The click-through rate (CTR) describes the relation between clicks on an ad medium and impressions measured for the ad medium within a certain time period. The CTR is shown as a percentage. If an ad medium (e.g. a banner) is displayed 10,000 times and clicked on 500 times, the click-through rate is five percent. The CTR is an important KPI in online marketing.
The relevance of the CTR
The click rate is an important indicator of the effectiveness of advertising media. Here, advertising media includes a variety of measures, such as SEA ads, product recommendations, and advertising banners. The aim of an advertiser is the interaction with the advertising media, usually in the form of a click, in order to guide the user to the next step in his customer journey. If the click rate of an advertising medium is low, this indicates low interaction and low relevance of the advertising medium. When evaluating click-through rates, however, it should be noted that CTRs of different campaign types (e.g. SEA and banner advertising) must be viewed in a differentiated manner and cannot be compared one-to-one.
Optimization of the CTR
A poor click-through rate indicates that the ads are irrelevant for the user. A targeted user approach is an essential factor for the optimization of the CTR in order to create a higher relevance for the user and to achieve a better click-through rate by using appealing measures. At this point, actions such as retargeting or the display of advertising media based on demographic data or by means of geo-targeting can be used to ensure a more individual user approach.