podcast interview withNikhil RaiSenior Analyst, Performance Marketingforester

Nikhil Lai, Senior Analyst, Performance Marketing, Forrester, will speak at AdExchanger’s Programmatic IO conference, October 17-18 in New York City.click here register.

With measurement and identity in flux and an economic downturn looming, marketers are more focused on business outcomes.

They want to hold the dollar accountable and get more out of it. The trend means that his Nikhil Lai, a Forrester senior analyst in charge of performance marketing, landed in his current position at just the right time (another of his key tenets in performance marketing).

The tools marketers used to improve performance, like targeted Facebook campaigns, no longer work. “Signal loss has a significant impact on performance,” says Lai.

Given Facebook’s skyrocketing cost-per-acquisition, Lai believes many DTC brands are investing in the other two locations. “These two non-audience-based tactics rely less on his targeting of invasive audiences,” he says.

Addressability remains, but it’s a spectrum. The depth of consumer consent and information varies, and each level requires a different approach. As a result, brands must design experiences for those who are and those who are not addressable. Lai also advocates a more nuanced measurement approach that takes into account the fact that advertising on one channel has a halo effect on other channels.

For example, TV ads lead to more search terms for your brand. This is a cheap keyword for brands to monetize. “TV and digital are more profitable ways to compete for clicks,” he says. “I think marketers need to understand that reality.”

There are many challenges for brands, from the need to think about addressability at different ranges to a more nuanced understanding of cross-channel measurements. But when it comes to complexity, marketers need to look for guidance on one front, Lai said.

Also, in this episode, we discuss the role Facebook advertising played in the Brexit decision and Netflix’s predictions for the AVOD experience.