Measuring Cross-Platform ROI: Advanced Analytics for Modern Media Strategies

People aren’t glued to one screen, device or platform, so why should businesses be? They must engage users across multiple channels without getting caught up in unnecessary details. A unified view of consumer behavior will help them generate leads more consistently and tailor their marketing messages to hyper-specific segments.

Measuring cross-platform return on investment (ROI) with omnichannel analytics is vital for any modern media strategy. Leaders must make every marketing dollar count. However, accurately evaluating their return is challenging without the proper approach. Which advanced analytics strategies work best?

The Value of Measuring Cross-Platform ROI

When people divide their attention between multiple channels, companies must compete for their fair share. Omnichannel marketing can be tricky to master, but it pays off when it works well. Implementing an omnichannel strategy can help companies retain 90% more customers than their single-channel counterparts.

But which channels should they prioritize? Where should their ad spend go? To answer these questions, they must first effectively evaluate the ROI of their media campaigns across various digital platforms. Doing so is complicated, which is why advanced analytics are essential.

Advanced Analytics for Assessing User Information

Professionals may assume running ads on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Hulu would be profitable because the number of active streaming subscriptions totals almost 1.8 billion globally. However, this isn’t always the case since viewers are often prepared to shift their attention.

While modern audiences still gather around living room televisions, they are often plugged in elsewhere. People scroll on social media or send texts while streaming a show or movie. When an advertisement comes on, many stop paying attention. The trick is to anticipate and address this behavior with cross-platform analytics.

If organizations can find out what channel consumers are watching and what triggers attention shifts, they can capture their attention. Cross-platform analytics involves systematically collecting and analyzing marketing performance information across platforms, moving beyond channel-specific metrics to achieve an all-encompassing view.

Tools, Technologies and Techniques to Utilize

Decision-makers should prioritize high-quality datasets — advanced analytics tools are only as good as the information they analyze. A virtual clean room will help them adhere to privacy and data security regulations while sharing first-party data with departments, vendors and partners.

If they’re unsure which details to collect, they should consider utilizing artificial intelligence. A single model can pick relevant trends from vast swaths of information with pinpoint accuracy.

A good algorithm knows what the people want. Netflix claims its algorithm’s recommendations are responsible for 80% of the shows people watch on its platform. Companies can use theirs to streamline analysis, recommend strategies or forecast campaign outcomes. Integrating it with a cloud-based dashboard can lead to centralized, up-to-the-minute insights.

Businesses won’t always be able to gather data on logged-in, authenticated users. Even when they can, many share accounts with friends and family. Cutting through the noise is time-consuming and complex, but not impossible.

First- and last-touch attribution models don’t consider the customer journey, which means they may miss out on valuable insights. With a linear multitouch version, they can see each touch point’s role in generating a lead. This is crucial for omnichannel campaigns. It gives all interactions the same credit, helping companies set big-picture goals.

Strategies for Optimizing Across Touch Points

Even with these tools, accurately attributing value to various touch points along the customer journey starts with a comprehensive approach. Just over half of marketers advertise on YouTube — one of the most popular platforms — as of 2024. What if the overlooked channels are the most lucrative? Sometimes, taking the risk is better than not knowing.

The best way to isolate actionable insights is to start with a broad view and work inward. Once business leaders understand the ins and outs of each channel, they can optimize media spend based on performance data.

They can present their findings to stakeholders to demonstrate the effectiveness of cross-platform media strategies only if they eliminate the guesswork. Having an accurate, up-to-date ROI is nonnegotiable when the media budget is tight. Visual aids could help sway stakeholders by bringing data points to life.

Modern Media Strategies Need Innovative Solutions

Measuring cross-platform ROI with advanced analytics is a must for modern media strategies. However, business leaders must be mindful of data security and privacy laws when adopting new tools to ensure they comply with regulations.

Devin Partida writes about investor technologies, big data and apps. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of ReHack.com.