Clicks have made us fat and lazy. And when we wind up set in our ways, there’s only one solution – weaning. In this case, we need to be weaned off the click.

That’s what the online marketing world needs right now to improve branding, according to eMarketer and experts it surveyed across the Internet ad business.

In a recent study, eMarketer found that while 57 percent of marketing executives said brand measurement was not holding back online advertising, an astonishingly high 43 percent said it was.

“Clicks and banner ads tell so little of a story,” says Geoff Ramsey, CEO of eMarketer and the author of a recent report on reinventing online brand measurement.

Research from iProspect and Forrester found that Internet users were more apt to search for a product, brand or company – or even type the company’s name into a browser bar – than to click on a promotional ad. That’s why measuring time spent, influence, engagement and responsiveness to ads is more important than measuring the actual click.

“People don’t just see an ad or billboard and do something immediately – it happens over time,” Ramsey says. “What we have to do is the hard work and wean ourselves off the click.”

Of the $25 billion spent on online ads each year, about $7.7 billion is allocated to branding ads, such as display and video. “But unlike search, which is a $12 billion business, we don’t know what that $7.7 billion is doing for us,” Ramsey explains. “If we figure it out, that number will grow. Search and online video are the two engines driving Internet growth, and search has slowed. We really have to figure out the branding component and apply to video or we will be stagnant.”

Working collaboratively to share data points can help. In addition, the solution will likely include attribution modeling, or capturing the data around both online and offline ad exposure and giving each their due. But the answer also lies in an old-school method, one that for better or worse has worked in television for more than 50 years – Gross Rating Point (GRP).

Nielsen is not perfect, yet it has become a common currency and people say we need to embrace the grp to get Internet into the media mix more,” Ramsey says. “If you can’t talk the language of the marketer, which is grp, then you are missing something and not getting on brand marketers’ tables.”

Young-Bean Song, senior director of analytics at Microsoft’s Advertising Institute (formerly Atlas) agrees. He told eMarketer, “I think it’s not having those foundational reach, frequency and GRP metrics. You will never see P&G and Unilever spend more than single digits [in millions] unless we give them reach, frequency and GRPs.”

Ramsey is one of many voices in the industry that has been calling for big change in how Internet marketers evaluate the effectiveness of a campaign. Gian Fulgoni, the chairman of comScore, has also said at MediaPost events that clicks are no longer the Holy Grail of online measurement, with time spent and brand lift being more important metrics. Similarly, Microsoft’s Advertising Institute recently said in a report that conversion should be measured across the entire digital purchase funnel and not merely by the last ad seen or the last click.

Indeed, measurement is the constantly hashed and rehashed topic at industry events, but perhaps the answers lie not in more data but in a better way to capture the interactions consumers have with brands online, relying on some tried-and-true methods, some sharing and some new strategies.

First seen on Media Post by Daisy Whitney

Greater knowledge of the digital space is at the top of marketers’ list of what they want from their advertising and marketing agencies in the next 12 months, according to a Sapient-sponsored national online survey of some 200 CMOs and other senior marketers.  

As it is, more than a quarter of marketers surveyed said from half to all of their marketing is done via digital channels, and nearly 40% foresee that in 12 months from half to all their marketing will be done via digital channels:

The respondents, all of whom are either directly or indirectly responsible for managing digital marketing budget allocation across multiple channels, were asked about the top qualities they sought in their advertising and marketing agencies in the coming year.

Based on the survey results, Sapient Interactive, Sapient’s marketing services group, issued a Top 10 Wish List for Agencies of the Future:

1. Greater knowledge of the digital space

More than one-third of marketers surveyed said they are not confident that their current agency is well-positioned to take their brand through the unchartered waters of online digital marketing and interactive advertising.

Nearly half (45%) of the respondents have switched agencies (or plan to switch in the next 12 months) for one with greater digital knowledge or have hired an additional digital specialist to handle their interactive campaigns.

Regarding an agency’s area of expertise, 79% of respondents rated “interactive/digital” functions as “important/very important.”

2. More use of “pull interactions”

Nine in 10 respondents (90%) agree that to engage consumers with their brand it is increasingly important that their agency uses “pull interactions” such as social media and online communities rather than traditional “push” campaigns.

3. Leverage virtual communities

An overwhelming 94% of respondents expressed interest in leveraging virtual communities (public and private) to understand more about their target audience.

4. Agency executives who use the technology they are recommending

92% of respondents said it was “somewhat” or “very” important that agency employees use the technologies that they are recommending – such as Facebook, Flickr, wikis, blogs, – in their personal social media mix.

5. Chief Digital Officers make agencies more appealing

43% of marketers surveyed said agencies with chief digital officers are more appealing than those without.

6. Web 2.0 and social media savvy

63% of marketers surveyed said an agency’s Web 2.0 and social media capabilities are “important/very important” when it comes to agency selection.

7. Agencies that understand consumer behavior

76% of respondents deemed this as an “important/very important” aspect of their agency’s online digital marketing and interactive advertising area of expertise.

8. Demonstrate strategic thinking

77% of marketers surveyed ranked strategy/brain trust capabilities at the top of their agency wish list.

9. Branding and creative capabilities

67% of respondents ranked branding at the top of their agency wish list while 76% ranked creative capabilities as “important/very important.”

10. Ability to measure success

65% ranked analytics at the top of their agency wish list.

“Marketers want agencies that can deliver on these demands today – not by 2009 and beyond,” said Gaston Legorburu, chief creative officer, Sapient. “As the interactive channel becomes increasingly important, only those agencies that can create, manage and measure multi-channel campaigns will stay relevant and thrive in an uncertain economy.”

About the survey: The Agency of the Future Survey is a national survey designed to provide insight into what marketers want from their agencies in the next 12 months. Sponsored by Sapient, the survey was conducted via email and polled more than 200 respondents, all of whom are either directly or indirectly responsible for managing digital marketing budget allocation across multiple channels.

First appeared on www.marketingcharts.com