Performics (Publicis) exclusively delivers the results of four campaigns activated for an advertiser in the spring. New tests are already on the agenda.
Performics (Publicis Connected Media) provides Journal du Net with feedback from its very first advertising campaign experience on ChatGPT for a French advertiser. “Performics was the first French agency to activate a ChatGPT Ads campaign,” claims Nicolas Pestourie, director of SEA operations at Performics. The test took place during the month of March, three weeks after the launch of ChatGPT Ads to a very small handful of major global advertisers who then agreed to pay an entry fee of $250,000.
In this context of the pilot phase on the American market, the functionalities were still embryonic, including: a single format consisting of a visual and very little text placed at the bottom of the response to the query; a $60 CPM billing model; all of which is programmed and managed by the OpenAI teams.
Four campaigns were activated on ChatGPT for this advertiser. One focused on user queries wondering about the brand; another generic to respond to queries concerning the advertiser’s sector (travel); the other two campaigns specifically covering the catalog of this brand. The advertiser could determine the keywords of the targeted queries while requesting exact or broad targeting. Perfomics requested a broad approach in order to “capture all user prompts”.
The results after a month of campaigning? First of all, a largely insufficient reach: with 32,000 impressions over the four campaigns, only $1,000 (out of $250,000) was spent! “The offer was in the launch phase with a very gradual opening of the floodgates, not to mention that the placement of the ad at the very bottom of the response considerably limits its visibility. No doubt also that the broad targeting of ChatGPT is not as powerful as that of Google. Finally, competition from American companies is very significant”, analyzes Nicolas Pestourie.
Limited reach, limited clicks. Compared to search, where sponsored links are displayed at the top of the page, ChatGPT’s click-through rate (CTR) is very low due to its location at the very end of the response. On this test, it was 2.35% compared to 12% on Google in general. “Note that for an equivalent location on the Google footer, this rate is around 2%,” specifies the expert. Which equates to a CPC of $1.28, lower than on Google search for travel in the United States. In the end, the advertiser paid a CPM half as much as that announced by OpenAI at the start of the operation.
Although these results are derisory, the advertiser and its agency remain convinced of the value of this test. “It was important for us to be able to carry out these first tests in order to get out of the unknown. We first understood that this channel responds more to logic of consideration than of performance, which impacts the way in which advertising creations must be designed,” explains our interlocutor. The proof is that the 752 clicks made in total on the redirection links of the four campaigns resulted in 1,200 page views, but no conversions. “The basic ChatGPT Ads, excluding the shopping format whose launch is imminent, are a mix between display and search, with the visual taking precedence over textual elements with a view to recommendation. The ads must be designed in a user-friendly way to inspire, not necessarily to encourage purchase,” explains Nicolas Pestourie.
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The fact remains that ChatGPT is an environment considered very premium, very “clean” for brands and therefore ultra-high quality given that “the aim of the platform is to support the user by providing them with relevant answers to their questions”. In addition, since this first phase of testing, OpenAI has accelerated significantly. The platform also opened up to CPC, launched a self-service activation interface, integrated a conversion pixel, announced some changes in the format, including especially the imminent arrival of a Shopping version, announced its launch on six new markets, three of which are effective. All this in less than three months.
Enough to strongly motivate our interlocutor to continue to launch new test campaigns for its major account clients, including a major international group in the luxury sector, which will probably be the next to experiment it. “OpenAI learns and evolves very quickly. The latest announcements concerning the diversification of advertising formats prove that the platform has understood that it must develop its reach,” concludes Nicolas Pestourie.
