• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, August 22, 2016

Techniques that measure the effect of programmatic ads on offline purchases have become notably more accurate. According to an Accordant Media study, the Programmatic Buyer’s Spotlight, contained in its Q2 Programmatic Media Pulse Report, brand stores and other brick-and-mortar locations can greatly benefit from optimizing digital ads to drive offline purchases.

The study shows a significant lift up and down the marketing funnel for those who were exposed to a programmatic ad.

Overall, there was a 55% lift in offline sales when serving programmatic ads over a control group not served the ad, with 35% incremental conversions, meaning that over one third of conversions would not have occurred without the programmatic campaign.

Interestingly, the report “found that the actual responsiveness of the audience follows the funnel,” which was shown by increasing conversion rates further “down the funnel.”

When targeting consumers at the awareness phase with strategies such as prospecting, the study found a 25% lift in sales and 20% in incremental sales when compared to the control group.

The consideration phase saw 78% lift and 44% incremental sales over the control group. Strategies here included serving ads on private marketplaces.

Once consumers reached the transaction phase, with tactics including retargeting, lift and incremental sales were on par with what Accordant saw at the consideration phase, 79% and 44%, respectively.

“Better online media attribution for offline sales has been one of the key objectives in our industry,” stated Matthew Greitzer, COO and co-founder of Accordant Media. “Our Spotlight feature highlights the major benefit that digital media has in generating increased sales.”