Reliable metrics. At least that"s what respondents to a study had to say when asked what might influence them to buy more advertising from more types of web sites. Ad Week writer Joan Voight looks at the results from a joint survey by the Audit Bureau of Circulations and NSON Opinion Research and examines how a lack of reliable in-house metrics and a lack of third-party metrics are one of the key issues holding back online marketing.
In fact, more reliable metrics topped the list of biggest concerns about online marketing.
Two-thirds of the marketers said they are not confident that their ad impressions are accurately measured and reported. Three-quarters said they would be more likely to advertise on Web sites, e-newsletters and search vehicles if those venues were independently audited.
About half said they would increase their budgets in blogs, online video, podcasts and the mobile Web if they offered reliable third-party metrics.
The issue here isn"t simply about businesses being able to better track the ROI on their campaigns it"s also about knowing what they"re buying up front. When it comes to making ad buys on blogs, content sites and news sites, advertisers usually must rely on the site"s publisher to let them know what traffic levels are. Since many large businesses are now starting to recognize the potential value of advertising on smaller web sites, there"s an increased interest, but also an increased suspicion when it comes to expanding ad campaigns. With very few reliable companies available to give third-party confirmation to quoted traffic stats, businesses are left having to take site owner"s word for it when it comes to what type of reach they"re going to get for their dollar.
What struck me most from the findings of the study:.
Interestingly, younger marketing pros were less skeptical of current digital media measurements. Three-quarters of respondents under 25 said they trust metrics provided by online publishers, compared to 22 percent of those older than 55.
My guess is that there"s a combination of old-school skepticism at play here, but also that there"s a mix of new marketer naivety when it comes to trusting the word of the person that"s taking your advertising dollars.
This concern seems to run parallel with the buzz going on about paid search click fraud rates in the search marketing realm. Third party audits would likely solve problems in both industries but may be a long way from becoming a reality. Even if they do, the added costs involved in running the audits could potentially bump advertising prices up enough to negate some of the benefits of that type of service.
>>Source Link
>>Blog: Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing
>>Publish Date: 3/10/2007 8:01:50 AM
>>Keywords: marketing metrics
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