Impression Share, sometimes referred to as ‘IS’, is an important metric that marketers use to measure a campaign’s success, and to identify areas for improvement. In a nutshell, impression share is the amount of impressions you received versus the amount of impressions you were eligible to receive. It’s a powerful tool for getting your ads seen by the right people, as it can help you recognise where you need to make improvements and allocate budget and resources appropriately.
What is Impression Share?
An impression share is a statistic that is used to measure the efficacy of your ad campaigns when it comes to reaching your target audience. It’s the total number of impressions received by your ads compared to the total number of impressions that were available to you for a particular ad campaign.
It’s a key number that helps you get a better understanding of your ads’ performance, and it serves as a benchmark for tracking your return on advertising spend (ROAS).
Impression Share is measured in percentage and is calculated as follows:
Impression share = (total number of impressions received / total number of available impressions) x 100
For example, if you were running an ad campaign and received 400 impressions, but the total number of impressions available to you was 1,000, your impression share would be 40%.
How is Impression Share Calculated?
Most marketing campaigns, especially those on digital platforms like Google Ads, are subject to competition. Therefore, a certain percentage of impressions will get lost due to competition.
The primary factor that affects impression share is your bid. A higher bid gives your ad a better chance of showing up in a higher spot on the results page and getting more impressions.
Impression Share can also be affected by other factors such as targeting and budget. If you’ve set up targeting but have a relatively low budget, it’s likely that you’ll have a lower impression share. If you have a higher budget, but have not adequately targeted your audience, you could still have a low impression share.
What Are the Advantages of Measuring Impression Share?
Impression Share is a great metric for tracking the success of your ad campaigns, as it gives you an indication of how visible your ads actually are to the public. As a result, monitoring your impression share provides invaluable insights into the effectiveness of your strategies, making it easier to identify areas for improvement and make adjustments.
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Impression Share can also be used to determine where you should allocate your budget and resources. If you have a low impression share, then it means that your ad isn’t being displayed as often as it should be, so you may need to invest in more targeted advertising. On the other hand, if your impression share is high, then you may need to increase your budget in order to maintain visibility.
Is There a Minimum Impression Share to Aim For?
Yes, there is a minimum impression share that it is advisable to aim for in order to make sure your ads are being seen. Most professionals suggest aiming for an impression share of at least 55-60%. This allows your ads to be seen more often and increases the chances of them being clicked on and read.
What Are the Best Practices for Improving Impression Share?
There are a number of best practices that you can implement in order to improve your impression share and get your ads seen by more people. These include:
• Targeting the right audience:Make sure that you are targeting the right people for your ads. If you target the wrong demographic, then it’s unlikely that your ads will be seen by the right people. You should also test different audiences to identify which ones respond best to your ads.
• Adjusting your bid amount: Make sure that you are bidding the right amount in order to get your ad seen by more people. If you have a small budget but want more visibility, then you may need to adjust your bids accordingly in order to compete with other advertisers.
• Optimizing your ad content:Make sure that your ad content is effective in order to make it stand out from the competition and encourage more people to click on it. Test different content to see what works best and refine it accordingly.
• Improving ad placement:Make sure that you are placing your ads in high traffic locations. This will help to increase your visibility and get more people to click on your ads.
Conclusion
Impression Share is an important statistic when it comes to understanding the performance of your ad campaigns. It’s a measurement of how many impressions you received against how many were available to you, giving you invaluable insights into how visible your ads are to the public.
Aiming for an impression share of at least 55-60% is recommended in order to make sure your ads are being seen. There are also a number of best practices that can be implemented in order to improve impression share, such as targeting the right audience, adjusting your bid amount, optimizing your ad content, and improving ad placement.