Demandbase targets accounts by identifying the online users associated with each account in two steps.
- Domain Matching: We match each target account's website to its primary online presence, or "domain."
- User Affiliation: Using AI and machine learning, we determine the domain affiliation of each user we encounter online.
Important: "Users" refers to individuals at current and potential customer accounts who engage with online content where your ads can be shown.
Understanding Domains in Demandbase Advertising
A B2B commerce website's network domain is usually the root of its URL (i.e., company.com in http://www.company.com/division).
In Advertising Cloud, a domain is defined as the unique, non-redirecting portion of a website URL (e.g., company.com). It must represent a distinct online presence. For Demandbase ad targeting, the website associated with an account can’t be a proxy for a different URL.
How Domain to Account Mapping Affects Targeting
Accurate website URLs are critical for each account in your target list, whether provided through automated CRM or marketing automation system (MAS) syncs, or manual upload. These URLs are fundamental to Demandbase's account targeting, as we use them to identify each account's distinct online presence.
If the website for your target account has a distinct online presence (with its own unique domain), Demandbase can deliver ads to people who work there. However, accounts without a unique domain can't be identified and therefore can't be targeted.
For example, if a company division is just a part of the main website (e.g., company.com/division), it can't be targeted separately. But, if the division has its own subdomain (e.g., division.company.com), then it can be identified and targeted.
A subdomain website can map to its own distinct domain:
| Website in Account | Mapped URL |
| canada.hotels.com | hotels.com |
Website URLs can change, impacting domain distinctness. For example, because sprint.com now redirects to t-mobile.com, it's no longer a distinct online presence. Demandbase maps accounts with sprint.com URLs to t-mobile.com. T-mobile.com then appears as the domain in the Advertising Cloud Campaigns dashboard.
Important: If your account list contains multiple accounts sharing the same domain, Demandbase can't provide separate metrics for each account. Since each account lacks a distinct online presence, reporting is aggregated at the domain level.
Different accounts can map to one common domain:
| Website in Account | Mapped URL |
| hamptoninn.com | hilton.com/en/brands/hampton-by-hilton/ |
| homewoodsuites.com | hilton.com/en/brands/homewood-suites/ |
| hilton.com | hilton.com/en |
After establishing each account's domain, Demandbase uses proprietary machine learning to identify associated users. Processing approximately 20 billion domain signals daily from various sources, we then target these identified users with your ads.
How Domain Mapping Works for Your Ad Campaigns
Here's a simplified overview of how Advertising Cloud uses domain mapping to reach your target accounts:
- Each account needs a website URL. We then connect that website to its corresponding domain.
- Demandbase links users to these domains.
- When a user on our network requests an ad, we target them with ads relevant to the domains they're associated with.
When a single account is linked to a domain, there's no confusion about which account the campaign reaches. However, when multiple accounts share the same domain, Advertising Cloud needs to account for this shared audience.
Understanding Your Ad Campaign Reports
Your campaign reports show results by domain and subdomain, in addition to account-level data. This helps clarify any differences between account and domain performance. Demandbase One still provides overall account engagement and ad spend reporting.
Previously, Advertising Cloud in Demandbase One reported campaign data by account only. Here are the key updates to the Campaigns dashboard now that we include domains:
- The Campaigns dashboard's Accounts tab is now the Domains tab.
- Metrics that previously showed account counts now show domain counts. You can still see aggregated account data for some metrics by switching from Domains to Accounts view.
- Hovering over a Domain name will display a pop-up with details about the associated accounts and their websites.
Tip: For a detailed look at the way campaign reporting is segmented into domains and accounts in the Advertising Cloud user interface, see Understanding the Campaigns and Domains Tabs on the Campaigns Dashboard.