Why ad view numbers may mean little | WARC | The Feed

Why ad view numbers may mean little

Looking at behavioural metrics to make creative optimisation decisions is not necessarily a good basis for media planning.

Why it matters

Metrics such as views and clicks often do not relate to end sales or marketing share outcomes and relying on them alone could result in $5.5 billion in wasted ad spend, according to research firm Ipsos. As consumers are spending increasing amounts of time with digital media, it’s vital that marketers understand what works and why.

Takeaways

• Significant numbers of ads that appear to be efficient are not effective.
• Among all digital video ads that gain good levels of viewing, more than a third will have low levels of effectiveness.
• The same creative does not perform equally across platforms. Consider the environment in which ads are seen: linear, in-feed or skippable.

The big idea

Advertisers have to distinguish between ad efficiency in driving channel behaviours and ad effectiveness in delivering market goals.