What are the most common media analysis pitfalls when planning a campaign?

One common pitfall is not knowing what data you need to collect in order to accurately measure and analyze your media campaign. Identifying Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in relation to your business objectives, will ensure that the data collected will be useful to you.

Additionally for programmatic advertising using third party verification tools like Moat or IAS etc can add an additional layer of trust. For traditional media like TV or Radio a trusted 3rd party should be used to collect the data (eg Nielsen or Ipsos etc).

Quality over quantity is the key in media analysis. It's easy to get overwhelmed by data these days, but having a clear research focus and well-defined objectives is crucial. Don't collect data just for the sake of it; ensure that the data you gather directly addresses your research questions. This targeted approach not only saves resources but also leads to more meaningful insights. So, always start with a clear plan, choose the right tools, and analyze data purposefully to make your media analysis truly effective.

Quality is more important than anything to drive media effectiveness. Many media channels report metrics which are sometimes misleading and low quality but on the surface look really good. Understanding how each channel defines their metrics is key to do right analysis. - an impression of a banner ad has very different effectiveness than an impression on YouTube than an impression on CTV/LTV - a video view on meta is only a 3 sec view while on YouTube it’s 30 sec view. - clicks reported on meta have a lot of useless clicks on pictures etc (meta notoriously reports a lot of useless metrics) - if measuring impressions, look at % of viewable impressions (rest are wastage)

Not understanding your target audience. Before you start analyzing media data, you need to have a deep understanding of your target audience. This includes their demographics, interests, and media consumption habits.

Maintaining objectivity in media analysis is a constant challenge. Our biases can sneak in without us even realizing it. Recognizing this is the first step to mitigating its impact. Seeking input from diverse perspectives is invaluable, as it helps uncover blind spots. Visualizing data effectively and telling a clear story can also help ensure that your analysis is transparent and can withstand scrutiny. Remember, the goal is to provide accurate and unbiased insights, so staying mindful of your biases and actively working to minimize them is essential for credible media analysis.

If you work in advertising or media you’ll definitely hear a lot of: “let’s advertise on xyz because everyone in the office watches it.” “Let’s advertise on xyz because it creates impact.” “Let’s advertise on xyz because we think GenZ or alpha consume it.” “Let’s put a billboard there because the big boss is going to visit the market.” “Let’s advertise on digital because we want to be an advanced/tech savvy/modern brand.” “Let’s advertise on xyz because we are a digital first brand. “ I can go on and on. One of the most important learning in marketing is that you are not the consumer. Once you separate yourself then be curious about your consumer. Be where the consumer is and let data prove it not someone’s opinion.

Not linking media analysis to campaign objectives and actions undermines the effectiveness of the marketing strategy and diminishes the campaign's potential for success. There are several pitfalls such as a lack of direction of the campaign, misinterpretation of the data, ineffective decision making, wasted resources, difficulty in evaluating success or failure of the campaign and missed opportunities. To avoid these pitfalls, it is essential to establish clear objectives upfront and ensure that media analysis is aligned with these objectives throughout the campaign lifecycle.

Falling into the ROAS trap is very easy. If an ad is giving high ROAS check whether it is bringing incremental sales & if yes at what scale. Look at other metrics like Impression share, CTR, CVR as well. For awareness or brand building opportunity to see (OTS), attention, viewability and effective reach should be looked into when comparing channel performance. Look at where your ad is shown. Observe the consumption pattern of that content. For eg if your ad is getting placed in musical content then attention will be low on visual than audio. One of our ads was getting a lot of impressions on unknown gender & age on YouTube. Turned out it was getting placed on kids content. Going deep can reveal a lot about where your money is going.