Despite many publishers’ open distain for click-through rates, there’s a sense that social media -- with all its liking, retweeting, and the like -- is keeping the measurement alive.
So Kathryn Koegel, founder and Chief of Insights at Steampunkt Collaborative, suggested on a panel at OMMA Premium on Monday. Socially-driven or not, “click metrics are still there … but
just one part of the puzzle,” reasoned Andrea Ching, SVP of Marketing and Promotions at CNN News Network. Neil Katz, Editor-in-Chief and VP of Content at The Weather Company, described
click-through rates as something the industry would love to move beyond, but has yet to successfully do so. Regardless, he said, “We focus on stuff that [readers] want to share socially.”
Bigger picture, “We’ve always measured [click-through’s] because we could,” said Robin Riddle, Global Publisher of WSJ Custom Content Studios. “On a certain level you
should measure [clicks], and it does have value.”