Campaign forecasting is a feature shown on campaigns as they are being built. It gives you a quick view of how your campaign is predicted to perform based on a robust set of campaign configurations. The forecast predicts the campaign’s number of daily users, impressions, and spend.
Click Check Forecast to see how the campaign will perform while you are building a campaign. If the forecast does not meet your expectations, change the campaign configurations and click Check Forecast again to update.
The Check Forecast button is disabled when the forecast is up to date. The button is enabled when you have made changes, and a message appears any time you make changes to the campaign configurations.
FAQ
Q: How does 6sense campaign forecasting work?
A: To calculate the forecast, 6sense’s system analyzes your campaign’s targeted segment, bid price, budget, frequency cap, and more. To start, 6sense determines the potential audience size in the account segment. After entering budget, the forecast shows the daily expected number of users, number of impressions, and spend. The forecast can be updated as other campaign configuration changes are made.
Q: What campaign configurations are factored into the estimator?
A: Campaign forecasting takes the following campaign configurations into account:
Accounts in Segment
Daily Spend Amount
Max CPM
Frequency Caps
Persona Targeting
Device Types
Inventory Type
Country
Language
Day parting, creative size, and creative type are not incorporated into forecasting.
Q: How long does it take for 6sense to make the forecast?
A: Query return times vary for campaign forecasting. Segment size is the primary factor that can cause long query times. The bigger the segment, the longer it takes to make a forecast. Subsequent forecasting during campaign creation on the same campaign is faster than the initial query. Initial forecasts can take up to a minute.
Q: How accurate is the forecast?
A: While 6sense strives for accuracy in forecasts, remember that forecast results are an estimate and don’t guarantee the actual performance of your campaign.
Q: When should I run the campaign forecast?
A: 6sense recommends that you execute the forecast once you’ve set initial campaign configurations. When you change the campaign configuration in a way that affects the forecast, a message appears above the forecast button to remind you to refresh the forecast.
Q: If my daily budget is forecast to be spent in full, should I consider making changes to the campaign configurations?
A: Several campaign configuration settings can drastically impact your forecast. If the forecast predicts your daily budget to be spent in full, you can test the following campaign configuration changes in order to be more selective about how your budget is spent:
Consider restricting certain inventory or device types.
If you are using persona targeting, prioritize only your highest value personas.
Lower frequency caps in order to maximize reach across the audience.
Q: If I’ve not forecast to spend my daily budget in full, should I consider making changes to the campaign configurations?
A: If you’ve not forecast to spend your daily budget in full, consider reallocating excess budget to campaigns with larger audience targets.
However, if you cannot reallocate budget, consider changing the following campaign configurations:
Bid Price: Increase the max CPM to ensure you’re reaching your audience in a meaningful way. For more detail on setting CPM ranges, refer to the FAQ: Campaign Targeting guidelines.
Segment Size: If the audience isn’t big enough for your intended budget, your segment criteria might be too restrictive. Consider expanding segment criteria to increase your audience sizes (while still maintaining initial campaign objectives).
Q: Why do I see a higher “estimated daily audience or impressions” with persona targeting applied? Shouldn’t persona targeting always be more restrictive and decrease the daily audience?
A: While persona targeting is generally more restricting and will decrease forecasted numbers, there are cases where it could increase the forecast. 6sense forecasts based on a historical sample of user campaign data, prioritizing the most active users that fit the campaign dimensions. When persona targeting is applied, the sampling happens again, looking for specific instances we’ve reached those personas. This can result in finding a similar number or more users.