Cross-platform audience data weaves an intricate web -- AdWords shares user interests and topic data, while Facebook shares user interest and behavior data. The solution maps the disparate data sets to each other, and with a sophisticated machine intelligence algorithm, combines cross-platform audiences into a common targeting language. This data is then integrated with the solution's proprietary vertical-specific benchmark and campaign performance data. The solution enables the targeting process to be drastically simplified -- lasting only 10 minutes -- without sacrificing campaign-defined granularity, and yields data-driven insights that direct creative and targeting strategy across platforms. The solution delivers the most accurate targeting recommendations to dramatically improve campaign performance and scalability. The system, on average, reduces campaign setup time by 95 percent, and reduces in-flight optimization time by 90 percent.

No matter how flashy the creative, if an ad is not delivered to the right person at the right time, it is wasted media spend. Given that Zipcar’s core demographic of 18-34 year olds are the most active video viewers of any US age group, video advertising is not an area the company can afford to get wrong. Zipcar’s media strategy combined human expertise, data, and machine performance to deliver the most accurate targeting and most effective media allocation.

To deliver the sophistication that Zipcar’s campaign required, the solution activated its Multi-Platform Audience Targeting Intelligent Decision Automation (IDA) to uncover actionable insights about Zipcar’s target audience that would inform granular targeting parameters.

The solution integrates data from the platform APIs, third-party Facebook topic data APIs, and anonymised third-party video campaign data partners with our solution's rich historical campaign data repository (the largest in the industry, collected since 2008), meta-data, semantic lexicon data, and extensive database of relationships between targets on each video platform and how they impact campaign success. Zipcar had a synthesized data set at its fingertips unmatched in the video advertising industry.

By creating a common targeting language to define cross-platform audiences, the solution has revolutionised the way Zipcar manages video ad campaigns across walled gardens. Zipcar can now activate cross-platform video ad formats and seamlessly transfer budgets to the highest performing campaign sets mid-campaign.

The solution has equipped Zipcar with data-backed audience insights related to its core demographic to influence campaign strategy. Insights include:

Men are more likely to watch Zipcar ads on YouTube (51%) over women (35%) and deliver the lowest CPA.

The 18-34 age group on YouTube represents the higher proportion of Zipcar ad viewers (67%) and delivers the highest CPA.

On Facebook, women are more likely to watch Zipcar ads (58%) over men (41%) and deliver the lowest CPA.

The 18-34 age group on Facebook represents the majority of Zipcar ad viewers (96%) and delivers the lowest CPA.

Through effective implementation of data, Zipcar can now acquire customers through video at a significantly lower rate than its search campaign benchmarks, delivering an average CPA that is 13% lower on YouTube, 63% lower on Facebook, and 58% lower on Instagram.

Together with our solution, Zipcar has increased efficiency, improved granularity, and minimised risk when executing cross-platform video ad campaigns.