Notes and Thoughts on Grocery 2.0

As online advertising becomes more measurable, marketers continue to focus on conversion rates as metrics for effectiveness. Conversion rates, while important metrics to consider in a campaign’s overall evaluation, often credit the user’s final action with the completed goal (purchase, registration, etc.). The problem occurs when a user takes a longer path to purchase: going online, clicking on a recipe display ad, searching for a different recipe, clicking on a sponsored result, and buying the necessary ingredients, for example.

The question becomes, how do you know which action caused the sale? Was it the display ad that initially sparked the user’s interest in finding a recipe? Or was it the search result that influenced which recipe was ultimately selected?

Most likely, the answer is both.

In a new study based on 12 months of proprietary Specific Media Ad Effectiveness research, backed by comScore, consumers exposed to display advertising were more likely to search for brand terms (i.e. product manufacturer) and segment terms (i.e. product category) than unexposed consumers.

“There is a connection between display and search ads. Marketers know this intuitively. Often it’s not the search ad alone that gets consumers to act, but the context of all the marketing that preceded it,” said eMarketer analyst David Hallerman.

The study proves what has long been theorized; display advertising significantly impacts both paid and organic searches and clicks, and, ultimately, search-driven sales.

“As advertisers look to control their media spend, measure impact and validate the effectiveness of their marketing efforts, strategies that lift organic traffic are invaluable,” said Chris Vanderhook, COO, Specific Media.

Advertisers looking to plan effective online media buys should incorporate both display and search advertising. Increase the frequency and variety of ways in which users are exposed to campaign messaging and improved brand favorability and greater ROI will follow.

Rachel

In the past couple of years, advertisers have expressed two main concerns about online advertising. Is it measurable? And, does it work for branding? In last week’s post,
Web Metrics 101 , I explained how metrics can be confusing, but do exist and do allow us to measure online advertising’s effectiveness. And, I have been saying for years that online advertising is an effective branding tool. So today, when I opened my inbox, I almost cried for joy upon seeing that ComScore just concluded a study proving it.

According to the study, conducted with pharmaceutical marketing consultancy Evolution Road , driving traffic to a branded website is the most effective form of online pharmaceutical marketing. The results showed an incremental patient adherence rate that was 20 percentage points higher and a new start rate for prospects that was 5 percentage points higher than those who did not visit the website and than the control, respectively.

Online ads improved adherence rates among existing patients, showing a 4-point lift in adherence among patients exposed to an ad and a 9.5-point lift among patients who interacted with an ad.

The study encompassed 32 individual studies, involved more than ten prescription pharmaceutical brands and used the ComScore million-person panel for behavior observation. ComScore executive vice president Bridget O’Toole said “The most effective online marketing tool… is the brand’s Web site… visits to a brand Web site (though) are achieved through the use of a variety of offline and online tactics, such as online banner ads, search and offline advertising… marketers (should) develop fully-integrated campaigns… raise awareness, educate consumers, … (and) drive visitation to a site.”

Exposure to, and, even more so, interaction with banner ads yielded an increase in brand awareness and favorability among current and potential patients. Exposure to an ad significantly impacted both aided and unaided brand awareness and interaction boosted both types of awareness even more.

So, what does this mean for online advertising? Although the study concentrated on pharmaceutical advertising, with ComScore’s endorsement, online advertising should be considered as effective a branding tool, if not more so, than other, more expensive, less targeted traditional media like print and television. Advertisers take note: it’s time to re-think your media buy.

Rachel

Visit ComScore’s Press Center to view the study’s press release.