When Your Tagline Is Move the Needle
When we declared that our branding line was “Move the Needle,” it started an agencywide effort to make sure we were measuring all that we could. For many marketing endeavors, it is not as easy as it looks. And now for digital, it is not as easy either.
I stumbled across this eMarketer chart that shows the “primary metric for measuring the effectiveness of digital advertising is not as simple as first proclaimed by Google.”
You can see that the ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is the No. 1 metric, according to this perception study by Nanigans. I’m not sure this is always a good guide. Most marketers know there is a residual effect to marketing. Not everyone sees an ad and quickly buys into what you’re selling. For many, the process takes time.
In fact, more than one metric should be used.
It’s just like getting healthy. What one measure should you use — body fat, blood pressure, cholesterol? Or should you look at all of them to get a good measure of your health? I take the holistic approach.
For digital, you should be looking at several key measures: cost per impression, cost per conversation (or action), website visitor levels and overall revenue lift (if that is part of the plan). The holistic approach makes for better insight and better decisions. And your bottom line will be healthier.