The Power of Metrics in Digital Advertising

The digital sphere allows for precision in marketing that is unprecedented. Spending on digital advertising is almost $270 billion this year and set to exceed $330 billion by 2020. Companies and customers have more ways than ever to reach each other, interact, and generate data. And the businesses that know how to utilize digital data that assesses results and improves targeting will thrive.

Unlocking the power of digital metrics has an inherent challenge, however: picking the right data and contextualizing it are a lot harder than gathering it. The ability to do both is the key to figuring out which marketing vehicles work, which don’t, and how to develop engaging and impactful content.

The two ways metrics build your customers

First, your customer base can be built by metrics answering some key advertising questions. Are you reaching the right audience? Is the rate of advertising excessive or insufficient? What vehicles tend to perform better than others? And given all of these factors, what is the ROI?

Second, metrics build up a digital image of your customer, revealing who they are and what they’re looking for. Interactive digital ads can also reveal when, where, and how they’re engaging with content. Proper analysis reveals audience patterns and trends that would otherwise go unnoticed.

A few key examples of what metrics can measure:

• The number of new and recurring visitors
• Where they engage with content, including primary and complementary channels like social media
• How much time they spend engaging with content,
• Visits to physical locations through “geofencing”
• Response rates, open rates, click rates, and conversion rates, among other metrics

These items are just the tip of the iceberg, of course. And combining these metrics with in-store or online sales data can greatly improve both comprehensive ROI and ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend). Further, combining “foot traffic” metrics with analytics gleaned from an online presence can provide an impressively complete profile of your audience.

To capitalize on metrics, know your objectives

All success is determined by achieving measurable objectives. And reaching your goals via metrics is impossible without a clear sense of what you want to achieve. Is your focus on building brand awareness? Generating sales? Gathering customer feedback?

Your goals may be a blend of several desired outcomes. Whichever apply, your ads must utilize only the relevant metrics. At their core, digital ads are no different than any other form of measurable advertising. They operate under the SMART principle, meaning the content produced must be: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.

Digital metrics enable you to become an advertising chameleon, changing appearance and content to match the locale and viewer. The ideal advertising solution to optimize metrics is one that can meet all the descriptors of the SMART method; one that can be highly targeted and easily measured while being fast and fully customizable.

Why digital display advertising is perfect for maximize metrics

After analyzing metrics and KPIs, a business will often have to make some changes to their ad content (if not a complete U-turn). Many traditional forms of advertising require a time-consuming cycle of recall, redesign, and redistribution. It’s a labor intensive, expensive, and obsolete model.

Consumer engagement and response move quickly. Businesses need an advertising medium that can meet that pace. Digital ads are of course flexible and capable of being almost instantly altered and updated. This real-time versatility guarantees an on-point message in the right place at the right moment.

Digital metrics and the great experiment

Advertising is, in the end, experimentation. No approach is guaranteed to strike gold, and even the most popular ads wear out their welcome over time. Digital gives business owners the ability to test what works with a minimum of fuss. If one approach isn’t catching on, a click of a button can quickly present a new idea.

When metrics highlight who you need to reach, digital ads can be specifically targeted to suit the viewer and location. Upcoming sales can be promoted in advance and limited-time offers can be spotlighted at the right interval. Gender, age, and spending habits can all be considered instantly to increase the relatability of content. With digital, your campaign is always on – and as fluid as the metrics that drive it.

Businesses who grasp these opportunities will communicate more successfully with their target audience. They’ll create valuable interactions with customers and visitors, intensify brand awareness, and boost the chances of increased loyalty and sales.

Simply put, digital advertising can be whatever you want it to be – almost as quickly as you can think of it.