Tue 2nd of March, filed under PPC
PPC marketers warned about impressions
PPC marketing professionals have been urged to move beyond counting impressions when measuring overall ad reach.
John Burbank, chief executive officer at the Nielsen online division, feels that brand marketers are failing to maximise returns on investment by focusing exclusively on PPC volume. During a keynote presentation at the OMMA Metrics & Measurement event in New York, he argued they should consider how many of their most valuable customers saw an ad. He also said it was important to take into account how many times the key audience saw the ad and whether the internet was the most cost-effective delivery medium.
Traditional metrics and controlled tests advocated
Next, Mr Burbank suggested that measuring PPC attitudinal impact was about more than collating click-through data, search reports and website visits. Instead, he proposed that the online marketing sector should use traditional brand metrics like product awareness, and carry out controlled tests to track consumers who did not see the ad.
Finally, he argued that measuring response should not be limited to online sales. Rather, performing controlled tests would show the true effectiveness of a PPC ad, while tracking the impact on offline sales would also provide a more rounded picture.
"The 360 approach must become the new normal if the advertising community is going to move more brand marketers to invest heavily on the web," he concluded. "The tools exist – it now just takes the willingness to adopt them."
Branding specialists typically assess online marketing performance on a number of PPC platforms. Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN adCenter offer a wide range of metrics to track reach, attitudinal impact and sales.
Posted by Richard Frost
