• by November 30, 2000

Are we really this stubborn? According to the recently released Iconocast Marketing Survey, traditional click- through ratios are still the top-ranked means to measure ad effectiveness. Moreover, web merchants are twice as likely to use total revenue when measuring ROI rather than lifetime customer value. Shouldn't we know better by now?

As ICONOCAST founder and editor Michael Tchong said, "While analytics are becoming an ever important part of online marketing, we still have a way to go in helping marketers focus on and track what really counts. For example, when asked how they measure ROI, those who sell online said 'total revenue' probably because it's so much easier and quicker to measure. Never mind that 'lifetime value' is seen by experts as a more long-term gauge for success."

"Even more revealing, when asked to indicate which metrics they used to measure the effectiveness of online advertising, 42% of respondents said they stubbornly cling to click- throughs," Tchong added, "despite the well-known fact that click-throughs show no relationship."

The study, answered by 568 ICONOCAST subscribers, focused on what tools and promotion methods online marketers employ and how they track and measure advertising and e-commerce. Results showed that total revenue (36%) is far more commonly used by e-commerce merchants than lifetime customer value (15%) when measuring their company's ROI.

Also, when measuring online advertising effectiveness, traditional click-throughs still rank ahead of cost-per-click (29%), cost-of-conversion (26%) and cost-per-lead (21%).

We all know that the latter categories are widely accepted as a more accurate barometer. So, are we really that stubborn?