If you own a business, determining true ROI for your advertising investments is likely your biggest challenge.  For digital campaigns specifically, you’re probably using CTR (Click-Through Rate) as an indicator of campaign performance.  Although CTR (Click-Through Rate) has been a primary measure of the success of digital ads for many years, it’s important to know that CTR isn’t telling you the whole story.  Many businesses are increasingly questioning the effectiveness of CTR in measuring performance and discovering that there can often be a negligible relationship between CTR and ROI.  This article offers three reasons CTR is no longer a sufficient standard of measurement for digital ads.

The realm of location data quality is a little messy-- many digital marketing agencies today fail to provide their clients with factual, reliable data when it comes to location-based digital marketing. It can be difficult to know who to trust and who to turn away as you begin looking for partnerships. That's why we've rounded up a quick list of questions you must ask any agency you're looking to partner with (or may already be partnered with!).

Let's reflect. As 2018 comes to a close, we're taking note of how digital display ads have evolved over the last year. Did they live up to our spring predictions, and what's in store for 2019?

According to eMarketer's US Ad Spending 2018 Report, digital ad investments will reach $111.14 billion by the end of December, and in 2019, "digital media will account for 55 percent of total media ad spending." With more than half of most ad budgets spent online, it's worth digging into this metric a little deeper.

Local mobile advertising opens a new world of possibilities for brick-and-mortar businesses, both big and small. The ability to send relevant information to people at the exact moment they need it is something marketers have always dreamed of, and it's now a reality.

Geotargeting on mobile allows you to refine your ad reach to serve only the most relevant audiences at those key moments before a purchase. The granular targeting capabilities of Google's display ads allow you to get a robust return on investment from your ad spend, even with a limited budget.

It might mean fewer impressions and even clicks at first, but, when done right, it can significantly increase conversions.

As an advertiser paying for impressions, it's important to know that the people you're serving ads to are actually seeing them. After all, if your video ad plays while a user is actively browsing within a different tab, is it really fair for the publisher to charge you for the impression?

Ad viewability is one of the industry's most hotly debated issues, and as of now, there is no single standard of measurement.

But what does viewability mean for video marketing, and what exactly are marketers debating? Let's dive in and take a look.

Between DSP, SSP, CPM, DMP, RTB and more, it can be easy to get lost in the alphabet soup that is programmatic buying.

In the simplest of terms, this strategy is the act of using technology and data to choose and buy digital advertising space on the web. The process is often automated and occurs in real time as a collaboration amongst brands, marketing pros and advertising agencies.

According to AdAge, this advertising approach is on the rise. In 2011, spend on programmatic digital display advertising reached $1.1 billion. Projections for 2019 predict a whopping $45.9 billion in ad spend.

Advertisement blocker technology has been popular among customers for years, and its presence continues to grow. According to a report from PageFair, the global use of ad blockers increased by 30 percent during the past year.

Customers may be happy with the software, but marketers and publishers are in the opposite camp. Some publishers depend on advertising as a key source of revenue, while others count it as their primary means of paying the bills. Meanwhile, marketers often use display advertising to engage a targeted audience.

However, with ad blockers becoming so common, it's almost impossible to build a marketing strategy without taking this hurdle into account. Here are some tips for adjusting your digital strategy to better consider the implications of ad blockers — and how you might be able to overcome the technology.

Programmatic advertising may have encountered a bumpy road on its path to mainstream adoption, but research shows that its time in the sun has finally arrived. According to eMarketer, 84 percent of all display advertising will be conducted through programmatic channels by the end of the year.

Overall, spending on this automated solution is expected to approach $33 billion by the end of 2017. This growth follows years of uncertainty and growing pains, as programmatic ad buying searched for a balance that best serves ad buyers and sellers. Many marketers feel that the programmatic market is now worth the effort. Here's a look at some of the benefits and recent improvements.

In simple terms, programmatic advertising is the use of automation technology to buy and sell ads, primarily online. Instead of negotiating prices and making calls, marketers who use this technology simply set a budget and let machines discover and purchase their digital media for them leaving more time for ongoing analysis and optimization.

Marketers are overwhelmingly adopting programmatic technology — in fact, data from eMarketer estimated that in 2017, nearly four of every five U.S. digital display dollars have been spent on this type of advertising, totaling $32.56 billion. But despite the popularity, some marketers are still making a few common mistakes. Here are five missteps to avoid.

Even if you're not familiar with the term "data-driven marketing," there's a good chance you've used this strategy before.

The practice of using customer information to develop targeted advertising has sparked a new age of online marketing — helping marketers connect customers with products and services like never before. Market Thunder estimated that $20 billion is spent annually on this type of marketing. In recent years, that money has caused seismic shifts in the digital marketing world, which affect both how we reach customers today and how we will in the future.