Making the Case: How to Demonstrate Digital Advertising ROI

Start with the Numbers

It’s hard to argue with data. You can provide local companies with a variety of stats they’d find meaningful when considering the ROI of digital advertising, such as:

• 97% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else.
• 88% of people who conduct a local search on their mobile devices visit a related store within a week.
• 86% of customers look for local business information on search and social channels.
• For every $1 spent on email marketing, companies get a $36 return.
• Every $1 spent on Google search ads yields $8 in profit.

Those can be conversational openers, but having real-world examples makes this even more impactful. Using case studies that tell the story of a campaign and its success makes the data more real to business owners.

Case studies also illustrate your ability to support brands with digital advertising and show that you understand how to optimize them to perform.

Explain Digital Tactics and How They Work to Target Specific Audiences

While most people know what digital ads are, as we encounter them every day, they may not know how they work. The mechanics of how display ads appear online can get a little technical, but it’s still explainable in simple terms. What’s worth focusing on here is targeting. Businesses have ideal customers, whether they’ve defined them formally or not. Their audience has various characteristics, and advertisers can reach those people by targeting based on demographics, interests, behaviors and location.

Each digital tactic has its own targeting capabilities, and some let you hone in more than others. If they have a broader audience, display ads may be the best option. If it’s more defined, social media or OTT/CTV may be better.

You’re playing the role of detective a bit to understand who they want to reach and then connect that to targeting capabilities.

Check out these resources for more help:

• Ad Serving and Audience Targeting Explained
• How to Explain Digital Advertising Tactics to Your Advertisers

Discuss How You Determine Ad Performance and ROI

If you want to prove ROI, you also have to talk about how to measure ad performance. It involves describing digital advertising metrics and what they mean. Again, you don’t need to be overly technical. It’s a good idea to present the metric and what it means in terms of performance. You then need to tie that back to ROI and meeting the goal.

It won’t always be about increasing sales, as that’s not the only measure of success. For example, some campaigns are more about brand awareness and visibility. That may not be a sale today, but it could be one tomorrow. Is this quantifiable? It is when you look at the metrics in a way to tell this story, like a huge jump in website traffic.

One good visual to share here to get advertisers thinking in this way is a sample campaign performance report. It should be easy for anyone to understand and should capture insights that would be important to a local business owner.

Remind Advertisers That ROI Includes Staying Competitive

ROI means return on investment. In advertising, it usually means companies grow revenue or meet goals through campaigns. The return can also relate to staying competitive. Most local businesses face many competitors, especially in restaurants, retail, field services (e.g., HVAC, electrical) and other professional services. If they aren’t increasing their visibility with advertising, others will be, and they have avenues to attract and convert customers.

The cost of not advertising is greater than what they’ll invest in it. Making this point is critical and can create an “aha” moment.