CTR
Click-through rate
The share of people who clicked your ad out of everyone who saw it — a signal about the message and the offer.
Formula
CTR = (clicks ÷ impressions) × 100
A worked example (hypothetical numbers)
Say your ad is shown 8,000 times and clicked 120 times. CTR = (120 ÷ 8,000) × 100 = 1.5%.
The numbers are illustrative, only to show the arithmetic. They are not real results or market averages.
How to read it
- Read it as a verdict on the ad itself: the image, the first line, the offer. A drop is usually a message problem, not a targeting one.
- A low CTR alongside a good cost per order is perfectly acceptable and does not need fixing.
- A gradual decline as frequency climbs is a fatigue signal: the audience has seen the ad too many times.
The common mistake
Judging a campaign by CTR. An ad built to provoke clicks with an overblown headline lifts the number and burns budget on visits that never buy — while the ad with the fewest clicks may be the most profitable.