Setting up a Direct Sold campaign on LiveIntent’s platform is quick and easy. The hardest part may be deciding what kind of Direct Sold campaign to run. Should it be a branding or a performance campaign? Should it be guaranteed or non-guaranteed? Below, we answer these questions and more so that you’ll know how to get the most out of your Direct Sold campaign.

But, before we do, it is important to know that you must first set up a dedicated Direct Sold or House advertiser in our platform if you are to run any direct sold campaigns.

What is a Direct Sold campaign?

A direct sold campaign is one in which a advertiser and a publisher have a contracted agreement for a campaign. In a direct sold campaign, an advertiser’s ad runs on a publisher’s newsletter inventory for a certain time frame or until a certain impression goal is fulfilled. 

Guaranteed vs. Non-Guaranteed Campaigns

Guaranteed direct sold campaigns, or sponsorship campaigns, occur when an advertiser, or “sponsor,” is guaranteed placement in a publisher’s ad unit. The sponsor’s ad will serve exclusively for the duration of a campaign or until an impression goal is fulfilled.

Non-guaranteed campaigns are not guaranteed to win an impression and instead compete against the LiveIntent exchange for an impression. This is also referred to as “unified auction.” Non-guaranteed direct sold campaigns can have branding or performance goals.

Branding vs. Performance Campaigns

A direct sold branding campaign will always bid at the CPM of your choosing, and will therefore have a predictable impression goal. Branding campaigns can optimize to impressions, clicks, or conversions. Campaigns optimizing to impressions will bid on all available impressions at that CPM. Campaigns optimizing to a click or conversion will also bid at the designated CPM, but our algorithm will only bid on users who are deemed more likely to convert on a desired action.

Unlike branding campaigns, performance campaigns do not have a predictable impression count. Bidding fluctuates to reach users that are most likely to convert on a sponsor’s campaign, which is based on the campaign optimization that is set — impressions, click-through rate, or conversion rate.

In general, non-guaranteed performance campaigns help maximize email revenue by improving yield management. By allowing ads to compete for an impression, publishers can ensure that the most appropriate, or valuable, ad is served to users. If publishers receive the maximum value for each impression, they simultaneously maximize their revenue.