It works in concert with other advertising technology to not only serve relevant ads to readers based on their past consumption but to ensure they encounter the ads the optimal number of times to achieve peak recall, according to Ford.
Ad frequency sweet spot
In an analysis of its own brand surveys, the publisher found a strong correlation between readers who exhibited a lift in brand recall and those who had been exposed to an ad between five and ten times in a week.
To reach that sweet spot, frequency optimization employs two primary, counterbalancing functions.
The technology can cap the frequency of a campaign, preventing wasteful overexposure, but it can also set frequency floors, helping ensure that a reader encounters a campaign enough times to be memorable.
While many publishers and platforms offer frequency capping, few have provided tools for effective, cookieless flooring, said Ana Milicevic, the principal and co-founder of Sparrow Advisors.
In particular, the publisher has sought to nudge more of its readers from the 1-to-2 exposure range into the highly performant 5-to-10 exposure range. Since launching the product this year, The Financial Times has increased its number of 5-to-10 exposures by 80%, according to Marchington.
The tool works across all its digital environments, meaning advertisers can use frequency optimization as their preferred KPI on campaigns, including digital display, homepage sponsorship and partner content.
Still, it only works within The Financial Times’ ecosystem, meaning it does not fully replace the functionality offered by the third-party cookie, which allows for cross-domain capping, according to Yip.
“As a brand, if your campaign effort is across multiple publishers, how can you accurately manage the proper number of impressions for a user across all different sites?” Yip said. “You may exceed the sweet spot and potentially waste impressions.”
Nonetheless, the solution provides The Financial Times with a potential edge—just the kind of advantage that can help the company win competitive budgets, according to Milicevic.
“This adds another input that enables a more intelligent matching between advertiser and reader,” Milicevic said. “Ideally, that means the client gets more value for its buy, and the reader sees more relevant advertising.”
