customer conversion journey sector: travel. contents background and methodology what we measured –...

CUSTOMER CONVERSION JOURNEYSECTOR: TRAVEL

Contents

• Background and methodology

• What we measured – Brands and their activity

• Results – Web site visitors and behaviour

• Results – Affect on online activity

• Results – Latency of display advertising

• Summary

BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

Background

• The IAB wanted to investigate

→ The role all forms of online media play in the customer conversion journey

→ How online media work most efficiently when integrated

→ The non-linear nature of the customer journey and the way that different formats interact with each other on the journey in the build up to conversion

→ The real impact of display advertising on site visits and user behaviour

Methodology

• Nielsen NetView panel monitors activity of 40,000 representative UK internet users at home and work

• Software installed on panelists' PCs records their online activity – each URL visited and search made is recorded

• The online activity of three brands – BMI, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and is tagged to allow identification of those that have been exposed to the activity – for example online display advertising

• The three brands are identified as Brands ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ in the research results – some details (e.g. sample size, visitor numbers) have been masked to preserve the anonymity of the brands

• The URLs within the sites of the three brands are categorised into one of three areas – ‘general visit’, ‘obtaining a quote’ or ‘making a purchase’

• This enables us to answer two key questions

→ Which users were exposed to which elements of the online campaigns?

→ What activities users conducted during visits to the brands’ websites?

WHAT WE MEASURED – BRANDS AND THEIR ACTIVITY

What we measured – time periods, activity and sample size

Brand A Brand B Brand C

Period

Activity

One month Two months Two months

Display

Sponsored Search

Organic Search

Referrals incl. Affiliates

Email

Display

Sponsored Search

Organic Search


Email

Display

Sponsored Search

Organic Search


Sample Size 1,000+ 500 – 1,000 500 – 1,000

Source: Nielsen NetView

What we measured – levels of activity online and offline

Brand A

Brand B

Brand C

Display/Email

Paid SearchClick Thrus

OfflineActivity

Medium

Medium

Small

Large

Small

Medium

Large

Medium

Small

Source: Nielsen NetView & Nielsen NMR

RESULTS – WEB SITE VISITORS AND THEIR BEHAVIOUR

An average of one in four visitors at least obtained a quote

Brand A

Average of Brands A, B & C

Quote - 25%

Brand B

Brand C

Purchase - 3%

Source: Nielsen NetView – Average of three brands

Visit - 72%

Purchasers are more likely to have been exposed to activity

Brand A

Total SiteVisitors

Quote/Purchase PagesVisitors

69%

78%

Exposed to activity

Exposed to activity

Brand B

Total SiteVisitors


Exposed to activity

Brand C

Total SiteVisitors


Exposed to activity

86% 69%

94%Exposed to activity

75%Exposed to activity


DAY

Direct

EX

PO

SU

RE

1 8 9 11 14

16 17 21 2518

15

DisplayDisplay

Display Direct

Purchase

DisplayExp: x9

Direct

Quote

DisplayExp: x4

DisplayExp: x6

DisplayExp: x3

DisplayExp: x3

Direct

Quote

Direct

Purchase

Direct

Quote

Example user journey - one

Visit Quote Purchase

Visit


Example user journey - two

1 3 15 16 43

Brand related search x 2

Display Direct

Visit

DAY

EX

PO

SU

RE

SE

AR

CH

T

ER

MS

Sponsored Click

Sponsored Click

Visit

Display Display

Quote



Example user journey - three

1 22DAY

EX

PO

SU

RE

SE

AR

CH

T

ER

MS

DisplayExp: x4

Sponsored Click

Destination related search

29

Organic Click

Brand related search

Visit Visit

Direct

Purchase



Display more likely to drive first steps

Three Most Likely First Touch Points Three Most Likely Last Touch Points

WW

WW

WW

WW

WW

Organic Click 1st

Sponsored Click 2nd

Display 3rd

Organic Click 1st

Sponsored Click 2nd

Referral 3rd

Source: Nielsen NetView – Average of three brands, excluding direct visits without any prior exposure to activity

Brand A

Brand B

Brand C

Average customer conversion journey across all three brands

3.1

Display Emails

+ + + =Quote/Purchase

(over 7.8 days)

Bra

nd A

, B

an

d C

ave

rage

Source: Nielsen NetView, period from first event to first Quote / PurchaseNB: excludes journey’s that began with an organic click through

0.2 0.7 1.0

OrganicClick

SponsoredClick

RESULTS – THE IMPACT OF ONLINE ACTIVITY ON USERS

Exposure to different campaign elements – visitors


Exposure to different campaign elements – purchasers


Purchasers use search in conjunction with display

Display Only

78%

Also used Sponsored Search

Bra

nd A

Display Only


Bra

nd B

84%

Display Only


Bra

nd C

74%


Bra

nd A

Display Only

71%

Display Only


Bra

nd B

65%


Bra

nd C

Display Only

65%

Visitors Purchasers


Visitors Purchasers

Relationship between display exposures and number visits

Number of Display Exposures

Site Visits per Exposed Person

Num

ber

of

Site

Vis

its

Brand C

Brand A

Brand B


RESULTS – THE LATENCY OF ONLINE DISPLAY ADVERTISING

Display advertising – how many people visit after exposure?

of those exposed to the display

campaign went on to visit Brand A’s site post exposure

Brand A

6.7%


campaign went on to visit Brand B’s site post exposure

Brand B

6.6%


campaign went on to visit Brand C’s site post exposure

Brand C

3.4%

Source: Nielsen NetView, Average Display CTR = 0.18%, Source AdTech 2009

Display advertising – how long does it take exposed people to visit?

Brand A

40%Have not been exposed/ to conducted any other activity

12%Have not been exposed/ to

conducted any other activity

46%Have not been exposed/ to conducted any other activity

Brand C

5 Seconds Less than a weekSame session

Brand B

Less than a weekSame session5 Seconds


SUMMARY

Summary

£ Online activity is working - Individuals who make purchases on websites are more likely to have been exposed to online advertising

The customer conversion journey is not a simple linear path – users come into contact with multiple campaign elements on multiple occasions – up to 9 display ads, 3 organic click thrus, 2 sponsored click thrus and 2 emails over a period of up to 7 days to make their 1st purchase

Different online elements work together – they play different roles at different stages of the journey – it’s not only the last step or click in the journey that matters


Summary

Display advertising performs better than is widely perceived – display advertising has a positive latent effect – up to 46% of people that visit a web site a week after being exposed to a display advertisement have not been exposed to any other online elements

www

Click thru metrics may not be an adequate way of assessing the impact of display advertising – up to 6.7% of users exposed to display advertising will visit the advertisers website within one or two months – approximately 40 times the average click thru rate of 0.18%

customer conversion journey sector: travel. contents background and methodology what we measured –...

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