NinthDecimal’s new Visit Metrics turn O2O data into ‘always-on’ optimization tool

Yesterday, NinthDecimal introduced new O2O (online to offline) measurement capabilities to provide greater flexibility and visibility on customer response during campaigns directed at offline store visits. The introduction of new “Visit Metrics,” according to the company, will enable marketers to better optimize campaigns in real time against smaller data sets and make analytics a more actionable tool.

NinthDecimal President David Staas says that these changes came in response to customer demand for earlier, more actionable data. Previously, the company’s Attribution Metrics offered data on incremental customer visitation lift. However, those data sets took longer to compile and required larger volume for high-confidence scores. Often the data were available post-campaign.

Visit Metrics populate more quickly in the company’s dashboard and can be run against smaller and different cuts of data (e.g., specific audience segments). Here’s how the company describes the new KPI:

Visit Metrics  . . . provides marketers with faster access to data for near real-time campaign decision making. The release also includes a 90 percent decrease in campaign impression requirements. The reduction allows NinthDecimal to offer all of its measurement capabilities to small and midsize campaigns, while still being able to support multibillion-impression campaigns. Marketers will also be able to continue using LCI to measure the business impact of their marketing spend by publisher, by audience targeted and by creative in order to more fully understand the effect of their marketing on customer growth.

As indicated, NinthDecimal has relaxed data thresholds and criteria for Visit Metrics. This enables performance data to be delivered faster and gives marketers more levers to test and adjust campaigns in mid-flight. “It makes measurement an always-on signal,” says Staas. “We can offer more insight into growth drivers and more quickly activate them by channel, creative, publisher, audience.”

NinthDecimal measures digital to store visits. But it also can measure TV, direct mail and out-of-home and their impact on offline visitation.

The two sets of KPIs effectively measure different things. The new Visit Metrics shows overall visits; Attribution Metrics reflect new customer visits. Visit Metrics will generally indicate existing customers, while Attribution Metrics reflect incremental customer growth. Marketers might discover high Visit Metrics for one segment but low Attribution Metrics for another (e.g., men vs. women) and could adapt channels or creative accordingly.

Staas also said that while Visit Metrics populate more quickly, Attribution scores will come online as well, and the two can be compared. Marketers can then ask, “Is optimization correlated with visits overall or is it driving new incremental visits?” he explained. “It gives them more flexibility and [the ability to] use [offline] measurement in different ways.”

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Greg Sterling

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.