While you prepare to enjoy the fourth of July, make sure to take some time and check in on your performance. Seasonality, one of the biggest factors in the ad tech industry, is in full swing and can be somewhat difficult to track. In order to help you understand your best ad serving options to combat seasonal swings, we’ve pulled together some data and tips for success that can make your holiday even more relaxing!
Back up… What does this mean?
Almost every year we see a ramp up in spend as we approach July 4th. Advertisers know that you can’t live without that new patio furniture or bbq grill for your much summer festivities. Then, right at the start of the second half of the year (July), buyer behavior changes while adjusting to new budgets. This, along with brands and agencies changing their budget allocation, results in low advertising spend and publishers tend to see a drop in fill rate.
Here is a typical representation of what we see this time of year.
*This is a symbolic curve, representing trends based off of real Sovrn data.
As you can see, spend starts to increase towards the end of the quarter, most notably in June. Here’s a closer look at July 4th.
To prepare for this industry shift, there are a few things you can do.
- Adjust your price floors. In an industry where much is left out of your control, this is one thing you can do alone or with the help of Sovrn’s support team. With industry spend down and CPM floors in place for publishers, fill rates will decline, in turn causing your yield to drop. Lowering price floors to help encourage buying on your site can help mitigate this effect. Your CPMs may be lower, but by encouraging buyers in this way and monitoring your performance, you’ll be able to better maintain your yield (CPM * Fill Rate).
- Utilize Viewability – Your most powerful asset. When spend is down, buyers want to spend their money on high-quality inventory and publishers want to find ways to mitigate revenue loss. Q3 is a great time to test new products like Viewable Engagement Time (Signal). Sovrn’s Signal technology allows publishers to leverage highly engaged readers by reloading existing ad units. Signal is purely additive and provides buyers with much more premium inventory.
- Monitor your performance! Perhaps the most important, monitoring your performances allows you to make intentional, calculated decisions while adjusting your setup. Look for trends in revenue, impressions, and CPM. Prior to panicking, talk through your performance with your partners – they’ve seen this before and are here to help make changes that work for you!
If any questions, concerns, or comments arise, head over to The Sovrn Community to start a discussion or submit a case!
