Why Your Media Audit Falls Short Without Triangulation

In my 25 years as a global media auditor, I’ve seen the evolution of media auditing firsthand.

From the early days when media audits were a new concept, to today's complex, multi-channel media landscape, one thing has become increasingly clear: without triangulation, media audits simply fall short.

Many legacy media audit methodologies rely on singular data sources or narrow perspectives, leaving advertisers with an incomplete and often inaccurate view of their media performance.

This is why at Abintus Consulting, we’ve pioneered a Holistic Media Auditing approach that incorporates triangulation at its core, ensuring a true, robust assessment of both agency and direct media buys.

Flaws in Legacy Audit Methodologies

Legacy media audits often hinge on isolated data points, relying heavily on self-reported figures from media agencies.

While this may provide a snapshot of media performance, it fails, in my opinion, to offer a comprehensive or trustworthy view.

When audits are based solely on one-sided data, they miss critical aspects, such as financial discrepancies, underperformance, or misalignment with contractual obligations.

These traditional audits often ignore the need to cross-verify with multiple data sources, leading to gaps in the analysis and leaving advertisers unaware of what is really happening with their media investments.

Our Unique Holistic Approach

At Abintus Consulting, we have transformed the auditing process through our unique holistic media auditing approach, which is built on the principle of triangulation.

We collect and cross-reference three distinct sets of data to ensure accuracy and transparency:

1. Raw Granular Campaign Data: We gather raw data directly from media systems and platforms. Unlike many of our competitors, who require media agencies to fill out complex templates, we ask for simple exports. This not only lightens the workload for agencies and clients but also provides us with unfiltered, unbiased data. This granular data forms the foundation of our audit, offering a true picture of media activity that we then cross-validate with other data sources.
2. Media Agency Invoices (or Media Owner Invoices for Direct Buys): Financial accuracy is crucial in media auditing. We collect media agency invoices or, in the case of direct buys, media owner invoices. These documents should be securely stored and easily shareable, so their collection is straightforward. By comparing these invoices with raw campaign data, we ensure that every penny spent aligns with the media delivered, safeguarding against financial discrepancies.
3. Performance Optimisation: Holistic Post Campaign Reports are part of the media planning and buying process audit, one of the six audits in our holistic media auditing solution. These reports should already exist and be securely stored, requiring no additional effort from agencies or clients. They provide context and performance metrics that we cross-reference against the raw data and invoices. This triangulation validates the reported outcomes, ensuring they accurately reflect the media activities executed.

Triangulation: Ensuring a Robust Audit

Triangulation is more than just a method—it’s a necessity for any audit to be truly robust.

By cross-referencing these three sets of data, we validate the accuracy and completeness of the media activities.

If discrepancies arise, we don’t stop at just identifying them; we delve deeper to understand their origins. Was the raw data incorrect? Did the invoices fail to match the media delivered? Or were the post-campaign reports misaligned?

Our investigation pinpoints the source of the inconsistency, allowing us to validate one source of truth.

This meticulous process ensures that advertisers gain a transparent and accurate picture of their media investments, enabling them to make informed decisions that optimise their media performance and ensure accountability from their media partners.

Why Advertisers Should Demand Holistic Media Auditing

Nowadays, a partial audit is simply not enough. Advertisers deserve a full view of their media performance, one that extends beyond the limitations of legacy audit methodologies.

Only a holistic media audit incorporating triangulation can uncover the complete story, revealing both the strengths and weaknesses of your media investments.

It’s time advertisers demand more from their media audits, moving beyond outdated methods to embrace an approach that offers clarity, accuracy, and actionable insights.

Conclusion and Next Steps

At Abintus Consulting, we’re not just auditing; we’re transforming how media audits are conducted.

Our approach ensures that advertisers and agencies alike have access to a 360-degree diagnostic assessment of media performance.

By minimising the workload for media agencies and clients, we facilitate a transparent, efficient, and, most importantly, a truthful audit process.

In the world of media auditing, triangulation isn’t just an option—it’s the only path to the truth. Without it, your media audit will always fall short.

With it, you gain not just good data, but actionable intelligence that drives smarter media investments and optimises performance.

If you’re ready to move beyond incomplete media audits and uncover the true story behind your media performance, contact us today for a personalised demo of our Holistic Media Auditing solution or schedule a demo directly at a time that suits you.