Google Display as prospecting: MER 1.69 and 82% new visits
Commentary byROASArchiveOur analysis, not theirs@runtraffic used the Google Display Network to reach new people for an ecommerce brand and reports a MER of 1.69 with 82% new visits.
The numbers come from a Northbeam channel view the poster shared, and there is no control.
- MER: 1.69. Revenue was 1.69 times spend. Whether that is profitable depends on margin, which is not shared.
- New visits: 82%. Most traffic was from people new to the site, which is the point of prospecting.
- Spend and revenue: shown in the Northbeam screenshot but not part of our record, so this page sticks to MER and new visits.
The change
Before
Any earlier prospecting setup is not shared.
After
Display campaigns on Google's network were used to reach people new to the brand.
Our reading: why it likely worked
Our interpretation, not the advertiser's claim.
- Display is often treated as low quality, but with tight targeting it can bring in fresh traffic cheaply.
- A high share of new visits means Display wasn't just retargeting past visitors, which inflates results.
- A third-party tool like Northbeam gives a different view than Google's own reporting, which can make Display look better or worse.
Caveats: Self-reported campaign result on one ecommerce account with no control, with figures from a Northbeam dashboard screenshot. The brand, conversions, date range and attribution model are not shared.
How to run this in your account
- Hypothesis
- If we run Google Display aimed at new audiences, then we'll get new customers at an acceptable MER because Display reaches people not yet searching for us.
- Primary metric
- MER
- Guardrails
- % new visits
- New-customer CPA
- Placement quality
- Who should try it
- Ecommerce brands that measure with a third-party tool and want more prospecting beyond Meta. It may disappoint if you can't exclude junk placements.
Questions
Is Google Display good for prospecting?
In this account it brought 82% new visits at a MER of 1.69. Check placements and margin before scaling.
What is MER?
MER is total revenue divided by total ad spend.
Here it was 1.69 for the Display campaigns.