People-based marketing: Thinking people-first planning and measurement
Learn how putting people at the centre of your marketing strategies will drive real business results.
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The goal of advertising has always been the same: reach the right person, in the right place, at the right time, with the right message – to drive real business results.
However, with the rise of technologies like mobile, people's time and attention have become more and more fragmented and this has made it difficult for marketers to determine when, where and how best to reach people. For these reasons, planners and strategists today have the complicated job of determining where to plan and optimise their media towards most effectively.
So how are we thinking of tackling this increasingly complex reality? Through the lens of people.
At Facebook, we've begun to see that people-based marketing strategies result in better planning and measurement across platforms and devices. And while it may be difficult to entirely switch to this strategy today, there are ways we can start down the path to change to help prepare us for the future.
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In the future, we want to be in a place where we can specify an audience, how many times they'll see an ad and deliver that consistently and accurately across all channels and formats. Because highly valued audiences can be easily missed if the media is only in one silo.
Rowena Ruan
Agency Measurement Lead, Facebook
So, what makes people-based marketing different?
Let's start with a point of comparison. When thinking about planning for traditional media– such as TV, print and out of home – marketers look at the people who buy a product, characterise them in terms of their demographics, and then look for "the right place" where they're spending their time (i.e. Programme A on Network B or Print Publication C). The goal is to find the right place to advertise while holding everything else constant.
Similarly, for digital planning, marketers first find their target audience but now can be more specific. For example, we can look for Adults aged 18-34 who are interested in coffee and live in Ohio. Then, we can show this group adverts wherever they are on the Internet. The goal here becomes to find the right group of people, while holding everything else constant.
With people-based marketing, marketers don't hold anything constant. We now can find a person instead of large groups such as "Adults 18-34" or "people who like coffee" and reach them on whatever device or platform they may be on. Because today, reach and attention is fragmented across devices and platforms. Every one of these variables will change with every exposure, and planning for people for where they are will allow marketers to efficiently achieve and scale the goal of showing the right advert, to the right person, at the right time.
People-based measurement and planning in action
In order to plan for people, there is a need to understand where people are spending their time and the impact of different marketing strategies. Measuring channels in silos limits your visibility into the full impact of your advertising efforts. People-based measurement results can help inform the entire marketing life cycle, across devices and channels. With people-based data and tools, marketers are able to tie actions directly to real people wherever they may be, and close the measurement gaps that exist with traditional cookie-based measurement, which doesn't capture the full consumer journey.
Cookie-based reporting distorts campaign results and wastes advertising money
Inaccurate results1
Media waste1
Off-target delivery2
Over-representation3
Facebook measurement tools, for example, are based on insights from people, and give marketers the ability to measure campaigns on and off Facebook, on both desktop and mobile devices and in any online environment. When looking at attribution and reach, this approach gives marketers a holistic look at their advertising performance – something not possible to do before.
Planning people first
Measurement results shouldn't be isolated to the end of the campaign, with people-based measurement you can more fully inform the campaign planning process to support decisions from the start. With better insight into where people are, and an understanding of the channel or a platform's media performance, we can reach the right people wherever they may be to capture the most potential impact.
Plan for peopleUse the insights you gain via people-based measurement to plan your campaigns, reach the right people at the right time, and drive business results.
Measure PeopleLeverage Facebook's people-based reach and attribution measurement to create a sing-customer view across devices, browsers and publishers with people-based measurement
Recently, Facebook IQ conducted research on effective reach and frequency strategies using people-based measurement tactics, to better understand how marketers should be planning on digital channels. And for brand marketers, the research helps paint a better picture about how better understanding campaign performance through people can influence planning strategies.
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"People-based marketing allows marketers to plan for reach and frequency hand-in-hand, with the added ability to activate that plan with the same level of control. Our measurement methods have helped us develop a good understanding of how different reach and frequency strategies can be used to achieve business objectives. And, of course, planning, buying and measurement can all happen within one space on [digital] platforms"
Kumi Harischandra
Quantitative Researcher, Facebook
What it means for marketers
Hear what the experts are saying:
Facebook Blueprint recently hosted a webinar with Rowena Ruan, Facebook Agency Measurement lead, where she discusses more on this topic. Listen to the full conversation on people-based marketing to learn more.
Learn from Facebook IQ advertising insights studies:
People-based strategies drive real business results. Planning, creating and measuring campaigns today requires a real understanding of where people are going, not where they were. Read our Research Insights Brief which highlights Facebook measurement studies and insights that can inform your campaign strategy.
Make campaign decisions with confidence:
Our people-based measurement solutions are powered by insights from the two billion people who use Facebook each month, helping you to measure more accurately through our solutions and third-party measurement partners. Learn how we're continuing to expand the people-based solutions and tools available for marketers to measure their campaigns.
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