Wise Startup Blog

Dispelling some myths that CPC and performance based advertising is the only valuable piece of Internet advertising, there was a recent report published by Comscore, that was highlighted on Fred Wilson’s blog.

Some of the highlights of the report explain why CTR’s are so low on display inventory, but why that’s not necessarily a bad thing for advertisers.

Explaining Low CTRs in Display Ads

With display advertising:

It’s clear that display advertising, despite a lack of clicks, can have a significant positive impact on:
- Visitation to the advertiser’s Web site (lift of at least 46% over a four week period)
- The likelihood of consumers conducting a search query using the advertiser’s branded terms (a lift of at least 38% over a four week period)
- Consumers’ likelihood of buying the advertised brand online (an average 27% lift in online sales)
- Consumers’ likelihood of buying at the advertiser’s retail store (an average lift of 17%)

And despite the relatively low CTR rates on display ads, hovering around .1%, the CTR on search ads is only .2% or .4%, not entirely amazing. However, with display advertising, with the increased branding, you have a higher chance of making an impact on a user resulting in later search keywords or direct visits.

This can be a difficult sell for advertising clients, but it’s imperative for publishers to learn how to sell their space and provide the best marketing advice for their clients.

Do you have any tips for selling Internet advertising?