New Criteo Report Finds that Marketers Need to Solve for Data Fragmentation and Quality Challenges to Deliver Stronger Shopper Experiences in 2019

Navigating the Continued Proliferation of Channels is a Primary Goal for Advertisers Worldwide

NEW YORK—December 12, 2018 — Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ: CRTO), the advertising platform for the open internet, today released the “State of Ad Tech 2019” report which evaluates how today’s marketers can successfully convert audiences throughout each stage of the purchasing journey. Criteo surveyed 901 direct response marketers in partnership with Euromonitor International, including 100 in the U.S., to better understand the challenges of converting customers in today’s complex digital ecosystem.

The report results underscore just how fragmented ad budgets have become as marketers look for results across so many different channels. From paid display and social media marketing to content and SEO, we asked how marketers spend their money and which channels are most effective.

“Marketers understand that conversion can happen at any point in the shopper journey,” said Jaysen Gillespie, Vice President, Head of Analytics & Insights, Criteo. “We found that fragmented data, tech giants, and personalization are all top-of-mind for marketers going into 2019.”

Key findings from the report include:

The Top 10 Channels for Marketers: We asked not only which channels marketers used to reach their customers, but how much of their budget they dedicated to each one. Learn the most popular ad tactics in 2018 – like social media marketing, paid display advertising, and email marketing – and plan for 2019.
Conversion Metrics are Different Across Different Companies: Marketers have a lot of different ways of defining what makes effective conversion. New revenue (35%), new customer rate (33%), and cost per action (30%) proved to be most popular, but there is clearly more than one way to measure conversion.
Data Availability and Quality Represent Key Challenges in the Conversion Phase: Nearly half (40%) of marketers struggle to find data on the online/offline shopper connection. This negatively impacts brand conversion given the prevalence of omnishopping. In addition, fragmented data makes it difficult for marketers to gain a true understanding of customers and to optimize future campaigns.
Reengagement Across Web and App Grows in Importance: Reengagement is a critical part of the consumer purchase journey, particularly as the impact of brand loyalty increases. The report revealed that existing retailer customers spend more on average than new shoppers (51%) and shopping app customers have high loyalty tendencies (41%). Compelling discounts, personalization, innovative ad formats and engaging designs were reported to be three of the most successful tactics for reengagement campaigns.

Criteo ‘State of Ad Tech 2019’ Report Methodology

The Criteo State of Ad Tech Report surveyed over 900 digital marketing managers and executives working in retailing, brands, travel companies, and other services companies with online sales channels in May 2018. One hundred survey respondents were from the U.S.

For a complete look at the report, view the findings at: https://www.criteo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/StateOfAdTechReport_Global.pdf.