What is the CPLU and How to Analyze It?
If you provide your campaign budget and reach data, and select the right KPIs in your brand lift study, we can estimate a Cost Per Lifted User (CPLU). Here's everything you need to know about this val
Introduction
The Cost Per Lifted User (CPLU) is a metric designed to measure the return on investment (ROI) of your campaign by isolating conversions (or new "lifted users") that occurred solely because of your advertising efforts. By focusing exclusively on incremental conversions, CPLU enables accurate ROI calculations that reflect real financial value generated by your campaign spend, leading to more strategic and profitable budget allocation decisions.
What is a lifted user
A 'Lifted User' is a term used to describe a consumer's specific reaction to a brand. This happens when a consumer correlates a brand with positive attributes or intents, whether or not they remember seeing a specific advertising campaign by that brand. The concept involves two main parts:
Brand Attribution: A Lifted User has successfully made a positive association with the brand in question, after being exposed to the ad on the questionnaire.
Positive Response to Impact KPIs: Impact KPIs cover various factors such as brand image, brand familiarity, consideration, and purchase intent. A positive response to these KPIs denotes a user is 'lifted'.
To illustrate, suppose your Brand lift contains these KPIs:
Ad recall
Attribution,
Brand Image,
Brand Familiarity,
Consideration.
A Lifted User, in this case, would be someone displaying a strong brand familiarity, a positive brand image and a positive Purchase consideration, and correctly associating the campaign with the right brand.
It is important to note that depending on the combination of KPIs you use, the definition of a “lifted user” will change. For example, it will be easier to have more lifted users based on a brand lift that contains 2 impacts KPIs, vs one that contains 3 or more impact KPIs.
Conditions to calculate the CPLU
It is only possible to calculate the CPLU on these conditions:
The brand lift must contain the Attribution KPI : we consider a lifted respondent must attribute the ad to the right brand.
The brand lift must contain at list 2 impact KPIs (for example Brand image, Consideration, Purchase intent, Brand preference…)
You must provide the budget of your campaign and the estimated unique reach.
How CPLU is calculated
Step by step explanation
Let's walk through a detailed example to illustrate how CPLU is calculated:
Formula
The general formula for CPLU is:
Where:
B = Campaign Budget
R = Total Reach
A = Ad Recall Rate
Ca = Conversion Rate among Ad Recall respondents
Cna = Conversion Rate among Non-Ad Recall respondents (baseline)
The denominator represents the incremental lifts generated by the campaign, calculated as the difference between actual conversions and what would have occurred naturally.
Objectives of CPLU
CPLU serves several functions in campaign performance analysis:
True ROI Measurement: By isolating conversions directly attributable to your campaign, CPLU provides a more accurate assessment of return on investment than traditional conversion metrics.
Campaign Efficiency Comparison: CPLU enables meaningful comparisons between campaigns with different audience sizes, exposure levels, or natural conversion rates, as it standardizes performance based on incremental impact.
Budget Optimization: Understanding the true cost of incremental conversions helps optimize budget allocation across campaigns, channels, and audiences for maximum efficiency.
How to Read and Interpret CPLU
CPLU becomes more meaningful when viewed in context:
Lower CPLU = Better Performance: A lower value means you're generating lift more efficiently.
Comparisons require consistent KPIs: To compare CPLUs across campaigns, they must include the same set of KPIs.
There is currently no standard CPLU benchmark at Happydemics, as budget and reach data are not always provided, and many campaigns don't meet the required KPI conditions. We're actively working on building reliable benchmarks based on consistent KPI combinations and industry categories.
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