Impression-Based KPIs & Boosting Marketing Campaigns

As technology evolves, so will Digital Marketing Campaigns and their KPIs. So, of course, to get an idea of your progress and how to improve on it, you can evaluate your Google Ads Performance. Then, marketers still need to measure progress with their usual metrics like Return on Investment, Return on Ad Spend, etc. But times change, and Advertisers have to follow trends to stay at the top of the marketing game! So here’s the lowdown on Impression-Based KPIs or metrics to better handle your Marketing Campaign performance.

Getting Impressions

First off, Impressions refer to how often an ad or company-related image has been shown to any viewer. And by ‘shown,’ we mean that people were exposed to the advertisement, rather than seeing or even remembering it. So Impressions can help your Top-of-the-Funnel Marketing or the first stage of the Customer Journey.

In addition, customers need information. Before buying any product or service, “81% of retail shoppers conduct online research.” People shop thoughtfully and skeptically.

So having in-depth knowledge about the Customer Journey can improve a business’ User Experience to make better sales. The journey generally goes like this: Awareness, then Consideration, then Purchase.

But nowadays, Customer Journeys are more a maze than a straight line. There are many steps that buyers take to get from one stage to another. Check out this Customer Journey Map:

Source: Gartner via Forbes.

So to get more sales, the product or service info you share with your audience must be valuable and trustworthy. So Impression-Based KPIs can help boost your Digital Campaign Performance!

Impression-Based KPIs: What are they?

Key Performance Indicators can show Digital Campaigns’ progress. KPIs show that you’re moving closer to your goals. So for example, these are the five most commonly used KPIs:

• Profit margin;
• Revenue growth;
• Revenue per client;
• Client retention rate; and
• Customer satisfaction.

Then, you can make better decisions for your Digital Campaigns with data from KPIs.

So, Impression-Based KPIs optimize the top of your Marketing Funnel. Plus, they’re excellent for marketers looking to understand results quickly.

You might think that an ad is unhelpful if it’s not a click-based conversion. But if the Impression sets a person on the path to a sale, it’s valuable. Some advertisements can spur people to buy immediately.

However, many can pass by an ad, but it gets stuck in peoples’ heads anyway. Maybe it’s because of the catchy jingle or the witty tagline. Perhaps it’s the graphic design or the celebrity attached to it! Thus, even if you didn’t click the ad, it can still influence you to act even after seeing it.

Crucial Impression-Based KPIs to know

Quantifying Impressions is tricky, but they are valuable nonetheless. So learning about your Impression-based Marketing Campaign Metrics on them can boost your Campaign Performance.

Impression-based KPIs can show you how vital Top-of-Funnel advertising is for your Digital Marketing Campaigns. Of course, now, you can always conduct comprehensive Brand Awareness Studies. But using your KPIs tends to be more cost-effective. Here are the most important ones:

Engagement or Click-Through-Rate

If your brand has excellent marketplace awareness and communicates its value, you have higher CTRs or Click-Through-Rates. Analyzing your CTR, whether before or after launching your Top-of-Funnel Initiative, can tell you if they’re effective or not.

Engaged View Conversions

This Campaign Performance KPI is connected to YouTube and the Google Display Network. You may have encountered several ads on YouTube videos. The Engaged View Conversion KPI gets counted when a viewer watches an ad that’s 10 seconds or less. However, if the ad is longer, it gets counted if the viewer watches it for at least 10 seconds.

View-through Conversions

This Digital Marketing Campaign KPI shows that viewers saw your ad on the conversion journey. It’s still essential, even without any clicks or interaction. Therefore, these Conversions are still valuable, even if a potential customer hasn’t engaged with your brand yet.

Lift In Brand Search Impression

One vital component to getting noticed is Brand Awareness. Your Top-of-Funnel initiatives can give it a boost! For example, brand Lift measures your YouTube ads’ importance to your customer journey. So, your search demand goes up. This is a perfect KPI for your Digital Campaign performance, especially if you’re using videos.

Audience Saturation

This Marketing Campaign Metric is perfect if you’ve defined your audience demographics. So think customer match lists, pixel-based retargeting lists, and the like. Of course, reach, and frequency are also excellent KPIs!

Measuring Impression

You need to make the right Impression on the perfect target audience. But, you must also get attention with your TOF initiatives. Impressions don’t necessarily result in immediate clicks.

Thus, it’s a bit difficult to quantify Impression-based KPIs. Yet, there are a few methods you can apply. Consider adding these to your current PPC Strategies!

Ways to measure impact:

• Keep a close eye on your Marketing Campaign’s impression-based metrics. You can do this by adding them to analytics or tracking dashboards. Here, you’ll see changes from your Top-Of-Funnel initiatives.
• Run holdout tests in specific markets. Holdout tests mean checking your email and using your gut to determine whether they generate brand lift. It’s to activate TOF initiatives! Afterward, you can evaluate their impact.
• Combine click and weighted view-through conversions in a custom column. This method is perfect for seeing the effect of keywords or audience segments. Then, you can target Cost Per Action bids with the information.
• Google and Facebook both offer lift studies. They can tell you about the impact of ads in an automated manner.
• Create one Exposed and Unexposed user group each on Google Analytics. Next, serve retargeting advertisements to one of those groups but not the other. Lastly, measure the retargeting Impressions’ impact.
• Use paid tools like Google Marketing Platform. Google Analytics can provide reports on customer journeys. Plus, there’s also Google Analytics 360.

Use KPIs to measure your Campaigns’ performance!

As they say, first impressions are important. Impressions mean that your advertisements on Google or other related platforms are striking. This indicates that your ads are memorable enough to stick with audiences even after they’re no longer exposed to them.

Impressions indicate how many times a target audience was exposed to the ad. There are quite a few KPIs that can tell how effective the ad was.

Some of them include familiar Marketing Campaign KPIs or metrics like Click-Through-Rates and Audience Saturation. Engaged View and View-through Conversions are also critical KPIs. Lastly, there is the Brand Lift Search Impressions.

You’ve got to measure the impact of KPIs on your Campaign’s performance to check if the TOF initiatives are working. Still, you can apply a few methods on your own or with paid tools! PPC Management Services are perfect for the job.

About Axel May Rivera

Axel is an avid fan of many dramas and songs. She is always eager to explore and discover more when it comes to movies and entertainment, especially in Korean and Filipino culture. In her free time, she enjoys reading books and playing badminton.