If you haven’t heard of it already, Outbrain is a content syndication platform that allows users to publish content and reach new audiences. As a digital media agency committed to producing compelling content for our readers, we are no strangers to content platforms of this sort.
Campaign Management via Outbrain
A few of the things that we’ve always appreciated about Outbrain, specifically, is that it brings us high engagement rates and increased exposure on well-respected websites with high domain authorities. Managing campaigns on the platform has its fair share of benefits as well, but there were certain limitations that made campaign reporting and optimizing a bit tedious.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Outbrain, but I couldn’t help but find myself frustrated with the platform here and there. I mean, we can track down specifics on campaigns such as how the ad budget is spread out and how well an individual piece of content is performing, but wouldn’t it be great to be able to see all this information at one glance? The back-and-forth experience can be time consuming, especially when trying to manage and report on multiple campaigns at a time.
Outbrain’s New Amplify Dashboard is Here
Well, you know the saying: The squeaky wheel gets the oil. And it looks like we’re getting some of that oil.
Outbrain has been listening to the constructive criticisms that campaign managers have had with the campaign management process and some of the features that would make our lives easier.
Outbrain’s Amplify Dashboard was rolled out on August 1, 2016 and has a brand new look and feel. They have asked us to provide feedback on what we like about the new dashboard and how it’s different from the previous one.
Below is our experience:
First Impressions of the Amplify Dashboard
Probably the biggest challenge that I had with the previous platform was that it was difficult to manage multiple campaigns. For example, if I wanted to view which campaign had the lowest CPA, I would have to switch screens for each campaign. If I wanted to increase the budget on the campaign with the lowest CPA, I would have to switch screens again.
I also found myself longing for a more comprehensive dashboard where I could track results from all my campaigns that were currently running and even compare some of the data. It would be awesome to see some of the trends resulting from our campaigns, and even compare old campaigns with new campaigns. If only!
Fast forward to the new dashboard and there are a host of features that I am very happy to see!
Everything in a Single Dashboard
What Outbrain has done is give campaign managers what they want in a single dashboard. All of the campaign components – Campaign Management, Campaign Reporting and Campaign Settings – have been combined into one dashboard. This makes it possible to jump around and view the campaigns, plus make easy edits such as adjusting the budget based on CPA or CTR. The right side slide out edit menu has been a game changer!
Filtering Results is Now Possible
Additionally, I love that it’s possible to filter the results so that I can focus on one aspect of a campaign. It’s much easier to gather data such as clicks, impressions and spend, and we even get an up-to-date budget spend in the budget column, helping us stay on track with our goals in real time.
Campaigns Can be Archived
An additional feature I really appreciate having is the archive component. With the New Amplify Dashboard, we can archive any of our campaigns that we do not want to see in our dash. This has allowed for better organization and visibility for currently running campaigns that need attention. Overall, the new dashboard is much more organized and allows for quicker and easier daily campaign checks.
Campaign Management Made Simple
One of the most recent campaigns that we ran using the Amplify Dashboard was for our client Weego for their blog post “7 Ways to Increase Your Gas Mileage”. In just 10 days, it received 191 clicks! Not only did the campaign perform well, but the overall management experience during this campaign was a 10.
During this campaign, I was able to get up-to-date progress right in the middle of the campaign dashboard. If I needed to make an edit, I could do so. Going forward, it’s amazing to think that edits can be applied mid-campaign so that we have a better chance of reaching our goals and optimizing our campaigns!
Outbrain says that the new Amplify Dashboard is only the beginning of what’s to come. They promise the release of a lot more features that will give campaign managers more control over the optimization and scaling of our campaigns. I can’t wait!
