We see metrics like clicks, impressions, click-through rates, CPCs, costs, and positions. But which of the two keywords was more successful in terms of website goals? Which keyword generated more sales? This can only be determined by means of conversion measurement, which brings a new dimension to the campaign evaluation - namely the number of target achievements and the costs per target achievement.If we look at this for the above example, the following picture emerges:
We see: The keyword "buchbestellung schweiz" generates the same number of deals with lower investments as "buchbestellung" - in this case five sales of a book. In short, this keyword is more successful and should be pushed more. Of course, this can now be broken down to various forms of advertising, networks, promotions, campaigns, etc.The relevance of conversions has now spread throughout the industry and the tool is used frequently. However, in the rapid evolution of general online usage, the measurement accuracy of conversions has also declined. This is for the following three reasons:
1. conversions work cookie basedThe technology behind Conversions is cookie setting. Cookies are used to track and analyze users' browsing history. But more and more users go online with multiple devices, delete cookies, or use obfuscation techniques for data protection. As a result, measurements are becoming steadily less accurate, making it more difficult to attribute conversions.
2. customer journeys become more complicatedAs users become more familiar with the web, the paths to conversion become more complicated. Users compare prices, develop affinities with brands, and have the option of switching providers at any time if they are disappointed. Optimizing purely for performance, a key competence of online marketing, is therefore being reduced and branding is once again playing a greater role. As a current trend, inbound marketing focuses strongly on this development.
3. offline conversions are hardly measurableThe third problem has haunted the online industry since the beginning: offline conversions (e.g., in brick-and-mortar stores) are virtually impossible to measure. Since online marketing is often held to a tougher performance standard than other marketing measures, many brick-and-mortar stores only engage in online marketing to a very limited extent.
Solutions for measurement inaccuracies
The measurement problems described above are calling for new solutions, and two notable developments in online marketing are addressing just that.1. web analysis via user identification / profilingThe problem of cookie-based measurement will be solved in the future via user-based evaluation. By means of digital footprints, some advertising networks are already collecting user-based data across multiple devices and browsers. With the Google Analytics update to the Universal Analytics version, it is expected that this trend will increasingly extend to the web analytics area.2. store visits as Google conversionsGoogle is strongly pushing the measurement of local conversions (e.g. by means of call conversions or local inventory ads). Shortly before Christmas, Google now launched a new product that is supposed to measure visits to a stationary store for the first time: "Store Visits". Users who have visited a page and then visited a store are to be evaluated anonymously as conversions on the basis of their GPS signal.
New challenges for marketing and data protection
New challenges require new measures. And as they evolve, online marketing methods are becoming even more indispensable for any kind of business.But what's a great opportunity for marketers is a horror for data protectionists. While the new opportunities are likely to become more of a reality in the U.S. next year, the more privacy-sensitive Europeans are called upon to lead a social debate about the possibilities of digital measurement. Digital policy increasingly belongs on the agenda of Swiss politicians - it is a big question of our time.
