Plan Objectives & Use Cases

Optimization Fundamentals

Keen’s optimizations allocate dollars to marketing tactics and plan weeks based on where the highest long-term value can be driven. Optimizations account for:

• Diminishing Marginal Returns:  Media investments scale at different rates leading to different optimal levels based on effectiveness and efficiency.

• Timing of Spend:  Optimal investments in tactics depend on the responsiveness of sales in different seasons.

• Brand Growth:  As a brand grows, so does the scalability of marketing tactics, reflecting the reality that larger brands can afford more investment.

• Interaction Effects:  The impact of any investment in the plan depends on the execution of the other tactics. For this reason, tactic investment recommendations should not be taken independently; each tactic’s activity, and associated incremental response, interplays with the other activations.

Optimization Objectives

Maximize Profit

This objective identifies your ideal marketing state, by investing in each tactic and plan week until an additional $1 investment no longer yields $1 in profit. (At this inflection point, the business will continue to drive top-line sales but will diminish overall net present value, as the investment will return less than $1 profit.)

In doing so, the plan identifies the maximum profit a marketing plan can generate for your business and the maximum investment runway for each tactic.

If profitability is your top concern, and the plan KPIs meet the criteria below, then following this plan is recommended – it maximizes marketing-driven value. However, this plan may not achieve your key business needs:

• Does the investment recommendation fall within the brand’s current budget?

• Does the projected revenue meet the brand’s target for the period?

Why? This plan puts the focus entirely on marketing profit, without taking in information about the total-business sales objectives or budget constraints you may have. If the Maximize Profits plan doesn’t meet your top-line requirements, explore the Optimize Fixed Budget plan next…

Optimize a Fixed Budget

This optimization is our most highly utilized for a reason! This plan optimization produces the highest possible lifetime profit for your business, within a given budget. The mix is well-balanced across short-term transaction-driving channels and long-term brand-building channels.

If a healthy mix is your top concern, and the plan KPIs meet the criteria below, then following this plan is recommended – it maximizes marketing-driven value within your given budget. However, this plan may not achieve your final key business need:

• Does the projected revenue meet the brand’s target for the period?

This plan recognizes your budget constraint, but it's possible that - even with optimization - the budget can’t achieve your sales target. Why?

• Your target may be very aggressive

• Your budget may have been cut from prior years

• The projected environment factors may be driving significant headwinds for the business.

If the Optimize Fixed Budget plan doesn’t meet your top-line requirements, explore the Hit a Revenue Target plan next…

Hit a Target

These optimizations allow you to choose between Revenue or Volume targeting, each with distinct optimization strategies.

Hit a Revenue Target

This optimization is best used when your brand is striving to hit a specific top-line revenue goal in short order. This plan optimization produces the highest possible lifetime profit for your business with the fewest possible dollars, but must achieve the short-term revenue target defined.

• If the revenue target you choose is easily achievable (i.e. takes a relatively low budget vs what you typically spend), you may see the optimizer favor long-term tactics that drive better dividends in future years.

• If the revenue target you choose is a stretch (i.e. takes a relatively high budget vs what you typically spend), you may see the optimizer favor short-term tactics that driver immediate transactions more than the other optimization types.

Hit a Volume Target

This optimization is best used when your brand is striving to hit a specific outcome metric goal in short order (units sold, leads generated, foot traffic, etc.). This plan optimization focuses purely on outcome metric efficiency, often achieving targets with lower budgets than equivalent revenue targets. The optimizer can more aggressively suppress spending in less efficient periods since revenue generation isn't the direct constraint.

How They Work Differently

When your plan's price per unit matches your model's historical data, equivalent revenue- and volume-based targets will produce identical investment plans.

Differences emerge when you modify pricing:

• Change price per unit up or down from historical levels (e.g., 120% or 80% of model data)

• Use different pricing across time periods (seasonal pricing, promotional periods)

In these cases, the targets optimize differently:

Revenue targets focus on revenue generation efficiency:

• More balanced investment patterns across time periods

• Must maintain spending in revenue-generating periods even when prices change

Volume targets focus on pure outcome metric efficiency:

• Can aggressively suppress spending when prices are unfavorable

• Concentrate investment in periods with best volume efficiency

• Often achieve goals with lower budgets when pricing deviates from historical norms.

Price Per Unit Impact

As the profitability of marketing shifts, so will the strategies of the optimizations as they try to (1) hit your target and (2) optimize profitability:

• Higher prices or margins (marginal ROI > 1.0): Optimizer invests in long-term tactics like brand-building and awareness

• Lower prices or margins (marginal ROI < 1.0): Optimizer focuses on short-term tactics like performance marketing and conversions

Forecasting Objectives

Forecast a Plan

If you already have your marketing plan for a period in place, upload it to explore revenue, sales volume, and profit forecasts.

Status Quo

Replicate your most recent (YOY) marketing execution in a future period. Note: Status Quo plans must rely on a model with a minimum of one year's worth of historical data.

Comparing Plan Objectives

Comparing two or more Plans - either with different objectives, or with the same objective and different settings - reveals how recommended investment allocations change based on the needs expressed.