Total Economic Impact
Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By TripleLift Custom Native Formats
A FORRESTER TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY COMMISSIONED BY Triplelift, JANUARY 2026
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Total Economic Impact The Total Economic Impact™ Of TripleLift Custom Native FormatsA FORRESTER TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY COMMISSIONED BY Triplelift, JANUARY 2026 Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By TripleLift Custom Native Formats
Executive SummaryAdvertising agencies face rising media costs, fragmented digital ecosystems, and growing consumer aversion to disruptive ads. Native advertising offers a creative solution by blending brand messages seamlessly into publishers’ content in order to enhance users’ experience and engagement. TripleLift’s custom native formats use component-based templates and dynamic rendering to match ads with publishers’ environments; businesses can use them to help achieve competitive KPIs, more efficient media spend, and greater campaign bandwidth. TripleLift Custom Formats encompasses both native and non-native high-impact creative solutions — including native ads, display, branded video, connected TV (CTV), and retail media — to deliver flexibility and scale across an omnichannel programmatic ecosystem. This study focuses specifically on custom native formats, which transform standard brand assets into native formats, support engagement metrics like click-through rate (CTR) and video completion rate, and provide creative assembly along with contextual publisher data at no additional cost. Agencies can activate these formats programmatically via demand-side platforms (DSPs), using curated deals and integrated targeting capabilities to simplify campaign execution. TripleLift commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) enterprises may realize by deploying TripleLift.1 The purpose of this study is to provide readers with a framework to evaluate the potential financial impact of TripleLift Custom Native Formats on their organizations. To better understand the benefits, costs, and risks associated with this investment, Forrester interviewed five decision-makers with experience using TripleLift Custom Native Formats. For the purposes of this study, Forrester aggregated the experiences of the interviewees and combined the results into a single composite organization, which is a global media agency with annual revenue of $5 billion and eight programmatic buyers. It spends $1.2 million with TripleLift per year. Interviewees said that prior to using TripleLift, their organizations relied on standard programmatic display and other native vendors, which led to them experiencing high CPMs, time-consuming creative processes, and limited scalability. They also expressed concerns about inventory quality and transparency, with some partners offering less-premium placements and opaque inventory sources, such as made-for-advertising websites; this raised brand safety risks and led to suboptimal engagement metrics. After the investment in TripleLift, interviewees described improved performance metrics, price efficiencies, and ease of execution for native formats, including display, branded video, and/or CTV. Interviewees’ organizations designated TripleLift a preferred partner for native formats and consistently integrated it into ongoing media planning and buying cycles when their campaign objectives called for native solutions. Key FindingsQuantified benefits. Three-year, risk-adjusted present value (PV) quantified benefits for the composite organization include:
Unquantified benefits. Benefits that provide value for the composite organization but are not quantified for this study include:
Costs. Three-year, risk-adjusted PV costs for the composite organization include:
The financial analysis that is based on the interviews found that a composite organization experiences benefits of $3.0 million over three years versus costs of $798,000, adding up to a net present value (NPV) of $2.2 million and an ROI of 272%. Key Statistics272%Return on investment (ROI) $3.0MBenefits PV $2.2MNet present value (NPV)
Benefits (Three-Year)[CHART DIV CONTAINER]
Increased advertising value
Productivity efficiencies with TripleLift creative designs
Improved campaign optimization and programmatic buyer efficiency
Data cost savings captured with TripleLift
The TripleLift Custom Native Formats Customer JourneyDrivers leading to the TripleLift investmentInterviews
Key ChallengesPrior to investing in TripleLift Custom Native Formats, interviewees worked with traditional native partners and managed campaigns through manual DSP workflows. These were problematic and created inefficiencies across setup, creative approvals, revisions, optimization, vendor responsiveness, and data/inventory transparency. The interviewees noted how their organizations struggled with common challenges, including:
Solution RequirementsThe interviewees searched for a solution that could:
Composite OrganizationBased on the interviews, Forrester constructed a TEI framework, a composite company, and an ROI analysis that illustrates the areas financially affected. The composite organization is representative of the interviewees’ organizations, and it is used to present the aggregate financial analysis in the next section. The composite organization has the following characteristics:
KEY ASSUMPTIONS
Analysis Of BenefitsQuantified benefit data as applied to the compositeTotal Benefits
Increased Advertising ValueEvidence and data. Interviewees noted that TripleLift’s native formats improved advertising efficiency and engagement across key performance metrics, including lower CPMs, higher CTRs, and stronger video completion rates. These gains allowed their organizations to reinvest these savings and performance uplift in campaigns, expanding their reach and adding premium formats without increasing overall spend. Interviewees mentioned that TripleLift delivers strong KPIs, hitting benchmark performance numbers even though these goals could vary by campaign compared with other native and programmatic solutions. Key results included:
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
Risks. The realization of these benefits will vary with:
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $1.3 million. $3.7ROAS with TripleLift Increased Advertising Value
Productivity Efficiencies With TripleLift Creative DesignsEvidence and data. Interviewees reported that leveraging TripleLift for creative asset development and formatting reduced turnaround times and minimized internal resource requirements, particularly for midfunnel campaigns. They added that their teams were able to launch campaigns faster and avoid extended back-and-forth cycles with creative agencies. Key results included:
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
Risks. The realization of these benefits will vary with:
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $357,000. 60%Campaigns that use TripleLift to create assets Productivity Efficiencies With TripleLift Creative Services
Improved Campaign Optimization And Programmatic Buyer EfficiencyEvidence and data. Interviewees reported that TripleLift created more efficient setup and optimization for campaigns as well as time savings for programmatic buyers as a result of requiring less troubleshooting and fewer revisions. Interviewees highlighted:
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
Risks. The realization of these benefits will vary with:
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $927,000. $927KImproved campaign setup, optimization, and employee productivity Improved Campaign Optimization And Programmatic Buyer Efficiency
Data Cost Savings Captured With TripleLiftEvidence and data. Interviewees reported that TripleLift’s contextual and publisher-derived data eliminates the need for costly third-party audience segments, which reduced their campaign expenses. Key benefits include:
Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
Risks. The realization of these benefits will vary with:
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $425,000. 15%Data cost savings with TripleLift Data Cost Savings Captured With TripleLift
Unquantified BenefitsInterviewees mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:
FlexibilityThe value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement TripleLift and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:
Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Total Economic Impact Approach). Analysis Of CostsQuantified cost data as applied to the compositeTotal Costs
TripleLift Advertising CostsEvidence and data. The composite organization incurs media costs when purchasing TripleLift inventory. Pricing may vary by campaign size, format, and negotiated rates. Contact TripleLift for additional details. Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:
Risks. The realization of this cost will vary with:
Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this cost upward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $798,000. TripleLift Advertising Costs
Financial SummaryConsolidated Three-Year, Risk-Adjusted MetricsCash Flow Chart (Risk-Adjusted)[CHART DIV CONTAINER]
Total costs
Total benefits
Cumulative net benefits
Initial
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Cash Flow Analysis (Risk-Adjusted)
Please NoteThe financial results calculated in the Benefits and Costs sections can be used to determine the ROI and NPV for the composite organization’s investment. Forrester assumes a yearly discount rate of 10% for this analysis. These risk-adjusted ROI and NPV values are determined by applying risk-adjustment factors to the unadjusted results in each Benefit and Cost section. The initial investment column contains costs incurred at “time 0” or at the beginning of Year 1 that are not discounted. All other cash flows are discounted using the discount rate at the end of the year. PV calculations are calculated for each total cost and benefit estimate. NPV calculations in the summary tables are the sum of the initial investment and the discounted cash flows in each year. Sums and present value calculations of the Total Benefits, Total Costs, and Cash Flow tables may not exactly add up, as some rounding may occur. From the information provided in the interviews, Forrester constructed a Total Economic Impact™ framework for those organizations considering an investment in TripleLift Custom Native Formats. The objective of the framework is to identify the cost, benefit, flexibility, and risk factors that affect the investment decision. Forrester took a multistep approach to evaluate the impact that TripleLift Custom Native Formats can have on an organization. Due DiligenceInterviewed TripleLift stakeholders and Forrester analysts to gather data relative to TripleLift Custom Native Formats. InterviewsInterviewed five decision-makers at organizations using TripleLift Custom Native Formats to obtain data about costs, benefits, and risks. Composite OrganizationDesigned a composite organization based on characteristics of the interviewees’ organizations. Financial Model FrameworkConstructed a financial model representative of the interviews using the TEI methodology and risk-adjusted the financial model based on issues and concerns of the interviewees. Case StudyEmployed four fundamental elements of TEI in modeling the investment impact: benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks. Given the increasing sophistication of ROI analyses related to IT investments, Forrester’s TEI methodology provides a complete picture of the total economic impact of purchase decisions. Please see Appendix A for additional information on the TEI methodology. Total Economic Impact ApproachBenefitsBenefits represent the value the solution delivers to the business. The TEI methodology places equal weight on the measure of benefits and costs, allowing for a full examination of the solution’s effect on the entire organization. CostsCosts comprise all expenses necessary to deliver the proposed value, or benefits, of the solution. The methodology captures implementation and ongoing costs associated with the solution. FlexibilityFlexibility represents the strategic value that can be obtained for some future additional investment building on top of the initial investment already made. The ability to capture that benefit has a PV that can be estimated. RisksRisks measure the uncertainty of benefit and cost estimates given: 1) the likelihood that estimates will meet original projections and 2) the likelihood that estimates will be tracked over time. TEI risk factors are based on “triangular distribution.” Financial TerminologyPresent value (PV)The present or current value of (discounted) cost and benefit estimates given at an interest rate (the discount rate). The PVs of costs and benefits feed into the total NPV of cash flows. Net present value (NPV)The present or current value of (discounted) future net cash flows given an interest rate (the discount rate). A positive project NPV normally indicates that the investment should be made unless other projects have higher NPVs. Return on investment (ROI)A project’s expected return in percentage terms. ROI is calculated by dividing net benefits (benefits less costs) by costs. Discount rateThe interest rate used in cash flow analysis to take into account the time value of money. Organizations typically use discount rates between 8% and 16%. Appendix ATotal Economic ImpactTotal Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists solution providers in communicating their value proposition to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of business and technology initiatives to both senior management and other key stakeholders. Appendix BEndnotes1 Total Economic Impact is a methodology developed by Forrester Research that enhances a company’s technology decision-making processes and assists solution providers in communicating their value proposition to clients. The TEI methodology helps companies demonstrate, justify, and realize the tangible value of business and technology initiatives to both senior management and other key stakeholders. DisclosuresReaders should be aware of the following: This study is commissioned by TripleLift and delivered by Forrester Consulting. It is not meant to be used as a competitive analysis. Forrester makes no assumptions as to the potential ROI that other organizations will receive. Forrester strongly advises that readers use their own estimates within the framework provided in the study to determine the appropriateness of an investment in TripleLift Custom Native Formats. TripleLift reviewed and provided feedback to Forrester, but Forrester maintains editorial control over the study and its findings and does not accept changes to the study that contradict Forrester’s findings or obscure the meaning of the study. TripleLift provided the customer names for the interviews but did not participate in the interviews. Consulting Team:Lalé Varoglu PublishedJanuary 2026 |
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