The risks of determinism of clicks - Focus Brand Management in the Digital Age

Back in the fall of 2009, AdAge.com reported an interesting trend toward lower rates of participation in online display advertising ("what to measure? Only 16% of the Web is clicking ads display"). The gist of the article is that only 8% of Internet users account for 85% of all clicks on display ads, and that overall, the so-called "clicker" represent only 16% of Internet users in the United States all.

Before you get excited and start rolling the budgets of view, we keep some facts in mind:

1) On the user side: When a consumer sees an ad display, a click is just one of a multitude of actions that can be taken in response. Tell a friend or colleague, typing the URL into a browser, or simply storing the interaction of the label for future reference - these are all actions of interest to marketers who are trying to drive a true commitment to their brands ... not to mention the activities of search engines, which proved to be a direct byproduct of display advertising.

2) On the Marketer: Clicks are just the tip of the iceberg so far - attention to the temptations in it! The click can be widely appreciated for its ease of measurability, but as marketing we need to resist giving in to "click-determinism" - the tendency to decrease the behavior of consumers in simple arithmetic click patterns. When you click on an ad display leads to a purchase, we need to consider all communications and actions that transpire upstream purchase funnel. And 'here that we really have an impact on the value of media, using deeper metrics such as conversions (clicks and impressions after post), the cost per conversion and, ultimately, dollar-in/dollar-out ROI.

Microsoft Atlas Institute found that during a cycle of 90 days of sale, only 6% of the data collected is taken into account for purposes of marketing:

Maybe that's why, as comScore / Starcom report indicated, the study this year, "focused more on the alternative measure, suggesting that a low number of clicks does not necessarily mean the banners do not work, but that marketers are looking at the success wrong metrics. "Recognizing that the digital" channel "is actually composed of only a dozen channels (search, display, affiliate, mobile, video, social, etc.), we prefer to use a holistic approach to the assessment of brand health.

Recognizing that marketers can dig than they would click to intuitions, we also noted a 2009 study that showed that Eyeblaster 2 of 3 senior marketing executives to run campaigns across multiple channels, but 88% do not integrate the data on performance through the channels. This was the basis for developing our complete communication system for the management of Digital brand, with a concise and actionable dashboard. Measuring brand health on a standardized scale relative performance between specific metrics - and the comparison with the history, industry or competitive set - you can answer the question asked by many a brand manager, "How is my brand doing in digital? "

We are pleased that Advertising Age has highlighted the dilemma of determinism of clicks. The big issue for 2010 is, what marketing going to do? Reduce budget display would minimize the impact of one channel more efficient, accountable and innovative in the digital landscape, but it is hard to ignore the raw numbers.

When it is time to report to the CMO on the health of the brand, a standardized approach removes all the bottlenecks from the evaluation phase, leaving more resources available for action. In a class halfway competitive, this kind of competitive advantage can translate into significant gains in market share - and this is the maximum measurable return on investment .......