Very few brands are willing to put in the effort to achieve online ad success and it shows in the poor metrics. Too many just repurpose print ads or use the same ads that have been used before without any thought to increasing performance.
I would like to suggest that in the crowded online space where attention is at a premium brands need to spend more effort to develop and test online ads. I have worked with a lot of brands and again and again the clients that test and develop a series of engaging ads have higher click through rates than those that don’t.
Another big misconception is that consumers have to click on your ad to be successful. If someone, who exercises, sees an ad for a new Gatorade they probably won’t click on it, but they will make an effort to find the product at retail and read the label.
You simply need to ask yourself “would I, if I was using a mobile device and have limited time, click on your ad?”
You are fighting for attention in an environment where, more and more, consumers are saying “leave me alone” via ad blockers. This alone is a key reason why you have to ensure that those who do see your ad take action.
Another reason why so many online fail is because programmatic ad buying has lead to the absence of “why would I put this ad here?”. Putting ads based on just demographic data and available space is a waste of money. Actually, it’ a huge waste of money. You should be using both demographic and psychographic data along with analytic results from your ad optimization.
Marketers should be challenging their online ad agencies when it comes to performance, but beware of agencies that don’t recommend online ad development and testing. They will take your money and try and tell you that a .05% click through rate is successful.
