• by Christine Oliveri , December 10, 2013

Consumer media consumption is on the rise, and the way people access media is evolving quickly and in complex ways. One example is the second-screen phenomenon, where people simultaneously use TVs, tablets and smartphones. There are more media sources than ever, with consumers downloading and streaming content from a wide range of platforms. The evolving media landscape poses challenges and opportunities for marketers.

Modern, cross-channel media consumption can generate incredibly valuable data, offering marketers a huge opportunity. Marketers must consolidate information from multiple sources and customer touchpoints -- Web, print, retail, social, and mobile -- in order to achieve a complete picture and gain the insights needed to drive higher revenue. That's why an accountable media approach is a crucial element of a sound marketing strategy.

In an era of tight budgets, where every dollar of marketing spend counts, you need to be able to demonstrate that you are getting value from your media activities. If sales are increasing, that's terrific, but can you identify exactly what's driving customer purchases? Are you receiving actionable insights when you analyze data across multiple touchpoints and channels?

With an accountable media approach, you can bring data from a variety of sources together on a single platform to gain a comprehensive overview of marketing program performance across all channels and touchpoints. Then you can identify actionable insights and accurately pinpoint customer drivers.

Another accountable media advantage is that it helps you make sure you, your media buyers and partners are all on the same page. With a platform that provides a big-picture view of marketing program performance while allowing users to drill down and see what channels and touchpoints are driving sales at the granular level, you, your media-buying team and partners can make sound business decisions.

Once you have a clear picture of media performance, you can decide where best to spend your marketing budget, which customers you can most profitably target and what channels deliver the best results. Armed with this knowledge, you may decide to reallocate funds, placing additional dollars in channels that are generating the greatest ROI.

The proliferation of devices, channels, touchpoints and media sources isn't going away -- the trend is toward greater diversification, not less. And unless you have a way to bring disparate data sources together, analyze results and pinpoint drivers, you're flying blind -- and you may be wasting scarce marketing dollars.

Accountable media is the key to a smart marketing strategy: When you have a solution in place that allows you to accurately assess the value that various channels deliver, you can sharpen your focus on the media that drives the best results, adjusting your strategy in real time as the media landscape evolves.