Blog skyhook logo Customer Spotlight: Pocketmath Increases Advertising Campaign Performance with Accurate Audience Targeting

Feb 3, 2015 9:06:00 AM

Customer Spotlight: Pocketmath Increases Advertising Campaign Performance with Accurate Audience Targeting

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The adtech ecosystem is a crowded marketplace of companies hustling to differentiate themselves and prove their value. When honing in on Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) specifically, the biggest differentiators for DSPs are their abilities to return the highest engagement out of their users - which also results in higher ROI for their clients. Because each DSP has their own specialty - from performance-based to highly targeted brand campaigns - their capabilities to serve their user base with the most relevant ad message is essential, as it drives campaign success.

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As a result, the ultimate goal of DSPs is to devise the most accurate and relevant algorithm as possible to not only attract and appeal to potential advertising clients, but to deliver high-performing campaigns for their advertising partners in order to earn their recurring business. To do this, they must be able to optimize audience targeting and find inventory that advertisers want.

PocketMath, a Skyhook customer, is the world's largest, 100% self-serve, mobile demand-side platform (DSP) for programmatic mobile. PocketMath makes it easy to buy smartphone and tablet ad impressions, within apps, games, and mobile websites - all in real-time. In one platform, you gain immediate access to the world's supply of mobile real-time bidding (RTB) inventory.

We interviewed their Marketing Manager, Vasudha Srinivasan, and the rest of the PocketMath team on the direction mobile advertising will take in 2015.

1) Tell us a bit about PocketMath - what are some of your differentiators?

We connect businesses to their ideal audience using the technology of real time bidding. We also choose to sell the technology solution (ie, the platform and its benefits) rather than selling to clients from campaign to campaign. Being a self-serve platform provides us two advantages:

(a) we don't have to have be pitching to a client anew each time their campaign is over; and

(b) we can scale the company because we can predict growth and revenue more accurately

We also don't require minimum spend or commitments because we feel it is important that our technology solution remains accessible.

2) How does accurate location factor into your business? How are you leveraging Skyhook?

GPS location information is sometimes absent in the data sent by the Ad Exchange so many customers want or need to target mobile users at very specific locations. In such cases, our customers can choose to use Skyhook to infer location from their IP address.

We use 3rd party data for location (Skyhook) and our customers use it to help target or retarget the best audience for their advertising campaigns.

3) What is the biggest challenge you and /or your industry faces in 2015? Any big plans for you?

Anywhere you look in the adtech industry this year, programmatic's been identified as THE big thing, specifically programmatic video, which is predicted to realise its potential in 2015. It's worked out in our favour that we started early in investing and developing our brand of programmatic technology. We're also expanding our video inventory and looking to incorporate native so that our users have the most choice. 

The challenge lies, as with any industry, in adapting to our user's needs so we are always delivering a relevant experience to them. That's what we had in mind when we started 2015 by launching a major update to our platform. As the year progresses, our focus will be on expanding our video and native ad inventory and about creating a more seamless experience on our platform for our users.  

4) What role does hyperlocal targeting have in shaping the direction of the advertising industry? 

Hyper local targeting is definitely going to impact advertising in a big way and in our view, the potential of this tech in mobile is probably much higher.  Advertisers want to maximise the potential of their ad spend and if the right technology lets you connect to the most relevant audience, why not? On the other end, the mobile user is likely to want to see ads which would be of interest/ useful to him, as opposed to mass targeting. Hyperlocal has the potential to make advertising less about hard selling and more about value. variety_shot-5