Learning CTR factors in digital marketing

With the increased usage of digital marketing techniques, there exist several methods programmed to monitor and examine how well the techniques are working by using various forms of analyses and close monitoring of the number of views and clicks by users. Understanding these factors that help comprehend the success or failure of the marketing or advertising strategy is essential to understanding the way forward with regard to a certain advertisement or the mode of delivery. 

One important factor that helps record the number of interested users in the ads put up, through the use of the number of clicks method, is the CTR or click-through rate.

What is CTR?

CTR or click-through rate is essentially a ratio of the number of clicks on an advertisement to the total number of impressions. Here impressions mean the number of views or potential views that the advertisement got. 

For example, if there exists a google ad for a business on a particular website, the number of views would be close to the number of visits the website gets, added could also be the potential visits that the website is able to get. The number of clicks refers to the number of times an ad has been clicked on by a viewer, this could be opening an email, clicking on ads on websites or social media, and many more such methods where the user is directed to a platform to understand more about the business’s products and make the users potential customers. 

And therefore, the click-through rate is simply a measure of how many clicks are in relation to the views an ad gets. It could be used as a tool to identify how effective a certain ad is to help the business make amendments such as taking down the ad if the CTR is terribly low or continuing to use the same advertising method for other content if there is seen to be a high CTR. 

However, it is argued that the click-through rate can not be the only tool used to indicate how successful or unsuccessful an ad is, this is because there are flaws such as users accidentally clicking on the ad, interferences such as techniques used to visit the website more often than others or click-through rate manipulation where bots are hired to click on the ads to increase the click-through rate, and much more.  

Calculating CTR

CTR has a rather simple calculation. As its definition suggests, it is the ratio of the number of clicks to the total number of impressions. It is calculated as a percentage by multiplying the ratio by a hundred, but the formula for just the CTR could remain just as the ratio.

CTR=Total number of clicks / Total number of impressions

For example, if the said advertisement has received 5 clicks for 1000 impressions, the click-through rate would be 0.5%. 

A high click-through rate is indicative of viewers finding relevant and helpful information through the advertisement that can benefit them and help them convert to potential customers. A low click-through rate suggests that the advertisement is not suitable or does not interest the group of users it’s being viewed. 

Search engine click-through rate averages and social media or other digital ads click-through rate averages are different. This is because the search engine click-through rate is known to be higher. This is due to the fact that users visit the search engine looking for something in particular and therefore are bound to click on the ad or website, giving it a higher number of clicks. Whereas social media or any other platform is not where users find such information, the ads may not always be relevant or even necessary for the user. Therefore, the ideal click-through rate for search engines and other methods differs with search engines being around 2-5% and others being lower than 1-2%. 

Improving CTR

It is important to understand the way CTR works to identify areas for improvements in advertisements. Improving ads can significantly raise the CTR. 

This can be done by making your search engine appearance more appealing as in being more credible or useful. This can be done by using ranking stars, latest dates, or getting known brands to participate in order to increase credibility and so on. 
To conclude, CTR can be a highly helpful tool to recognize the improvements in marketing strategies, and ensuring a high CTR could help improve Quality scores which are determined by platforms such as Google for Google ads. And so, it is highly recommended to comprehend and use CTR to your advantage to ensure the best use of digital marketing and its tools.