The Power of the View-Through

How many display ads do you think you are exposed to in one day? Tens, twenties or even hundreds? Believe it or not, the number falls closer to the upper levels of the spectrum.Between the countless billboards, magazines, television and internet ads we pass by hundreds of times a day, it is apparent that display advertising has made a huge impact on today’s consumers’ behavior.While billboards are becoming few and far between and are typically only paid attention to when you’re stuck in traffic, internet display ads are more prominent, interactive and typically more effective when pursuing today’s digital savvy consumers.

However, advertising in the digital world makes it more difficult to see tangible benefits of your advertising efforts. Click-through-rates (CTRs) are the typical unit used to measure the effectiveness of your internet display ad. You can find a click-through-rate by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions, which is how many times your ad has been displayed.While this unit of measurement is useful, according to searchenginewatch.com, the importance of the view-through-rate outshines the impact of the click-through rate.The view-through-rate means that the internet user was exposed to your ad, but did not take immediate action by clicking right away. Instead, the user takes mental note of the ad and is likely to make the decision to either self-navigate to the site on their own, research more information on the site or brand, or even get in the car and drive straight to your business.Many internet users surf the web with a purpose. For example, pretend you are on the internet booking a plane ticket for your next trip and off to the side you see an ad for a discount hotel booking website. Instead of abandoning your plane ticket with a cheap rate and a window seat, you complete your purchase and then go back to the hotel website by searching for it. You didn’t click on the ad but came to the hotel website later on your own – that would be recorded as a “view-through.”Display ads are shown to us all the time, whether we realize it or not. Even if consumers are not clicking on your ad, your business’s ad is still likely to have an impact on consumers even if they do not take immediate action.More than half the time, users are likely to go back and search for the business’s product or website after seeing the ad.It is important for businesses to understand that one click will not make or break the success of an ad. Most of the time the success of an internet display ad is based not on what the business can see, but what the consumer sees.