Banner Ads Still Effective Despite Low Click-Through Rates
By Anna Johnson on May 22nd, 2009Research by iProspect indicates that while online banner and other display ads attract relatively low click-through rates, they are still effective in eliciting a response from consumers.
iProspect found that one-third of Internet users who saw a display ad on an ad-supported Website clicked on the ad. But it wasn’t just people clicking on the ad who responded to it.
27 percent of those in iProspect’s survey said that after seeing the display ad they performed an online search for the product, brand or company; 21 percent typed the company web address into their browser; and 9 percent used social media to look for more information.
On top of that, of those who performed a search as a result of seeing a display ad, 14 percent visited the site and bought the advertised product, 38 percent visited the advertiser’s website via the search results, and 11 percent searched but didn’t click on any of the search results.
Evidently, the more familiar people were with the company or product in question, the greater their likelihood of buying. A third of those who knew the product ended up buying it, while 14 percent of those who discovered the product or company for the first time bought it.
All of this indicates that the effectiveness of display advertising cannot be measured solely according to clicks.
The level of response found by iProspect seems rather high to me – do a third of people who see a banner ad really click on it? I am presuming, however, that in evaluating those who saw a display ad, iProspect is referring to people who specifically looked at the ad, rather than seeing it in their peripheral vision, as most website users probably do.
In any case, if iProspect is right, perhaps those of us who have dismissed the value of banner ads should think again…
Source: eMarketer, “Banner Ads: Beyond the Click,” eMarketer, May 18, 2009
