How Much Does a Click Really Cost?

What you pay for a click is what you pay. Right?

Well, to quote Carnac the Magnificent, “El Wrongo, Moose Breath!”
Most Digital Marketing Agencies are ignoring the impact of Return Visitors in the evaluation of their bottom lines. Let’s look at one of EverEffect’s Ecommerce PPC Strategy clients:
Paid Search garnered 24,777 Clicks in the First Quarter of 2017: 14,463 were New Visitors; 10,314 Returning Visitors, or 58.27% and 41.63% respectively.

So, what’s the big deal?

Paid Search generated 24,777 Sessions, and only paid for 20,455. The formula is simple: Return Sessions – PPC Clicks = Free Return Sessions.
There is a discrepancy between the assertions above because some visitors clicked on Ads more than once. Darn their eyes.
The average reported CPC over this time frame was $1.77. While we paid full freight for more than half of Return Visits, the average CPC for a Return Visit was just $1.03 (-41.81%)!

So, how much did a Click Really Cost?

$1.50

Why does this matter?

72.48% of 4th Quarter Revenue came from Return Visitors. Believe it or not, Ripley, your site is not the only one Users will evaluate during the purchasing cycle. Your customers will compare 3+ of your competitors before they decide to buy.
In the case of this client, “Returning” PPC visits represented 41.63% of PPC Traffic, and Paid Search Returning Sessions out-performed New by 199.32% as a source of PPC Revenue! When we apply this same formula to all EverEffect eCommerce and Lead Gen clients, we discover that Returning Visitors accounted for:

  • 27.4% of PPC Traffic
  • 9% of Leads
  • 6% of Revenue
  • With a Conversion Rate 26.5% higher than New Visitors

So, bottom line, our clients are paying roughly 19% less for 44% of their Revenue once we factor in Return Visits.
Thomas Heed is Founder & President of EverEffect.

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