/ Guide
How do you measure advertising?
Measurement should distinguish what the media delivered from what happened in the business.
01
Delivery
Examples include reach, frequency, impacts, impressions, completed views, clicks, listening or viewing measures depending on the channel.
02
Attention and consideration
Some campaigns use research or specialist measurement to understand noticeability, recall, awareness, consideration or intent.
03
Action
Actions can include visits, calls, searches, leads, applications, installs, purchases or footfall.
04
Incrementality
The strongest question is often what happened because of advertising that would not otherwise have happened. Incrementality can require experiments, matched markets, modelling or other research.
05
Attribution is not causation
A tracked click or last-touch conversion can be useful operationally but may not represent the full causal contribution of media.
Sources and review
Last reviewed 28 September 2026. Figures affected by current inventory, supplier data or regulation should be checked at the point of planning.
Next step
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