Item: StackAdapt
Rating: 8
Author: Eric Figura

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

At our company, the media department uses StackAdapt across a number of our clients. We use their platform mainly for their native video placements, as well as the ability to run those on custom targets StackAdapt creates based on keywords and site lists we provide. We have also used it to retarget users who have watched at least 50% of one of our promoted videos.

Pros and Cons

StackAdapt's video units work particularly well in terms of view rates across both Pre-Roll and Out-Stream video. This is, of course, depending on creative as well, but there has been consistent performance across most of the campaigns I have run.
These video units also serve to drive a decent amount of web traffic to our client's landing page. With CTRs that often out-perform other video centered vendors we have run with.
They are able to retarget users who have watched a portion of your video content with static in-feed native ads. Though we haven't seen many conversions coming from this tactic, the referral traffic has been at or above our benchmarks.

Their reporting tool seems clunky at first, and not super intuitive to use. But once you spend a little time with it the tool can actually be pretty useful.
Sometimes the dashboard function doesn't properly filter out everything you ask it to, forcing you to refresh the page and try again.
The pacing tool shown in the dashboard often makes no sense in the numbers it represents. My campaigns have just about always delivered in full, so this isn't exactly an issue, but still confusing to look at.

Return on Investment

The way we use StackAdapt, the ROI is usually negative. That said, we rarely look at ROI as a key factor in determining the success of these campaigns. A separate client who did utilize tactics based on conversions/ROI, reported great success.

Alternatives Considered

Sharethrough, Nativo and Google Marketing Platform (formerly DoubleClick)

StackAdapt's video capabilities perform in-line with what we have seen from Sharethrough, but without any minimums attached to their campaigns. As far as Nativo, their traffic was lower, but the quality of those sessions was better. As far as re-targeting capabilities, we have not done enough with StackAdapt that is similar to our DoubleClick campaigns.

Likelihood to Recommend

When there is content significant to your clients' branding/goals at the time, StackAdapt is a good tool to reach both current and prospective audiences. The custom targeting capabilities can be a nice addition to a campaign when you want to reach a specific audience based on their intent or topics of interest. If time allows, you can get very granular in the detail of these audiences.

Users and Roles

8 - Asst. Media Planner Buyer
Media Planner Buyer
Sr. Planner Buyer
Digital Media Director

Business Processes Supported

Promoting Video Content through Native Pre-Roll and In-Stream Placements
A/B Testing Static Images/Creative
Re-market to users who have watched/interacted with promoted content

Likelihood to Renew

The platform is easy to use and understand whether it is being used as self-serve or a managed service. The audience targeting is solid, and array of placements is versatile. With these, the level of engagement for video content is usually great.

Lots of Good Layers With StackAdapt

Overall Satisfaction with StackAdapt