Marketers have long been told to get up to speed on cross-​channel media buying. At least 75% of marketers are trying to use this approach. Another 22% of businesses want to begin cross-​channel use in the next year. In the new Making Audiences Actionable report out from Advertiser Perceptions, cross-​channel was defined as integrated media buys designed to connect with a consumer across more than one format. The report outlines the challenges faced by cross-​media buying marketers, along with their audience-​based buying. It also proposes a few solutions.

Audience-​based buying

Audience-​based buying plays a key role in most marketers’ cross-​channel strategy. Report analysts note that audience-​based buying is “an update to behavioral targeting when advertisers used to rely on individual media publishers to manage audience segments for their channel.” With cross-​platform audience intelligence, your clients get a better picture of which media formats to purchase. About 56% of marketers already use audience-​based buying to some extent. If your clients need more information on which audiences use specific forms of media, check out the profiles on AudienceSCAN at AdMall from SalesFuel.

For example, sports betting is exploding in 2021 as more states legalize this form of entertainment. AM/​FM radio listeners are most likely to place bets on their favorite teams. These consumers are also using other media formats, but the sports betting platform operators, according to reported research, are spending the majority of their ad budgets on TV. With the right data, you can help marketers adjust their spending and improve their ROI.

Cross-​channel targeting

The complexity of measuring across channels is an issue for 49% of marketers. And, 51% of marketers find it irritating to have to work with different teams to buy media, for example TV and digital.

Despite these issues, about 58% of advertisers believe that cross-​channel strategies are helping them to achieve the numbers they want, especially when they compare the results to what they get from a single format media buy. Another 40% say they get about the same results whether they use cross-​channel or single channel media. The following numbers show how marketers are investing in cross-​channel marketing. Numbers in parentheses show how much more businesses would invest in a specific format if they could iron out the problems they’re having.

• TV 62% (65%)
• Digital video 61% (63%)
• Digital search 54% (61%)
• Digital display 60% (60%)
• Social media advertising 51% (59%)
• Advanced TV 52% (56%)
• Digital audio/​radio 33% (44%)
• Radio: traditional AM/​FM 27% (34%)
• Outdoor 29% (34%)
• Print 29% (34%)

Sales Rep Opportunity

Marketers tells researchers they want partners that can combine audience intelligence between platforms (48%), manage ad frequency and reduce duplication between channels (46%) and offer safe and secure ad space inventory (43%.) Be prepared to address these issues when you’re talking to clients about cross-​channel strategy and audience-​based buying.