AppFolio: Leveraging a Programmatic Paragon to Increase Flexibility and Performance
The Challenge
AppFolio, a cloud-based tech company specializing in real estate, relies heavily on account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns – organized and managed through its ABM platform – to reach customers.
However, as AppFolio’s B2B campaigns became more complex and sophisticated, the brand discovered that its ABM platform lacked some critical features. The tech did not allow for real-time adjustments mid-campaign, making optimizing at the account level impossible. Even worse, the platform failed to link campaign results with account data, leaving AppFolio without an accurate way of measuring performance.
AppFolio knew it needed something more powerful. The brand asked Tinuiti, its full-funnel performance agency, to identify and implement a more flexible, insightful solution.
Results
+27%
increased account penetration rate
+25%
increased account saturation rate
2.5x
click-through rate
-27%
decreased CPM
How We Did It
Tinuiti investigated the options, weighing each offering’s capabilities in optimizing account penetration (percentage of target accounts reached) and saturation (percentage of accounts served a designated number of impressions per month).
After considering the options, Tinuiti pinpointed Bombora’s iABM platform. Not only did this solution employ Bombora’s industry-leading B2B expertise; it also included a groundbreaking account-level frequency optimization algorithm, powered by Chalice AI (software that builds algorithms trained by a brand’s own data and analytics) and available exclusively through The Trade Desk.
This powerful programmatic solution offered:
- Comprehensive performance measurement, linking impressions and click data from The Trade Desk with account-level platform reporting
- Real-time reporting that allowed Tinuiti and AppFolio to adjust campaigns on the fly to optimize account- and user-frequency caps
- Frequency capping at the account level, ensuring that no individual account is overserved an ad, thus optimizing penetration of key customers
The solution seemed like it could meet – and even exceed – AppFolio’s needs. So Tinuiti put it to the test, pitting Bombora’s iABM capabilities against AppFolio’s existing platform in head-to-head campaigns.
As the new platform returned real-time campaign data, the teams could finally make precise optimizations mid-flight. Tinuiti, AppFolio, and Bombora collaborated throughout to improve performance across accounts served based on the real-time reporting that iABM enabled.
The results left no question. Not only was Bombora’s adtech solution more efficient at targeting quality accounts – it offered eye-popping cost efficiency over AppFolio’s previous platform. Account penetration was up 27%, and account saturation was up 25%. Click-through rate saw a 2.5x increase. And with a 27% reduction in cost-per-thousand, it was clear that Tinuiti and Bombora had unlocked the flexibility that AppFolio was looking for.
Our two biggest goals with this effort were increased campaign control and better reporting, and Tinuiti found an exemplary solution that gave us both. The ability to amplify successful tactics – or cut underperformers – in real-time has changed the game. Being able to match that campaign performance data to individual account data only makes things better.
Matt Earls
Director of Online Marketing, AppFolio
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