Not everything can be quantified, yet some humans have a compulsion to measure, categorise, order and file. Sometimes this becomes so extreme that it becomes the only criteria that matters.
Advertising metrics started as a measure that the ad agencies could quantify (ROI, 'Return On Investment' requires access to financial records not always available to an agency). Metrics were by and large a simple measurement of how many people have been exposed to your adverts. Today we can say, you have so many hits, click throughs, views, likes, followers , etc.
Yet now these 'metrics' have become the be all and end all of advertising to some. Their sole target is to acquire move views, likes and followers, than their perceived rivals. This has exploded to such an extent that there is now a lucrative market in the buying and selling of these figures, totally distorting and destroying the validity of any figures that might be produced.
What is all to often overlooked in the one single measure that counts, money. Is your turn over up, down, or does it remain the same? While there are various forms of advertising to build brand awareness, associate your name with a product or service, new product introduction, special offers and so forth. The one single aim of all these is to persuade customers to buy from you.
Recently we made an advert that was shown only once to a restricted audience. That advert won a major contract for our client. Another series of ad's convinced a customer to purchase from a local business, turning them from a struggling small business into an international exporter. Yet in terms of the metrics both of these ad's would have been judged abject failures.
So the message here is, "what can't be measured often matters more than what can". Stop focusing on the numbers and focus on the people who make the buying decisions. Your advertising should serve a purpose and not be just another business a task to measured on a graph.
Gavin Bryan-Tansley Owner Vid-FX+
