Most Consumers Buy After Viewing – Not Clicking on – Banner Ads
By Anna Johnson on November 23rd, 2010Two recent studies indicate that online shoppers tend to buy from a brand after viewing the brand’s banner ads, NOT after clicking on them. In other words, banner ads are effective in influencing consumers without requiring consumers to click on them.
If correct, this is good news for advertisers worried about low click-through rates (CTR) and suggests that it’s erroneous to judge the effectiveness of banner ad performance on the basis of click-through rates.
A report by MediaMind Technologies Inc. entitled ‘Standard Banners – Non-Standard Results’ indicates that the vast majority of online conversions (79.6 percent) derive from buyers who have seen, but not clicked on, major brands’ ads. Only 20.4 percent of conversions derive from people who click on a relevant banner ad.
Specifically, most conversions occurred among Internet users who saw – but didn’t click on – a banner ad and who converted at a later date.
Meanwhile, comScore research commissioned by iProspect also shows that simply exposing consumers to banner ad impressions boosts brand recognition and drives purchase behavior. According to iProspect, consumers who see a banner ad are twice as likely to visit the advertiser’s website in the future.
