In a hurting ad market, where consumers are hesitant to spend unnecessarily, marketers need to make sure their ad spend goes as far as possible. All members of the marketing team need to be capable of thinking like performance marketers, with the ability to analyze metrics in order to select the best channels and ad frequencies. Here are five charts to help your team do just that.

1. US adults are increasingly comfortable clicking on digital ads

Some 56% of US adults were very or somewhat likely to click on digital ads as of January 2023, up from 43% in March 2021, according to CivicScience. In order to get people to click, and ultimately buy, marketers need to make sure they’re targeting ads correctly. That’s where analytics come in.

2. Analytics unlock ad performance

Quality analytics on all ad channels are vital. Some 78% of marketers in Europe and the US said performance and efficiency significantly improved with the use of analytics on their audience targeting and segmentation efforts, according to Winterberry Group and the Association of National Advertisers. It’s vital to make sure everyone on your marketing team can speak the language of performance marketing in order to use that data to push campaigns further.

3. But measurement is a challenge

Some 31.4% of US CMOs and senior executives said their biggest marketing challenge this year would be performance measurement, putting it on par with economic uncertainty (30.4%) and driving qualified leads (25.0%), according to a 2022 survey by Matter Communications.

Considering the toll AppTrackingTransparency and third-party cookie deprecation have taken on measurement capabilities, this challenge is unsurprising. In growing ad channels like connected TV (CTV) and retail media, full ad spend potential won’t be unlocked until marketers are happy with measurement solutions.

4. CTV is most valuable for achieving ad goals

Even with measurement challenges, 38% of US agencies and brand marketers said CTV was the most valuable channel for achieving ad goals last year, ahead of linear TV, social media, digital video, and paid search, according to Premion. CTV ad spend is on the rise with new ad tiers from Netflix, Disney+, and (HBO) Max, but both buying and measurement are still fragmented.

5. Cost per click (CPC) varies significantly across platforms

CPC is another metric for performance marketers to watch closely when building a marketing campaign. Walmart is winning the CPC game when it comes to US retail media, with just $0.68 per click, according to Skai. In comparison, Amazon’s average CPC is $0.93.

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