NONE: Click-throughs - reluctance to discuss
Click-throughs - reluctance to discuss
Neil Monnens (nmonnens_at_wwwebrep.com)
Thu, 22 Aug 1996 17:42:33 -0500
>Yet I observe a great reluctance among ad sellers to discuss click-through.
>Any thoughts why this is so?
>It's not that click-through is hard to measure; is it because ad sellers
>don't think they can really deliver on it? Your thoughts?
The same reason why the TV salesperson for NBC or the print salesperson for
Time magazine doesn't discuss response rates. You can't predict how an
audience will respond to a banner.
My background is working for various advertising agencies as a media
professional. I have been responsible for spending the advertising dollars
for major advertisers, and most recently, Microsoft. This year I started my
own company representing web sites for advertising, and clickthrough (or
transfer rate) is an important issue. Guesstimating transfer rates is
equivalent to guessing how many people will call a 1-800 number from a
magazine ad or television commercial
The following factors influence a transfer rate:
The message: The advertising copy (how influential). The graphics (eye
catching). What other web sites have carried the banner? How often is the
message refreshed? Gif89 banner?
The advertiser: How well the advertiser is known? How exciting are the
products? Price of products?
The medium: What kind of site is it on? What is the mindset of the browser
when browsing the site? How long is the banner viewed? The viewer: Are the
graphics turned off? Has the viewer seen the banner on another site? Has the
view clicked on the banner before? Where is the viewer located (US, Europe)?
The time: Browsers will react differently to advertising whether it is day
or night. The location: Where within the site? Percent of unique traffic
vs. repeat traffic?
Generalizing transfer rates should not be done. Especially since this medium
is in its infancy and users have a variety of experience (beginner to
professional). Quoting transfer rates may convince an advertiser to run on
your site, but what happens when the advertiser doesn't achieve the quoted
transfer rate? Also, the transfer numbers are highly confidential figures.
You should never share an advertisers transfer rate without permission from
the advertiser.
The medium should not be held accountable for the advertisers creative.
Advertisements on TV, radio, print are based on the audience they deliver,
not the action of the audience. Yes, the web is a new medium, but every
medium is new at some point and the advertising dollars are still spent and
evaluated the same way.
Neil Monnens
WebRep, LLC.
1850 Union St. Suite 1149
San Francisco, CA 94123
TEL (415) 440-3494 (direct)
TEL (415) 776-4866 (general)
FAX (415) 922-8815
NET http://wwwebrep.com
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