The Challenge
Aptos set out to reach retail decision-makers at the right companies, specifically those actively researching omnichannel and multichannel retail. As a multi-year SmartBrief partner, the team saw Topic Affinity as a way to make an already successful approach more intent-driven: if delivery could concentrate around readers engaging with topics like multichannel retail, those readers should be more inclined to lean in and engage further. Because the placement was a pilot, it was a low-risk way to test the offering and validate whether it could deliver the kind of engagement Aptos cares about.
Why SmartBrief
Aptos chose SmartBrief on the strength of a proven track record and a model that fit how the team likes to run campaigns: intent-aligned targeting with continuous message testing and optimization. The audience quality stood out most — the concentration of engagement from senior decision-makers and ICP-matched titles, as did the value of appearing alongside credible retail coverage, which reinforced Aptos' positioning within the topics and priorities driving the industry.
The Solution: Topic Affinity
Topic Affinity aligns delivery with intent, concentrating a campaign around the readers actively engaging with the topics that matter most to a brand. For Aptos, that meant surfacing content to retail professionals demonstrating affinity for omnichannel and multichannel retail, paired with ongoing message testing and creative optimization designed to reduce waste and sharpen performance across the life of the campaign.
The Results
In roughly a month, Topic Affinity beat benchmark performance and proved out the value of optimization while delivering the engagement quality that mattered most:
Optimization insight. Message testing surfaced clear learnings on which headlines and creative performed best — including some unexpected winners that will inform future messaging.
Optimization more than doubled performance. Through in-flight testing, the optimized creative outperformed the original by 113%.
Senior-led engagement. A majority of engagement came from director-level titles and above, with the strongest engagement coming from the CEO category.
Buying committee alignment. Job-title detail showed many roles aligned with those involved in a technology buying cycle.
80+ target accounts engaged. Combining SmartBrief portal data with Aptos' owned reporting, the campaign drove engagement from more than 80 target accounts — one of the most meaningful indicators of pilot success.
Read more about the SmartBrief and Aptos partnership here.
SmartBrief's reporting is a standout — detailed audience insights down to company and job title. That makes it easier to show ROI internally, because we can tie performance back to the accounts and senior stakeholders we care about.
