A groundbreaking new study by Microsoft Advertising’s Atlas Institute calls into question the current system for measuring the effectiveness of digital marketing solutions and different online channels.
Analysis of the behaviour of users who clicked on search ads for Alltel, operator of the largest wireless network in the US, showed that they were 56 per cent more likely to complete a sale if they had previously been exposed to the brand’s online display ads. This substantial rise in the conversion rate amongst those exposed to both search and display advertising confirms trends reported in previous Atlas studies, and exposes glaring deficiencies in the ‘last click’ model that characterises much online ad measurement.
The last-click model is a result of online measurement’s dependence on click-throughs to signify advertising success. When a sale or other desirable outcome occurs, full credit is given to the last ad on which the consumer in question clicked. Atlas’ study of the media touchpoints leading up to a converter’s final clicks suggest that the contribution of ‘upper funnel’ display advertising sites to the eventual sale is often almost completely overlooked.
When Atlas applied a new research methodology, awarding credit equally to all the ads leading to a conversion, the effects were dramatic: in Alltel’s case, the number of sales credited to search engines was reduced by 60 per cent, whilst the four largest display advertising sites used by its campaigns showed a 33 per cent rise in credited conversions. One display site, previously credited in a mere 15 per cent of Alltel’s conversions, was revealed actually to have been involved in 58 per cent of all converters.
