If you're spending 6 figures or even millions of dollars per month on ads, then you are no doubt faced with pressing questions like,
"Where do I allocate my budget?"
"How much do I spend?"
"What creative is the best on which platform/channel?"
"Am I under / overspending on specific channels or audiences?"
"Can I even trust this platform's reporting?"
"What should I try next?"
Platforms like Blueprint, Northbeam, and Skai all aim to address these questions for marketers. Each platform provides their own unique approaches with varying cost structures and attribution models.
With hundreds of options, It can be hard to know if you are making the right choice on an advertising optimization and reporting platform. It really just depends on your specific situation.
In this blog, we’ll compare these 3 solutions across the following categories: integrations, attribution models, visual reporting, predictive analytics, pricing, and time to get up and running.
When you’re spending a lot on paid media, picking the right tool(s) can literally transform your business in a matter of a few weeks. This article aims to arm you with the information needed to make the best decision for your business.
Blueprint.tech can operate and integrate with any ad or attribution platform without limitation. A simple authorization set up, using the platform's native login connection and you're off to the races. Blueprint integrates with all major media platforms (50+ integrations) and pairs with 1st party sales data for a zero sum attribution (5+ attribution systems). Optimizations require you to execute in channel.
Northbeam's integration is more limited. While it supports essential platforms like Google Analytics and Facebook Ads, the range is narrower, which may require additional manual effort to gather and consolidate data from unsupported sources. For businesses heavily reliant on a wide array of tools, this could present a challenge.
Skai also has limited integration capabilities. Although it supports key platforms such as Google Ads and Amazon, it is limited to just the main options. This limitation can hinder a unified view of multi-channel campaigns, making it harder to draw actionable insights from disparate data sources.
Blueprint offers a Pixel-less and cookie-less tracking solution. It includes automated tagging and has one dashboard for all your content across all channels (you can see the same piece of content across multiple channels, even influencers): digital, linear, OOH, podcasts, affiliate, influencers, and everything else. Blueprint also has a science-backed, intelligent decision-making machine with AI powered insights and recommendations engine. The result is a zero sum attribution.
Northbeam employs first-party data and multi-touch attribution models. This approach helps in understanding the customer's journey across different touchpoints, providing insights into how various interactions contribute to conversions. However, setting up and maintaining these models can be complex, requiring dedicated resources and expertise.
Skai focuses on cross-channel and incremental attribution models. While effective in measuring the impact of marketing activities across different channels, these models can sometimes be less precise in attributing the exact impact of each marketing activity. This can lead to challenges in optimizing budget allocation and campaign strategies.
Blueprint allows you to analyze all creative performance, breaking out results by platforms/channels, audiences, creatives, themes, affiliates, content variations, landing pages, influencers, and other relevant data.
Northbeam provides detailed visual dashboards that present data in an accessible format. These dashboards are effective in offering a snapshot of performance metrics but may lack the depth and AI-driven insights that Blueprint offers. Users might need to perform additional analysis to extract actionable insights.
Skai delivers omnichannel visual insights, which are visually appealing and help in understanding cross-channel performance. However, these reports might not be as detailed or AI-enhanced as those provided by Blueprint, potentially requiring additional interpretation to uncover deeper insights and actionable strategies.
Blueprint leverages an advanced AI decision-making engine alongside its predictive analytics capabilities. This combination has been a game-changer for many companies, yielding incredible results with less effort by anticipating future trends and optimizing campaigns accordingly.
Does not currently offer predictive analytics.
Skai does have an AI predictive analytics tool that, however it does not currently support paid social.
Blueprint offers flat pricing in three tiers. A freemium tier automates your reporting with a few clicks. The Starter account gives you access to advanced analytics that provide actionable insights to improve your media campaigns, while enterprise allows you to integrate even more features without a limit on how much media you can analyze.
Flat fee or % of revenue depending on the size of the business. It gets more expensive as your business grows.
% of revenue which increases the cost of their platform as your business grows.
Blueprint can be fully operational within a few hours.
Northbeam typically takes several days to be fully operational.
Skai's setup process can take several weeks.
As you can see, these platforms vary in a lot of different ways. They all have their pros, but only one of them utilizes AI to help your media buyers make the right choice when it comes to scaling your ads efficiently, quickly, and most importantly, profitably.
"Blueprint helped us scale our advertising from $35M to nearly $120M annually by identifying critical levers for success."
-CMO, D2C Healthcare Brand