Brand Networks Platform vs. Marketing Solutions by Criteo

If you have a multiple social channel strategy, the Brand Networks Platform does a good job of comparing and summarizing the cross-platform performance of all the social campaigns. They also have really good optimization technology, so if you have a beginner media buyer who doesn't have a lot of time to devote to (or knowledge about) optimizing campaigns, the BN tool would be helpful.

Marketing Solutions by Criteo has a great track record that speaks highly of its reputation, we users of this program are happy with the performance and impact it generates in the cloud, in order to connect with new customers, added to this, This software offers us the appropriate tools to professionally manage all these processes and have total control of electronic commerce. Our case has been the protagonist in the increase in sales, that is why we are always willing to recommend this incredible program.

• Sleek design -- very attractive UI
• Constantly innovating and updating the platform
• Their support desk is very good. Very responsive and can usually update my issue within 1-2 business days.

• You are able to access to their data pool, to build audiences with just an email list (encrypted and hashed)
• Easy to use platform and easy way to analyze data from the dashboard. Everyone could manage the dashboard easily enough to surf through the data and understand the performance. Also you have the help of your account manager.
• The powerful algorithm drives good results for your company, without too much effort. And they are continuously improving with new features (design types, campaigns, platform, mobile / app products ...)
• Support for testing all of the integration of the events to check if data is well received. Google Chrome extension, testing mode inside the dashboard with error detection and also the help of your account manager + technical stuff.

• API data issues. There are somewhat frequent breakdowns in continuous data being pulled from the social platforms
• The campaign creation flow is a little clunky and has a couple bugs. Users often forgo using the platform to set up new campaigns, and use the native platforms instead
• Because it's in continual development, there are lots of little bugs that slip through the cracks

• I think if they had a free trial option, we would be able to better evaluate our need before signing up.
• I wish there were more targeting features other than retargeting. Would love to target based on interests.
• Video features are limited. Would love to see new products here.

Criteo is the only remarketing firm worth using for a retailer, in my opinion.

Criteo's platform is very easy to use from a marketing standpoint if you understand key terms. The frontend is very user-friendly and I personally had no issues. I enjoy being able to see key results and metrics being tracked from the dashboard. It is also easy to filter things as desired to break down data.

I think Marketing Solutions by Criteo offers a very robust solution for an ad tech platform and their support team is very knowledgeable about their product. I would like to see, though, more webinars and training about the technology behind the product to give us more tools to talk to our customers with more information and better visuals.

Facebook for Business has far fewer bugs and errors. Brand Networks has made some major changes over the 3 years that I have been using the platform, but because they are constantly changing and overhauling their platform, there are naturally more bugs in the system -- and this can interfere with the user experience.

Criteo and AdRoll used to be neck and neck competitors, but Criteo has differentiated its offering by introducing user acquisition and app campaigns and continuously evolving its product while AdRoll got left behind. Compared to MoPub, Criteo's solutions are much more integrated and have more layers of data on their inventory to make sure the media bought on the platform can drive better results.

• If you can create the report you need through automation, you can have those automatically sent to your email or a client's email. That saves time.
• If optimization works correctly, you get even more efficient costs against you given campaign objective.
• However, when features are broken, or there is a bug and I can't pull the performance data I need immediately, it detracts from my productivity

• If you are a new entrant in a market, with few acquisition channels, Criteo is going to enhance significantly your ROI with low CPA and high turnover. Usually, with have a CPA below 10€ on our businesses for ROI which can be up to 2.
• If you already have a clear marketing strategy, with many platforms, Criteo will probably increase your turnover but your ROI will be lower due to the high number of common interactions/conversions between the platforms. It happened frequently, that is why you have to think about your main goal/KPI.
• Finally, you have to take care of the marketing saturation on your global audience, especially if you use remarketing widely on all your platforms such as Linkedin/Facebook/Google/etc. You should keep a ratio of 60% acquisition and 40% max remarketing, and take that into consideration if you want to launch Criteo campaigns. Once, one of your clients focused only on remarketing cause it had a lower CPA : Facebook & Critéo retargeting. But after a few months, the CPA rose drastically and the ROI declined from 3 to almost one. So keep online dedicated campaigns for Acquisition when you use Criteo.