As digital starts to permeate every media channel out there, the blurs of online have never been seen more clearly as in the case of mobile. It is redefining our concept of the web and communication.
Consider the digital landscape. From humble garage roots over a relatively short time span, Google, Apple and Microsoft have come to be household names all fighting for media dominance – at the very least a huge piece of the global media pie across all channels. Yet the irony is that with all its clever marketing and design, Apple’s iPhone could not be taken seriously until it had GPS integration with Google maps and was hooked up to Microsoft Exchange!
A click therefore is a tiny aspect, and often a skewed, measurability for today’s digital world – and has no real relevance to brand managers seeking to measure emotional connections; impact simply cannot always be measured immediately. Comparing post-impression to post-click activity this is certainly proving the case as anywhere between 5-10x more conversions happen as result of seeing as opposed to clicking on ads. The click also has no relevance for digital media in terms of TV and out-of-home as they begin to receive digital connections. It is about exposure, not just interaction.
In terms of the after effects, perhaps this can be seen in terms of measuring actual user journeys. Seeing a consumer’s path to conversion; viewing the movement beyond ‘seeing’ something via display advertising, to ‘inquiring’ about further information via a search engine – and ultimately how the resulting targeting could allow further display creative’s to be even more relevant to the consumer purchase funnel.
This is something at the heart of Eyeblaster’s channel connect strategies, breaking down silos between search and display or mass-media and online. We are beginning to help agencies join the dots.
It really is a time for change.
Great post Dean – this is something that I also feel quite passionately about. The big question is – how do we move clients, planners and even in some cases, digital folk on to the next level of measurement?
There are a lot of lazy people working in digital who would rather just focus on CTR because that’s what they understand. Beyond talking to them about it and showing them successful case studies again and again, how else can we push understanding of digital measurement forward?