Driving Accurate Reach and Frequency with Viant Audiences

Two problems that have long plagued advertisers still reliant on third-party cookies are frequency and reach. Not only do inaccurate reach and frequency deliver a poor consumer ad experience — just picture that irrelevant ad following you around on each device. They also result in ad waste. And with marketing departments increasingly focused on return on ad spend, wasteful spending is a paramount concern.

Thankfully, Viant’s people-based advertising technology is available to help marketers evolve beyond the cookie and avoid ad waste. 

We sat down with Director of Platform Solutions Ryan Kowal to discuss Viant Audiences and how these cookie-free audience segments improve advertisers’ reach and frequency across consumer devices. 

Q: Ryan, before we dive in, can you share what Viant Audiences are and how users of the Viant DSP can add them to their campaigns?

Viant Audiences offers thousands of people-based audience segments based on best-in class methodologies and built with the cookieless, open web in mind. No matter the advertiser or campaign KPIs, Viant Audiences are built in a privacy-conscious manner to drive performance. These segments are available to activate today in the Targeting menu within the Viant DSP, along with custom audience support — available by reaching out to your Viant Programmatic Account Strategist.    

Q: Why is a solution like Viant Audiences necessary in the cookieless era of digital advertising?

It really comes down to the cross-device-enabled audience targeting capabilities (namely CTV) and the ability to manage reach and frequency across devices. Viant has been equipped and ready for the cookieless world of digital advertising for over a decade with the Viant Household ID (VHHID). Viant Audiences utilize bid stream signals and premium third-party daily data feeds from vendors partners like IRIS.tv, SafeGraph, Veraset and Tivo. We map these partner data points and identifiers to the VHHID, which enables cookieless activation across all devices and channels.

Q:  Can you share the categories that make up Viant Audiences?

Seasonal Categories: Seasonal contextual segments (based on browsing behavior linked to top websites and keywords) are tied to the Viant Household ID for targeting related to holidays and tentpole events throughout the year.

Contextual Categories: Contextual-based signals (text, language, keywords, page structure, quality from the bid stream and more) are matched with the Viant Household ID to provide targeting opportunities based on browsing history.

Contextual CTV Categories: Video-level data collected over time from IRIS.TV and enriched with the Viant Household ID.

Location Categories: Location and visitation data from SafeGraph and Veraset are linked with the Viant Household ID to create targeting opportunities based on the point of interest.

Machine Learning Predictive Segments: Custom machine learning predictive segments are built for a brand from their first-party key performance indicators (KPIs), such as online or offline conversions, foot traffic, in-store CPG purchases and more.

TV Viewership Categories: Household linear TV viewership data from Tivo’s set-top boxes includes first-party, digital, purchase and location-based consumer data enriched with the Viant Household ID.

Q: Can you discuss how Viant’s machine-learning (ML) predictive segments further help optimize the performance of Viant Audiences for advertisers?

Viant’s ML predictive segments take retargeting to a whole new level. Based on a Viant Machine Learning Simulation, brands can reach, on average, 10x more prospective customers than with basic retargeting. ML predictive segments are custom-built from brands’ first-party KPIs, such as online or offline conversions, foot traffic, in-store CPG purchases and more. Our typical recommendation is to launch a campaign targeting a Viant Audience segment and, once conversions begin, layer on an ML predictive segment as an OR statement. This will increase scalability to valuable new prospective customers with the highest conversion probability.        

Q: Finally, some big sporting events are coming up — March Madness, the Stanley Cup playoffs and, of course, the Summer Olympics. Can you share how an advertiser could use Viant Audiences to reach target audiences during these events?

Absolutely! Seasonal Categories within Viant Audiences are segments refreshed throughout the year with relevant upcoming holidays and tentpole events, like sports. Off-the-shelf audiences are available to target people who have shown affinities to specific sporting events like March Madness, the Stanley Cup and the Olympics.