4 Warning Signs that Your Campaign isn't working

Consistently analyzing the data on campaign performance helps you determine which strategies you have in place are working. Sometimes, you may notice that your campaign has reached a plateau or isn't performing very well at all; doing a digital health check tells you why, and what you need to change in order to improve. 

At Nugit, we've been lucky enough to learn a lot from working with clients across various industries. We'd like to share this with you so we've put together a quick list of signs to look out for in your campaign and the steps you should take to improve: 

SCENARIO #1 HIGH IMPRESSIONS, LOW CLICKS

Signs to look out for:

• High volume of impressions delivered
• Low volume of clicks

While impressions are normally at a higher rate than clicks, if your CTR is lower than your previous month, you should consider revisiting the following possible causes:

1. What were your campaign objectives? Did you set up a campign to push for reach and impressions as opposed to clicks? If so, it's time to re-strategise as clicks matter more.
2. Are you targeting the right audiences at the right stage? For example, if you're looking for audiences to react to your ads, then you may want to capture them at the awareness stage, as opposed to the decision stage, which is where you expect them to buy.

SCENARIO #2 HIGH CLICKS, LOW LANDINGS

Signs to look out for:

• High volume of clicks shown on platform
• Low volume of site landings on web analytics

In this scenario, it is linked to your site and as such, you should be asking yourself the following questions: 

1. Is your landing page loading properly? Depending on which platform you use, these times are tracked differently and at different instances. If your page is not loading properly, clicks that have been recorded will not correspond with the landing numbers, thus leading to a huge disparity between the two.   
2. Are your tracking pixels correctly implemented? Further to the above, a quick check on whether your tracking pixels are firing correctly on the page will help too.

SCENARIO #3 CAMPAIGNS NOT SPENDING

Noticeable trend: Campaign has been set up and launched for 3-5 days, yet daily spend is merely 50% of the daily budget. 

A few factors for this could be:

1. Max. CPC / CPM too low - did you set your CPC / CPM way below the average market bid? As you're most likely bidding against your competitor, limiting yourself to a fixed max bid may set your campaign back for not reaching the minimum cap set.
2. Ad copy not engaging / appealing - unappealing copy can cause your ad rank to drop, leading to poor chances in your market eligibility.
3. Wrong targeting - alternatively, you can also look at re-targetting, in case your current audience happens to be a very niche set of people.

SCENARIO #4 CPC IS TOO HIGH

Noticeable trend: As the campaign approaches its end, CPC increases.

Possible causes for this could be:

1. Competitors are bidding high within the marketplace during this period. 
2. Low volume of available inventory, due to seasonaity

To remain competitive, you may want to revisit your budget and allocate more to your campaigns, particularly if targets have not been met.

CAMPAIGN HEALTH CHECK SUMMARY

In short, ensuring your foundations are right from the start is imperative for the success of your campaign. Keep the following in mind each time you embark on a new marketing initiative:

1. Always be clear about your campaign objectives and stick to it 
2. Check your landing pages and tags regularly and consistently
3. Define your target audience wisely

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