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Assessing the performance of CPM video ads

Samsonite’s experience with Yandex.Metrica for display ads and Experiments, and their effect on sales

In the digital environment, performance can be evaluated at all levels of the sales funnel, including for display campaigns. Yet the Brand Lift tool can handle brand metrics, tracking the impact of a display campaign on sales is usually not easy. Samsonite, the well known manufacturer of suitcases and bags, tested video ads in Yandex.Direct as part of a CPC promotion. Yandex.Metrica for display ads and experiments in Yandex.Audience helped to track how these impressions contributed to sales: revenue from the experimental group that saw the ads was 4.9 million RUB higher than from the control group. Post-view transactions alone brought 2.7 million RUB.

Case results
Retail
Revenue from the experimental group exceeded that of the control group by 4.9 million rules. Verified post-view transactions alone brought 2.7 million RUB in revenue.
2.7 M RUB
2.7 M RUB
revenue from post-view transactions
40%
40%
Post-view share of ad spend
+4.9 M
+4.9 M
difference in revenue between the experimental group and the control group of the same size
22%
22%
Share of ad spend
Client
Producer of suitcases and bags Samsonite, samsonite.ru
Facts and figures
1910 company founded, 100+ countries with company presence, 10 brands of baggage
Representative
Alexander Drozhnikov, Head of E-commerce

Goals

  1. Develop promotion strategy for a highly competitive niche
  2. Assess display ads’ contribution to sales

Tools used

  • Yandex.Direct / Video display ads
  • Yandex.Metrica / E-commerce
  • Yandex.Metrica for display ads
  • Yandex.Audience / Experiments

Period: 13.06.2019 — 26.06.2019 (14 days + two-month attribution window)

Step 1. Select display ads as a promotional channel

Samsonite is one of the oldest manufacturers of suitcases and bags, founded in 1910. The brand promoted its own online store on Yandex Search, where it had to compete with larger multi-brand stores who purchased nearly all the available traffic.

Samsonite decided to focus on display advertising: they launched a brand awareness video in the Yandex Video Network that targeted users interested in traveling as well as those with high incomes.

ALEXANDER DROZHNIKOV
ALEXANDER DROZHNIKOV
Head of e-commerce

Our goal was to increase brand awareness, especially among younger audiences of active travelers that value comfort. We also wanted to increase traffic to out site at the start of the high season.

To this end, we chose OLV (online video) campaigns.

To get a more comprehensive assessment, Samsonite decided to use two tools at once: Experiments in Yandex.Audience and Yandex.aMetric for display ads. The Experiments compared the results of the test and control groups, allowing them to measure the uplift in sales. And Yandex.Metrica for display ads made it possible to evaluate all post-view and post-click conversions for brand awareness campaigns and analyze the customer profile. The fact that not all conversions took place immediately after contact with the ad was also taken into account.
Watch the clip

Step 2. Set up experiments in Yandex.Audience to compare the two segments

Experiments in Yandex.Audience

Yandex.Audience Experiments is a new A/B testing tool for comparing the effectiveness of ad settings and creatives. The tool randomly distributes users in the selected audience into two non-overlapping segments, ensuring the experiment’s statistical purity. Each segment’s effectiveness can be tracked in Yandex.Metrica.

Samsonite decided to compare the behavior of two groups: users from the test group saw the video ad, and users from the control group who did not.

They created an experiment in Yandex.Audience: they entered a Yandex.Metrica tag installed on their site and divided the audience into two identical segments — a test and a control group. They then linked the experiment in the settings of the related campaign in Yandex.Direct: only half of the available users would see ads from the campaign.

These are not screenshots of the client’s account.
These are not screenshots of the client’s account.

Step 3. Enable Yandex.Metrica for display campaigns to track post-view results

Yandex.Metrica for display ads

Yandex.Metrica for display ads makes it possible to analyze display campaigns in Yandex.Direct based on performance metrics using data about conversions that took place after the ad impression of click on the creative.

OLGA SMIRNOVA
OLGA SMIRNOVA
Product manager, Yandex.Metrica for display ads
Yandex.Metrica for display ads is a tool that helps you track post-view and post-click conversions for CPM banners and video ads. Samsonite’s creative was not aiming for quick purchases. It was more like a brand awareness clip, without an emphasis on a specific product. The user might not make a decision to place an order right after seeing the ad, but could wait until the right time, like when they were planning their next vacation. Yandex.Metrica links this kind of conversions to a specific campaign and makes it possible to analyze the portrait of the user most likely to convert into a customer.

They connected the tool in two steps:

  1. They added the campaign to Yandex.Metrica for display ads and filled in the data about the site: the placement period, cost, format, etc.
  2. They downloaded a tracking pixel and entered it in the ad settings in Yandex.Direct.
These are not screenshots of the client’s account.
These are not screenshots of the client’s account.

Results

  • the video clip was viewed 4 million times, with 1.8 million of them 100% views
  • 38,000 users visited the site
  • the number of visitors peaked during the placement period
  • users who could see the ad visited more often than those users who were not shown the ad.
These are not screenshots of the client’s account.

The experiment showed the variations in revenue from purchases by users in different segments

Revenue from the segment of users who were shown ads was 4.9 million RUB higher than that of the segment of users who were not shown the video. Yandex.Metrica for display ads showed that confirmed post-view transactions alone generated revenue of 2.7 million RUB with a share of ad spend equal to 40%. The overall conversion rate from impressions to purchases amounted to 0.007%.
 


Sometimes two analytical tools may show different observed conversion rates due to their operating principles. If a user sees a banner on their work computer, but makes a purchase from a smartphone or home laptop, Yandex.Metrica for display ads will not link that conversion to the display ad, which may lead to an underestimation of the overall result. Experiments offer cross-device support: a user in the experimental group and saw the banner on their work computer and then made a purchase will be counted in the correct Yandex.Metrica segment, even if the purchase was made from another device or browser.


In Yandex.Metrica for display ads, a post-view analysis of the audience reach by the ad showed the following:

Age. Users aged 35-44 showed twice as many conversion as the 25-34 segment and 3× higher than the 55+ segment.

These are not screenshots of the client’s account.
Gender. 15% more conversions came from men than from women. The average check size from male users, however, was high and as a result the overall revenue from impressions to women ended up being 10% lower.
These are not screenshots of the client’s account.
Geography. There were twice as many conversions from users in Moscow than from the surrounding region.
YURIY GAVRILOV
YURIY GAVRILOV
Senior expert, Artics Internet Solutions

A key indicator of a placement’s effectiveness is the ratio of CPM to total revenue per impression. In the future, to maximize efficiency, we will try to run ads for segments that have shown the best revenue per impression, for example:

  • bathroom furniture: income for impressions 11.5× higher than average
  • tennis: 5× higher
  • tiles: 3.8× higher
  • computer equipment: 3.8× higher
  • gifts: 3.5× higher.

Conclusion

Video advertising is a powerful branding tool that can have a visible effect of sales. Yet it isn’t always easy to see this effect, especially in numbers. Samsonite was able to track the effect of video ads by comparing the test and control groups and by taking delayed conversions into account.

You can increase the accuracy when evaluating the performance of a campaign by using experiments and Yandex.Metrica for display ads. Using these tools allowed Samsonite to solve a complex problem:

  1. Using experiments, they were able to measure the sales uplift in the test group compared to the control group and calculate what percentage of revenue display advertising brought.
  2. Using Yandex.Metrica for display ads to analyze results in more detail using post-view and create a user portrait.
YURIY GAVRILOV
YURIY GAVRILOV
Senior expert, Artics Internet Solutions

We are a CPC agency, so it was important to measure the effect ads had on sales instead of paying attention to brand metrics. The effect on sales did not come immediately — the large part of the effect was observed in the second month after the ad campaign had stopped.

Video advertising in Yandex and the accompanying experiments in Yandex.Audience and Yandex.Metrica for display ads allow us to assess the contribution of video ads to conversions and find insights.

Assessing the performance of CPM video ads. Samsonite’s experience with Yandex.Metrica for display ads and Experiments, and their effect on sales
Assessing the performance of CPM video ads. Samsonite’s experience with Yandex.Metrica for display ads and Experiments, and their effect on sales
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Case prepared in collaboration with the Artics Internet Solutions agency

Give CPM video ads a try

When creating a campaign in Yandex.Direct, choose Display video ads and use Yandex.Metrica to assess their effectiveness or contact your Yandex manager.
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