"8% of Internet Users Account for 85% of all Clicks" is the headline from The Center For Media Research release that caught my attention. All of us that sell interactive are still trying to put our finger on the value of a click-through and a simple ad impression. The post does a good job of laying out the statistics...
|
Heavy, Moderate, and Light Display Ad Clicker Analysis (Total US Home, Work and University Locations) |
|
|
Share of All Internet Users |
Share of All Click-Throughs |
|
|
July '07 |
March 09 |
July '07 |
March ?09 |
|
Total clickers |
32% |
16% |
100% |
100% |
|
Heavy clickers |
6 |
4 |
50 |
67 |
|
Moderate clickers |
10 |
4 |
30 |
18 |
|
Light clickers |
16 |
8 |
20 |
15 |
|
Non clickers |
68 |
84 |
0 |
0 |
|
Source: comScore, September 2009 |
Despite the precipitous decline in clicks, says the report, comScore is advocating looking beyond the click because other comScore research has shown that online display ads generate significant lift in trademark search, online and offline sales, and brand-site visitation across all verticals, among those internet users who were exposed to the online ad campaigns - whether they clicked on the ad or not. These results, compiled in comScore's influential "Whither the Click?" white paper, were reported in the June 2009 issue of the Journal of Advertising Research.
|
Display Ad Lift (Site Reach Weeks 1-4 After First Exposure) |
|
Vertical |
Control |
Test |
% Lift |
|
Average all |
4.5% |
6.6% |
46% |
|
Automotive |
0.9 |
1.9 |
114 |
|
Finance |
1.3 |
2.3 |
86 |
|
CPG & restaurant |
0.6 |
1.1 |
77 |
|
Retail & apparel |
9.1 |
13.8 |
52 |
|
Media & entertainment |
7.0 |
10.0 |
42 |
|
Electronics & software |
5.8 |
7.2 |
25 |
|
Travel |
4.8 |
5.8 |
21 |
|
Source: comScore, June 2009 |
John Lowell, Starcom USA SVP/Director, Research & Analytics, notes that "a click earns no revenue and creates no brand equity... online advertising (is) certainly not to generate clicks... (but) to visit website, seek more information, purchase a product, become a lead, keep brand top of mind... "
I would have to agree with that last statement as impressions do the same thing we have learned in broadcast, drive Top of Mind Awareness which leads to purchases when the customer is in the Buyers Awareness Cycle for a particular good or service. That percentage of the population is roughly less than 1% at any given time which means that impressions over annual campaigns will result in the kind of awareness that leads to visiting your clients storefront to look at products or make a purchase in the future.