I’m sitting here reviewing a report for a recent SEM campaign we ran for a client. I’m seeing click-through rate (CTR) numbers as high as 3.42% for some ad groups, and an average CTR of about 1.68%. Yet even with great numbers like these, it is inevitable that someone on the client’s team will question why the numbers are so low.
The “industry standard” average CTR is reported to be 0.1%. Now here at BAM, we’re never satisfied with just being average. So we strive to over deliver for our clients, and SEM is one place where we’ve had some success. Why?
In digital just as in the rest of the advertising universe, lousy advertising is lousy advertising. Content matters, and so does the campaign. Our strategy is to run great creative, place smart media buys, and execute flawlessly. And those media buys include digital. The synergy created by great ads running in multiple media touch points increases response and boosts the response our clients get from their advertising investments. In other words, great radio, TV, outdoor, direct mail, etc. boosts SEM CTR. Great SEM boosts response from TV. Great billboards boosts response from direct mail. And so on.
I often wonder what the click-through rate would be for TV if TV spots were “clickable.” My guess is that it would be terribly small… if it was the only media in the campaign.
The magic is in the synergy. And synergy is the product of great execution across all media touch points.