Ever wonder who exactly is clicking on your online display or banner ads?
According to a new comScore study, it’s likely one of a core group of people as the study found that 8% of Internet users account for 85% of all clicks, and 84% of Internet users never click on a banner ad.
Does this mean banner advertising is a waste of money? Not at all – it means that evaluating web advertising may not really all that different from traditional media and we need to find additional ways to measure the effectiveness of the campaign instead of relying on click-through rates.
I asked Innate’s Art Director what he would recommend to clients looking to create an effective banner advertising campaign. He said:
- Understand the main benefit is brand awareness
- The message should be quickly consumed in the ad
- Have a clear call to action and offer a “real world” component
In addition, we have to look at how the ads affect consumer behavior and understand that may have a longer time line than the instant gratification of a click through to a landing page. Did your sales go up after you ran the campaign?
This was all made even more interesting by the news that P&G (owner of brands including Clairol, Iams, Pampers, CoverGirl, Crest and Gillette) now wants to pay publishers by engagement rather than clicks or impressions. Their measures of engagement include users who sign up for newsletters, play games or watch videos. The question is does this more accurately translate into actual sales? What is the true value of an engaged visitor?
