these metrics are being measured in determining the true ROI of your retargeting display ads. This can make a world of difference in the profitability of your ads.
Have you been in this Purple Haze before and how have you solved it in your situation?
