Big data: What drives performance for advertisers

Gannett's USA TODAY NETWORK has been digitally transforming alongside its advertising clients. And, Proven Performance Media has been working with local publishers to engage, sell and fulfill pay-for-performance campaigns at the local level.

At the Key Executives Mega-Conference, Jeff Burkett, vice president of ad innovations with USA TODAY NETWORK, and Richard Jones, president and owner of Proven Performance Media, will share their insights on what drives performance for advertisers across categories and platforms.

Burkett will talk about building internal products that truly have an impact across the entire organization and help amplify the company's roster of clients across all digital platforms.  

He will draw from his experience in working with more than 100 national and local digital news sites and apps across the country to discuss the use of first-party data, enhancing creative elements, innovations in ad units, and other best practices for leveraging big data to drive performance revenue.

Jones will walk through learnings from well over 4,000 pay-for-performance campaigns and how this pricing model is evolving.

"Today, it's important to understand pay-for-performance media models," Jones said, "as segments of business-like home services are now buying almost exclusively on performance pricing models across all types of media platforms, with more business segments following."

He also will touch on how data science and research is playing a larger role in today's performance media programs, and how the integration and simplification of these insights to improve results will be key to success.

Specific audience takeaways include:

• How Proven Performance Media has helped media companies leverage pay for performance pricing models to recapture lost business and monetize their available ROP space. Jones also will talk about ways his company is staying in front of the fast-paced changes in performance marketing through technology, data analysis and custom research through a partnership with RAM Research of Sweden. The goal is to simplify the complex so it's easier to buy, understand and act upon for marketers.
• How Gannett built its big data platform, Grandstand, and how that has changed how ads are designed – based on insights generated around what drives performance in an ad unit.
• How Paramount, Gannett's new Digital ad suite, is driving better results for advertisers while being more respectful of the overall reader experience.

The Key Executives Mega-Conference, which will be held Feb. 26-28 in San Diego.

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About our presenters:

Jeff Burkett has more than 15 years of experience in digital media and currently serves as vice president, advertising innovation at USA TODAY NETWORK. In this role, he leads a very large team of designers and developers who are responsible for delivering the next generation of digital advertising across the NETWORK of 109 local properties and USA TODAY.

Under Burkett's leadership and vision, USA TODAY NETWORK launched Paramount, a suite of ad formats that have pushed the NETWORK forward into the future of advertising.  The suite of units respect the user experience, while delivering superior engagement for brands. 

Previously, Burkett served as senior director, digital product strategy and ad operations at The Washington Post.  During his tenure, he led many key strategic initiatives in mobile, product development, programmatic, audience extension, ad blocking and viewability.

Richard Jones is president of Proven Performance Media. He has been described as someone who would have been a great futurist, constantly interested in learning about what creates "better." Jones has held positions with The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Dallas Morning News, Boeing and D&B. He has started three businesses and recently purchased Proven Performance Media, which provides media companies with a proven new business model, leveraging the growing performance-based pricing models.

So Many Options to Choose From at Mega!
The 2018 Mega-Conference will have more than three dozen sessions for attendees to choose from – offering an array of professional development opportunities with something for everyone.

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The Key Executives Mega-Conference is a joint effort of the Inland Press Association, Local Media Association, Southern Newspaper Publishers Association, News Media Allliance and the California News Publishers Association.

In its eighth year, Mega-Conference attendance ranges from 700-900 attendees. Most of the attendees are owners, publishers, digital officers or revenue officers of media operations with both print and digital assets, serving their local communities.  A sizable trade show is associated with the conference.