12.4: The key differentiator

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Online advertising is able to drive instant sales and conversions. Unlike other advertising mediums, the consumer can go from advert to merchant in one easy click. Because of the connected nature of the Internet, online activities are highly trackable and measurable, which makes it possible to target adverts and to track and gauge the efficacy of the advertising accurately. Each advert can be tracked for success.

The long tail of successful tracking also ensures that the user is tracked from the start of their journey to their final purchase, which might not be in the traditional ‘awareness to sale’ funnel. Google has called this principle ‘attribution modelling’, and it is based on the premise that a certain digital channel might be better at assisting in purchase than another, at a certain time, in a certain chain of interactions with the brand.

For example, a user might see a display ad for the VW Golf at the beginning of the month, but not click on it. Later in the month, they receive a raise, so they decide to purchase a new car, and the VW Golf comes to mind. They search for it, and click on a Google search ad to see the vehicle on the website and evaluate costs. Then they visit a number of other vehicle websites. A week later, they see an ad on Facebook for the VW Golf on a 2% below prime sale, so they click on it and fill out the lead form for the dealer to call them. This demonstrates how different media played a part in bringing the sale or last click attribution.