Mobile Marketing Association Study with Allstate Insurance Company Reveals Importance of Attribution and Cross Channel Metrics | MMA Global

Mobile Marketing Association Study with Allstate Insurance Company Reveals Importance of Attribution and Cross Channel Metrics

April 5, 2017
Cross Marketing Effectiveness (SMoX) research proves fine-tuned targeting strategy a success.

NEW YORK (April 5, 2017) --- The optimal combination of formats and targeting can create significant shifts in sales and consideration, according to the most recent SMoX attribution study done for Allstate Insurance by The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). The study also proved the clickthrough rate (CTR), a widely-use measurement of impact, has no direct correlation to conversions.

“The insights we learned will have immense value over time as our marketing efforts evolve,” says Allstate’s Chief Marketing Officer Sanjay Gupta. “This confirms our belief that in this fast changing world, what’s seen as tried and true in the past may not always be the best method for the future.”

The new research suggests brands should leverage some form of unified, real-time data measurement practices, and apply them across all their channels and down to individual users, in order to accurately attribute performance and optimize campaigns on the fly.

Leveraging such an approach, the study revealed a number of specific opportunities that drastically improve the performance of mobile:

  • The right format for the right goal: Mobile video and mobile audio were more efficient than the campaign average of all media in driving brand consideration, performing at 85 percent and 32 percent, respectively. On the other hand, mobile banners that successfully targeted consumers who were in the market for insurance were 12 percent more efficient as compared to the campaign average (across all media) in terms of driving sales.
  • Targeting changed the game: The best targeting performer was behavioral targeting which far outperformed untargeted banners, scoring 272 out of an index of 100 when it came to incremental sales per dollar spent. Re-targeting was also very efficient-- performing more than two times better as compared to when it was not applied.
  • Location drives sales at scale: Banners that employed location targeting improved the efficiency of sales per dollar spent compared to untargeted banners by a factor of nearly two. The study also validated the importance of physical location patterns of consumers as predictive in terms of defining an audience that is in the market for insurance.
  • Shorter is better for audio and video: Video’s efficiency was hugely dependent not just on its placement in the sales funnel but also on length. A 15-second video was twice as effective in delivering on consideration as a 30-second version and audio was 18 percent better when it was a shorter length, as well.

“It is critical for marketers to understand the potentially huge swings in ROI that both format and targeting opportunities unique to mobile can have,” says MMA’s Chief Executive Officer Greg Stuart. “Metrics need to be integrated cross-channel to accurately attribute business outcomes. The impact this level of marketing maturity can have to drive topline business growth as well as greater personalization of the consumer experience is unprecedented.”

To date, MMA has conducted 10 SMoX attribution studies providing marketers with an idea of what an optimized marketing mix should look like for brands.

About SMoX

SMoX is a global research initiative conducted by the MMA, which has included studies with Allstate, AT&T, Coca-Cola, MasterCard, Walmart and Unilever. SMoX applies research techniques from person-centric marketing analytics firm Marketing Evolution to provide a granular read of mobile and other media. For more on SMoX, click here. SMoX methodology has been independently reviewed by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF).  The MMA thanks the following companies that support SMoX: Jun Group, PlaceIQ, The Weather Company, xAd, ESPN, Foursquare, Pandora, Turner, Ubimo and Verve.

About the MMA

The MMA is the world’s leading global non-profit trade mobile marketing association comprised of more than 800 member companies, from nearly fifty countries. Its members hail from every faction of the mobile marketing ecosystem -- including brand marketers, agencies, mobile technology platforms, media companies, operators and others. The MMA’s mission is to accelerate the transformation and innovation of marketing through mobile, driving business growth with closer and stronger consumer engagement. Anchoring the MMA’s mission are four core pillars; to cultivate inspiration by driving innovation for the Chief Marketing Officer; to build the mobile marketing capabilities for the marketing organizations through fostering know-how and confidence; to champion the effectiveness and impact of mobile through research providing tangible ROI measurement; and advocacy. MMA industry-wide committees work collaboratively to develop and advocate global best practices and lead standards development.

Mobile Marketing is broadly defined as including advertising, apps, messaging, mCommerce and CRM on all mobile devices including smartphones and tablets. Members include:  Allstate, American Express, Bank Of America, Campbell’s, Chobani, Choice Hotels, Citi, Colgate-Palmolive, DataXu, Dunkin’ Brands, E*TRADE, Electronic Arts, ESPN, Facebook, Ford, Foursquare, Goodyear, Google, Hilton, iHeartMedia, InMobi, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg, Krux, Marriott, MasterCard, McDonald’s, Nestle, Pandora, Pepsi, Pernod Ricard, Pfizer, Pinterest, PlaceIQ, Procter & Gamble, R/GA, RadiumOne, Razorfish, Salesforce, Samsung, SAP, Snap, Spotify, Target Brands, The Coca-Cola Company, The Rubicon Project, The Weather Company, T-Mobile, TUNE, Uber, Ubimo, Unilever, Verve, VEVO, Vibes, Walmart, Wendy’s, xAd , Zurich and many more. The MMA’s global headquarters are located in New York with regional operations Asia Pacific (APAC), Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and Latin America (LATAM). For more information about the MMA please visit http://www.mmaglobal.com.

About Allstate

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer, protecting approximately 16 million households from life’s uncertainties through auto, home, life and other insurance offered through its Allstate, Esurance, Encompass and Answer Financial brand names. Other growth platforms include predictive analytics company Arity and consumer-product protection plan company SquareTrade. Allstate is widely known through the slogan “You’re In Good Hands With Allstate®.” Allstate agencies are in virtually every local community in America. In 2016, The Allstate Foundation, Allstate, its employees and agency owners gave $42 million to support local communities.