If you want your advertising to reach a variety of audiences in different ways, our first tip is to create a media mix, in other words, to use a variety of advertising media. In online marketing, this includes ads on digital platforms and email campaigns.
The aim is simple: to capture customers’ attention and guide them through the buying process.
Some media channels are more expensive than others. Television, for example, is the most expensive. Even within online advertising, some advertising models are more expensive than others. That’s why you need to be very careful and evaluate which ones have the greatest impact for the lowest cost.
Even more importantly, you need to choose them according to your campaign objectives and the media’s ability to reach your target audience.
How do you measure your campaign’s impact?
A great deal of research and planning need to go into your media buying strategy. Before you decide which advertising media to use, it’s crucial to know how to measure the impact of each tactic, so you know which tactics are the most profitable (and should be repeated) and which are the least profitable (and should be eliminated from future campaigns).
Here are the metrics to look for when analyzing the results of each tactic.
Impressions
How many times were your ads shown (how many people saw your ads)? Most digital media evaluate their advertising space in thousands of impressions (CPM). The cost per thousand (per 1,000 impressions) is calculated by dividing the campaign cost by one thousand.
CPM: Cost/1,000
For example, if you want to broadcast your ad to 20,000 people and the CPM of the media is $75, the campaign will cost you $1,000 (20,000/1,000=20, $75*20=$1,500).
Conversely, you can also calculate the CPM of a fixed-rate ad using the following calculation: Cost/(impressions/1000). If the ad got 20,000 impressions and the cost was $1,500, the CPM of the campaign can be calculated as $1,500/(20,000/1,000), in other words a CPM of $75.
Clicks
This is the number of users who clicked on your ad after seeing it. If you want to know how many times users click on your ad in relation to the number of times it’s shown, you need to measure the click-through rate. The click-through rate is calculated by dividing the number of impressions by the number of clicks.
CTR: (clicks/impressions) * 100
For example, if your ad has been shown 20,000 times, and 450 people have clicked on it, your CTR is (20,000/450 *100) = 2.25%.
CPC (cost per click)
This metric measures how much each click on a campaign costs. It is calculated by dividing the total advertising cost of the campaign by the total number of clicks. This gives you the average cost per click.
Average CPC: total advertising campaign cost/total number of clicks
For example, if the advertising campaign cost $1,500 and you got 450 clicks, the CPC is $3.33. Each click will therefore cost you $3.33.
Email open rate
The open rate of an e-mail is measured with the following calculation: number of e-mails opened/number of e-mails sent*100. If you choose to use the number of unique opens, this is referred to as the unique open rate.
For example, if you sent a promotional e-mail to 20,000 people and it was opened 450 times, the open rate would be 2.25% (450/20,000*100).
Click-through rate of an email
The click-through rate is calculated from the number of opens. To calculate it, perform the following operation: clicks/openings*100.
For example, if your e-mail was opened 450 times and got 45 clicks, the click rate would be 10%.
Conversions
Whatever platform you use, tracking conversions is essential. You get the conversion rate by dividing the number of conversions by the clicks on the ad.
Conversion rate = Conversions/clicks*100
For example, let’s say your ad generated 450 clicks over a defined period and, from these clicks, only 10 people completed the ad’s intended action (for example, making a purchase on your website). Your conversion rate would be 2.22%.
Knowing how to compare various placements
When comparing your various advertising campaigns, keep in mind that you need to compare similar ads.
For example, if you use different visuals or different calls to action, it becomes hard to know whether it’s the media or the content of the ad that explains the difference in the results.
Each placement has its own goal, and you need to analyze the results in relation to that goal.
Some placements are more expensive if compared solely on the basis of their click-through rate (such as showing up first on a Google search), but it’s important to bear in mind that some placements are necessary in order to be seen first instead of your competitors. There are also so-called “awareness” investments, which don’t necessarily lead to action, but which allow a brand to remain present in the minds of its customers (which is just as important for your brand’s visibility).
Brand awareness placements can be made in media with a wider audience, to make yourself known to a new clientele.
Then, for promotions or special events, it makes sense to choose more specialized media that allow you to reach a targeted clientele, such as allsales.ca, which is THE specialized medium for advertising promotions, sales and clearance sales.
We target a ready-to-buy clientele, thereby offering an excellent return on investment. Try it out for your next sale by integrating an allsales.ca ad into your media mix.
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