3 useful benchmark tools to know as a digital marketer

When you are starting out in online advertising one of the first things you will ask yourself is: How much will I have to pay for that? And how do I evaluate my performance?

You can find some great tools online that will help you to get some industry trends and benchmarks. These three are the ‘must-know’ benchmark tools for every digital marketer.

1) Google Keyword Planner 

If you are thinking about advertising on Google’s search engine then you have to try this tool. Based on the keywords you select it will give you an estimated search volume, average cost per click and average competition. This will help you to plan your budget investment and performance.

2) GoogleDisplay Benchmark Tool 

This tool will help you to get a benchmark for display advertising performance. Performance is really specific to the industry you are in, but this tool will even let you drill down into industry and location based specific data.

Another great alternative to this is the report from Sizmek, a popular rich media vendor. They release this benchmark report every year with up to date data about standard and premium banner formats, but also video and rich media.

3) Industry benchmark reports

These are reports published by advertising platforms or agencies and are usually very insightful. One of the most recent reports was released by Social.com which gives Social Media benchmark data including CPC trends.

Another report comes from Wolfgang Digital and is really aimed to help you make better investment decisions with your digital marketing budget. From top traffic sources, over device usage benchmarks and conversion rates this report is handy to have at hand.

One thing to note though about benchmark reports is to be aware that every situation, company circumstances and industry you operate in is different. The best benchmark is your own. Test and trial to find out what average CPAs, conversion rates etc. are for you and your business.