Microsoft in its Atlas blog has outlined how Atlas Analytics provides insight into Facebook display advertising. As Atlas describes, accurate measures help marketers keep informed on the synergy of Facebook advertising, and gain a better understanding of its reach and overlap, which in turn helps those marketers reallocate their budgets to where advertising works best. First, the Search and Display Synergy Analysis report examines cookies that were converted through search only and compares these to cookies exposed to both search and display, the actual lift engendered by each display publisher can be quantified, building a case for the potential reallocation of media dollars.
The Search and Display Synergy Analysis operates on the idea that paid search is a supreme bottom-funnel conversion driver, the success of which may be assisted by display. Facebook itself can be viewed as such a publisher, which stacks up against display counterparts in the measurement of influence on search. If analytics reveal that Facebook lends a higher level of contribution, then that justifies continued investment.
The Atlas Campaign Builder tool focuses on identification of overlap and exclusivity across media buys. The tool is used to provide a definitive answer into how many cookies show overlap between a Facebook campaign and other Atlas-tracked media buys (that is, is the same message reaching the same user across multiple networks?). If duplication between Facebook and traditional display large enough, or if the average frequency on Facebook crosses the point of diminishing returns (oversaturating the cookied user with the same message), then the advertiser can scale back on Facebook.
Campaign Builder aligns with Atlas’s Engagement Mapping vision in identifying publishers who may be driving engagement but not receiving credit for it—especially important as marketers increasingly focus upon the entire conversion paths and more closely scrutinize touch points. Some marketers value first and last click as the key conversion drivers with in-between "assists" deemed less influential. Regardless, the Atlas Click Purchase Path Analysis helps them gain insights into where Facebook ads fall on the conversion path (as an introducer, influencer, or closer), creating a virtual representation of the digital conversion funnel (see graphic).
Finally, the eMap Factors report augments the Purchase Path Analysis, revealing how Facebook wins or loses attribution across each variable in Engagement Mapping in accordance with the advertiser’s chosen model.
