Measuring the effects and shifts of our online branding and marketing strategies is a no-brainer, but why exactly do we measure these things? Many people know that keeping tabs of how many clicks, visits and conversions is a basic expectation, but how said data is used matters just as much. Many marketing campaigns focus on click through rates (CTRs) as one measurement of success; it tells how what percentage of the targeted audience is at least initially receptive to your marketing efforts. For those who are new to the game, we’ll be talking today about why higher CTRs are great for your brand’s online performance.

Higher CTRs Save Money

Perhaps most importantly, CTRs associated with paid marketing campaigns determine how cost-effective your efforts are at generating results. Ad budgets can quickly add up when you’re pinging links and promotions to people, making and breaking your overall marketing budgets. In order to justify sustained advertising, you need to generate a minimum CTR from your campaigns. Spending $1,000 on an ad campaign that generates a 1% CTR is only half as effective as one that generates a 2% CTR; in some industries, that difference can make the difference between profitability and failure. It stands to reason that the higher your CTR is within a given audience, the more money you’re saving by not having to retarget them or inevitably end up wasting.

Higher CTRs Affect Organic Traffic

Often, we discuss CTRs through the prism of paid advertising and marketing. However, this is not the only place where it matters. Take for instance organic search: Google, Bing and other search engines assess popularity of content in its rankings to determine which websites get ranked first. The greater percentage of people who click on your website via search results – and stay there for meaningful amounts of time – the higher you likely are to rank well in future results. Positioning in search results can have a huge impact on traffic; it is the cornerstone of why SEO is so popular. Obviously it is a good idea to maximize CTRs and minimize bounce rates through organic results just as much as through paid advertising.

Higher CTRs Indicate Quality Marketing

Let’s face it: you’re never going to generate an ad campaign or SEO that results in 100% of people clicking on your links. However, realistic expectations in marketing and SEO revolve around just a few percentage points of those who see your links interacting with them. Higher CTRs are generally indicative of sound marketing strategies and clear, concise messaging – elements that will affect how well your brand is perceived in other areas. By striving to generate higher CTRs, you’re likely to become better at pinging links and content that is relevant to your audience. By learning what works and what doesn’t work, you’ll gradually be able to build better organic and paid marketing efforts for your brand.

Now that you’re familiar with why higher CTRs are important, how do you plan to improve your results? Tell us below what changes – if any – you’ll be making to your existing strategies.