The majority of online ads are geared toward building a
corporate or product brand, as opposed to generating immediate
click-throughs, according to a study conducted by AdRelevance, a Jupiter
Media Metrix company.
The study found that ads solidifying a corporate positioning,
building awareness, or spotlighting a product feature or benefit accounted
for 63 percent of all online ads, and about 54 percent of all impressions.
Of branding-oriented ads, creatives generating awareness garnered 33
percent of all impressions, followed by positioning ads with 20 percent.
Creatives that promoted a feature or benefit of a brand made up about one
percent of total impressions.
Hardware and electronics firms were the most likely to use branding ads,
with more than three-quarters of their impressions devoted to building or
shaping corporate or product identity. Entertainment companies, retail, Web
media, automotive and travel also used a majority of their online ads for
branding.
The telecom, financial services, consumer goods and B2B industries, on
the other hand, focused a majority of their impressions on click-through
generation to drive site traffic or sales.
One reason that this might be the case is that online ad inventory is
predominantly sold on a CPM basis, rather than CPC or CPA; therefore, there
is a comparatively lesser
need for creatives geared to generate click-throughs.
And with lingering questions about the effectiveness of impression-based
advertising — based in part on click-through rates’ lurking below the one
percent mark — the study’s findings seem to indicate that advertisers might
be shifting to using Web ads in a way more consistent with how users are
interacting
with them: that is to say, by creating ads meant to be seen but not
necessarily clicked.
“Online advertising is no longer just about click-through. Although
industry and financial analysts have relied on click-through rates to gauge
the effectiveness of online ad campaigns, the market has finally realized
that clickthrough is not an appropriate metric for brand-oriented ads,” said
Charlie Buchwalter, vice president of media research for AdRelevance.
“Leading advertisers have already drifted away from the clickthrough
mentality of pure direct-response marketing.”
The study came as a demonstration of AdRelevance’s new product,
AdStrategy,
which segments advertisers by ad type — e.g.,
awareness, positioning, etc. — and on which sites they advertise.