With more and more research suggesting that clicks are at best meaningless and worse misleading, why is it still our single biggest measure of success for online banner advertising? A recent article by Mediapost hilights research that shows multiple clicks within the same browser session and higher click-thrus from lower income / older, less tech-savvy users.
So here’s what your high-volume clicker looks like based on these research findings:
Now according to the research, women (in the aforementioned groups) are more likely to be undesirable clickers than men – so please forgive my creative licence with these images. But perhaps you get my point?
While this piece of research is clearly provided by an organisation with an axe to grind, it isn’t the only one of it’s kind that suggests clicks are overused and over-rated. I think we as an industry need to create a metric beyond the click. Engagement, awareness and intent are all collectable for individual campaigns with varying techniques, but wouldn’t it be great if we had a standard measure for online around the audience we’re connecting with? Perhaps something like (but way better) tarps for TV?
If you’re using third-party adservers you may be able to measure unique impressions, which is a start in the right direction, but talk to us about deeper analysis around your campaigns measuring the available audience and the share of voice you received based on the impressions you bought.
We’d love to provide you more data if we know you want it, so let’s start reporting on the stuff that counts!
You can download the full report here:
The Click Brand Marketing\’s Most Misleading Measure
Or read the Mediapost article here:
Emily. April 27th, 2011 at 10:45 am.
I agree that the click can be over-valued, but I do think the industry has moved beyond the click in evaluating campaigns.
Acquisition-oriented metrics are increasingly prevelent and although they do rely on the click as a first step, they generally call for behavioral and contextual targeting to maximise the efficiency of a conversion.
In addition, engagement metrics are increasingly relevant with the uptake of rich media and online video.
Call me an optimist, but I trust plenty of digital professionals are thinking beyond the click already!
Also – just to note – for several of my social marketing campaigns, the above demographic is actually exactly who we’re after. Perhaps that’s why we achieve such high CTRs with those messages… ;)
Josh Borthwick. April 27th, 2011 at 1:21 pm.
Good points Emily. We are seeing a shift to be fair, but there’s still a lot of clients that aren’t asking for richer measurement data, or believe that clicks are the standard currency for online measurement. I guess it’s up to us all to educate them.