Driving down cost per click on Display for a VOD platform
Display advertising sometimes gets a bad rap. Everyone thinks it’s just annoying banner ads that get ignored or blocked. But when done right, display can be an extremely effective way to reach and engage your target audience.
For our client, an emerging video-on-demand (VOD) platform launching in Africa, display played a crucial role in their content acquisition strategy. They needed more local video content to grow their library and attract new viewers. But they were bootstrapping it and needed to get the biggest bang for their buck. Enter display prospecting campaigns. By laser targeting engaged users and optimising for engagement, we were able to smash their cost per click (CPC) goals. Over 2.5 months, we delivered over 2 million impressions resulting in nearly 145,000 clicks at an average CPC of just $0.31!
Key terms
Impressions: This refers to the number of times an ad is shown. So if your ad is displayed on a website 1000 times, that’s 1000 impressions. It’s a measure of reach.
Click-through-rate or CTR: The number of clicks your ad gets divided by the number of impressions. If you get 100 clicks for every 10,000 impressions, your CTR is 1%. The higher your CTR the better, it means people are interested in your ad.
Cost-per-click or CPC: How much you pay each time someone clicks your ad. If you pay $1 for each click and get 100 clicks, your CPC campaign costs $100. CPC pricing models mean you only pay when people show interest in your ad by clicking.
Our strategy
For our display prospecting campaign, our main objective was to maximise the click-through rate (CTR) by targeting highly engaged audiences. We applied similar targeting strategies as we did on Facebook, ensuring that our ads reached the right people. The creative aspect of the campaign played a crucial role as well. We collaborated with our partner creative agency to create visually appealing ads that effectively communicated the platform’s message – that they were looking for content submissions. This creative was also used across our social media campaigns and website to maintain consistency in messaging.
The Results Speak Volumes
Over the course of two and a half months, our display campaign generated an impressive 2,171,784 impressions, resulting in 144,894 clicks and a CTR of 6.67%. What’s even more remarkable is that during one particular month, the campaign achieved an outstanding 9.87% CTR. These results surpassed our expectations and had a significant impact on our overall campaign performance.
One of the most notable achievements of our display campaign was the remarkably low cost per click (CPC) of only R0.31. This means that for each click on our ads, the platform only had to spend a minimal amount. Such a low CPC allowed our client to maximise their budget and reach a larger audience with their content submission message. It also highlighted the effectiveness of our targeting strategies and the engaging nature of our creative assets.
Our partner agency was extremely pleased with the overall results and the decision to run the campaign was extended from what was initially over a three month period to another 12 months.
Overall, a big win for reaching audiences on display at an affordable cost. Who says you can’t get quality clicks for pennies these days? With smart display strategies like this, the sky’s the limit. If you’re looking for an agency that can help you pull off these kinds of results, get in touch with the team at TMI today.