Advertising Metrics Explained – Why It’s Not Enough For Your Marketing to Just Be Seen
When it comes to data, digital marketing is a game-changer. Unlike print or out-of-home advertising, you can track everything – which means you can measure the true impact of your spend.
But not all metrics are made equal, and in truth, some can be downright misleading, so it’s important to know where to place your trust and what to take with a hefty pinch of salt.
To build awareness, you need to be seen
Reach and impressions both work in the same way. They measure how any times your ad or social post has been shown to a user, but there’s no guarantee that those users have actually seen it, and in some cases, it could even sit below the fold.
According to Comscore, the typical internet user is served 1,707 banner ads a month. And on some media sites, it can feel like they’re being served all at once, all the time, as you fight to read the content around banners and pop-ups.
As a result, we’ve learned to ignore them. Banner blindness is real, and it’s a problem, as proven by Nielsen Norman Group’s eye-tracking tests, which showed that users ignore anything that looks like an ad or sits in an area that’s usually reserved for ads.
But it’s not just banners. Video views aren’t quite what they seem either. Did you know that a user only has to watch your Instagram reel for three seconds for it to count as a view? And on TikTok, there’s no minimum watch time, so everyone who swipes past triggers that little feel-good counter at the bottom.
Can you communicate your proposition in three seconds? Is it even long enough for people to recognise your brand or get a sense of what you do? If you’re not Coca-Cola, probably not, so you may want to consider other channels and metrics.
To drive consideration, you need to engage
Page views are better. Here, the user has actively clicked into the page. They’re warmer, they’re engaged – but for how long? According to research by Google, it takes about 50 milliseconds for a user to form an opinion about a site.
And you better believe that on mobile, their finger is poised over the back button, ready to leave you without a second thought, ready to bounce. According to Databox, the average bounce rate in the media industry is said to be 41.31% or lower, it’s quite conceivable that only 58.69% of page views last for 10 seconds or more.
Which is why they should never be viewed in isolation. Views alone aren’t enough. A view could be a second. It could be a fraction of a second. You need to know the user stayed long enough to consume your content.
Not to toot our own trumpet, but we have a bounce rate of 4.1%, which means 95.9% of the people who visit our sites stay on-page for 10 seconds or engage with our content by clicking a link, watching a video or completing a form. Sticky users are worth more to marketers. Period.
And our average time on page is 2 minutes and 36 seconds. That’s six times longer than other media brands, which means we can give you the time you need to take people on the buying journey, from awareness to conversion.
To drive conversion, you need to inspire
Awareness is great – it helps you reach new audiences and keeps your brand front of mind. Consideration is key, it warms up prospects so they’re more likely to act. But conversion is the real test – and the great thing is, it’s trackable.
Clickthrough is one of our favourite metrics. It shows intent – these people have engaged with your brand, they’re interested and ready to act. If you’re on top of your analytics, you can follow those users right through to purchase.
That gives you a conversion rate – telling you how many of the people who arrived at your site converted into sales. Did we mention that our purchase process converts four times more people than most e-commerce sites?
But traffic isn’t the only thing we offer to clients. Our data capture campaigns allow you to build your own mailing list, so you’re not just engaging people, you’re getting permission to remarket to them. There’s real value in subscribers.
And then there’s the conversion itself. Bookings. Purchases. House viewings. This is the most important metric of all because it tells you your ROI and allows you to track the impact of your spend.
All metrics give insight, but they're not all equal
There’s no such thing as a bad metric – you can and should track them all. They all give you insight and show you how to improve, but when it comes to ROI, some metrics are definitely more important than others.
Knowing which metrics to prioritise and which ones to take with a pinch of salt won’t just help you assess the success of your marketing, it’ll help you decide where to spend your budget.
Because if the agencies and media platforms you’re working with don’t use the right metrics, they don’t deserve your money. You can build awareness and convert users too, you can have your cake and eat it, so why limit yourself?
