Online marketing has travelled a long way over the
last decade and now supersedes traditional advertising media in the majority of
channel categories. The online advertising world is not yet fully developed and
will transform over time to include higher capabilities. A paper by Attia
(2014), discusses how metrics will need to change to ensure the current click-through
model is replaced by more holistic measurements. Successful campaigns have been
built by adding brand image to the overall marketing plan. Is targeted
marketing or brand management better?
Click-Through is the most common method of online advertising
but people have become sensitized to the marketing channel. The rate uses a
simple formula like Clicks/Impressions X 100 =Click Through Rate (CTR). As more
people click on an impression (showing of ad) the rate moves up and is
considered effective.
When customers become desensitized to click-through
ads, pop up banners, etc. they begin to ignore the display ads making them less
effective in attracting their attention. As effectiveness and cost drop
advertisers will view the ads as less important, putting pressure on the market
to develop new channels.
The author argues that companies may increase their
effectiveness if they use a matrix of measures and focus at least some of their
attention on brand awareness. Brand awareness occurs when customers understand
the brand and can recall information about it. Such awareness is often
calculated by polling whether or not people remember the brand.
Trends are showing that brand management is
increasing and needs better methods of marketing. Online brands are difficult
to measure without an appropriate battery of marketing metrics. A single
channel with a single metric skews the brands actual place and success in
attracting customers.
The study successfully explains that single channel
marketing focused only on drawing immediate purchases is slowing down due to the
growth in the Internet. Companies can build brand images by using both online
and offline advertising. The totality of different marketing metrics is a
stronger predictor of performance than a single click-through measurement. As
an organizations builds its online marketing campaign it should keep in mind
that brand is important in attracting visitors beyond click models.
Attia, K. (2014). The shift from
online performance to more holistic brand efficiency measurement and the need
for standardized online ad formats. Journal
of Brand Strategy, 3 (1).
