• by Tobi Elkin , Staff Writer @tobielkin, December 28, 2016

Kate O'Loughlin, SVP media business at Tapad, a provider of cross-device analytics and content delivery, made the bold prediction that 2017 will be the year TV gets included in cross-device analysis.

Unification of TV and Digital:
O’Loughlin told RTBlog that while 2011 to 2016 was about unifying devices within the digital landscape, 2017 will take advantage of this framework to include television in cross-device analysis as marketers examine the relationship between viewability and corresponding purchases. “Marketers can run more efficient campaigns and budgets when their sense of what a single consumer has experienced across multiple screens is clarified,” she said.

For example, if you’re a global travel company that wants to bridge the gap between TV and digital, in the absence of an all-encompassing device graph focused on consumer identity, it can be challenging to rethink traditional TV metrics.

O’Loughlin thinks brand marketers and their agencies will be able to ask and answer smarter questions in 2017, like:

--What percentage of my audience exposed to messaging on TV ultimately booked a trip on their mobile phone, tablet, or desktop computer?

--Across my entire TV campaign, which network drove not only the best delivery, but also the highest action rate?

--How many days did it take for prospects to convert after a cross-device ad exposure?

She said it’s specificity and focus around these questions that will help move  the needle for marketers.

Measurement will evolve for cross-device:
O’Loughlin asked two key questions: “How do you ensure consumer identity in an audience constantly on the move? More than that, how do you measure the impact of your cross-device marketing efforts on that same audience?”

She argued that actionable brand engagement metrics that parse the complexities of consumer behavior will continue to overtake traditional advertising performance metrics like click-through rates. “This is because marketers relying on only reach and frequency can miss up to a 60% increase in conversion rates that can only be accessed by adding more comprehensive metrics, like viewable exposure time (VET), to their measurement arsenal. As a result, brands have the potential to see a dramatic increase in performance through evolved metrics like VET.”

Programmatic TV will come to life:
Many prognosticators have argued that next year will be the year of programmatic TV. But will it? O’Loughlin maintained that “advertisers are benefiting from the one-stop shopping, real-time aspect of programmatic buying." She said media buys will become more unified as programmatic cross-device platforms integrate TV further into the marketing mix.

For example, a consumer electronics brand looking to capitalize on the NFL’s reach on Sunday afternoons could use a programmatic TV campaign to re-engage consumers who’ve potentially displayed intent online, or suppress those consumers to reach an unexposed audience. “In 2017, we expect to see even more programmatic TV inventory available for marketers to plan, activate, attribute, and optimize against.”