Mobile attribution specialist 4INFO has partnered with digital media firm Catalina to develop benchmarks for measuring the effectiveness of mobile ad campaigns in driving in-store sales lift. The benchmarks enable mobile advertisers to compare in-store sales lift and Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) to other campaigns, across several product categories.

Catalina’s mobile and online advertising platform, BuyerVision, powered by 4INFO, has delivered mobile ad targeting for more than 200 national brand advertisers since it launched in 2013, and includes the ability to measure in-store sales lift from mobile ad spend. It does this via 4INFO’s patented technology, which ties mobile devices to more than 90 per cent of US households. Its flagship product, AdHaven Bullseye, anonymously matches mobile device data to household-level purchase data, providing the ability to measure sales results from a mobile ad spend.

Together, the companies have collected what they describe as “statistically significant in-store sales lift measurement results on national brand mobile ad campaigns” in order to establish the benchmarks.

The benchmarks are based on data calculated from mobile ad campaigns using the Neilsen Catalina Solutions single source dataset, which integrates Catalina’s frequent shopper data with Nielsen Homescan to ensure national representation; 4INFO’s mobile ad technology, and Nielsen Catalina Solutions measurement platforms.

A total of 83 mobile measurement campaigns were analyzed across a variety of leading CPG brand categories, including beverage, baby, food, general merchandise, health & beauty, over-the-counter and pet. Campaign duration ranged from four to 38 weeks, with an average of 11 weeks

The benchmark results include an average $2.57 (£1.66) ROAS for mobile ad campaigns, with some returns exceeding 1,000 per cent; a 15 per cent ROAS increase over BuyerVision desktop campaigns; and the finding that mobile banner ads produce roughly $30 in retail sales per 1,000 impressions.

“Our experience providing sales lift measurement results over the past three years for top brands has positioned us to take the lead in establishing much-needed performance measures to guide brand advertisers as they continue to increase their investment in mobile,” said 4INFO CEO, Tim Jenkins. “We were the lone voice guiding major brands to focus on measuring what matters most when we built our platform two years ago. Today, national marketers are demanding our unprecedented capability and high standards for success in mobile.”

4INFO and Catalina said they will be regularly updating the benchmarks as campaign measurement data expands. The benchmark data will also be expanded to include other major industry categories, including financial services, automotive and dining.