What is lost impression share?

When you run paid advertising campaigns, your goal is for your ads to be seen by the right people at the right time. Lost impression share is a crucial metric that tells you when your ads are not showing up as often as they could. It measures the percentage of potential impressions your ads missed out on. Think of it as a missed opportunity score. If your lost impression share is high, it means your ads are not appearing for a significant portion of searches or placements where they were eligible to show.

There are two primary reasons why you might lose impression share: budget and ad rank. Lost impression share (budget) means your ads stopped showing because your daily or campaign budget ran out. Lost impression share (rank) means your ads were eligible but didn't show because your ad rank was too low. Ad rank is determined by factors like your bid, ad quality, and the expected impact of your ad extensions. Understanding which type of lost impression share is affecting your campaigns helps you pinpoint the problem and take effective action.

Why it matters

Lost impression share directly impacts the reach and effectiveness of your paid advertising campaigns. A high lost impression share means fewer potential customers are seeing your ads, which can lead to lower click-through rates, fewer conversions, and ultimately, less revenue. It's like having a great storefront but keeping the lights off for part of the day; fewer people will notice you.

Ignoring lost impression share can also give your competitors an advantage. If your ads aren't showing, theirs might be, allowing them to capture valuable clicks and conversions that could have been yours. By actively managing and reducing your lost impression share, you ensure your marketing budget is working harder and your ads have the best possible chance to connect with your target audience. It's about maximizing your visibility and ensuring you're competing effectively in the ad auction.

How to improve it

Address lost impression share (budget)

• Increase your budget: The most straightforward way to fix lost impression share due to budget is to increase your daily or campaign budget. This allows your ads to run for longer periods or capture more impressions throughout the day.
• Optimize bidding strategies: Review your bidding strategy. If you're using manual bidding, consider automated strategies like "maximize conversions" or "target CPA" which can help spend your budget more efficiently to achieve your goals.
• Adjust ad scheduling: If increasing budget isn't an option, consider scheduling your ads to run only during peak hours when your target audience is most active. This ensures your budget is spent when it's most impactful.
• Refine targeting: Narrowing your audience targeting or keyword list can help stretch your budget further by focusing on the most relevant and high-converting segments.

Address lost impression share (rank)

• Improve ad quality: This is crucial. Ensure your ad copy is highly relevant to your keywords and landing page content. Strong, clear, and compelling ad copy improves expected click-through rate (CTR).
• Enhance landing page experience: Your landing page should be fast-loading, mobile-friendly, relevant to the ad, and easy to navigate. A poor landing page experience negatively impacts your Quality Score.
• Use relevant ad extensions: Ad extensions like sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets can boost your ad's visibility and provide more information, improving its overall impact and expected CTR.
• Increase bids strategically: While not the only solution, increasing your bids can directly improve your ad rank. However, combine this with quality improvements for the best results and ROI.
• Refine keyword targeting: Remove low-performing keywords or those that are too broad. Focus on exact and phrase match keywords that are highly relevant to your business.

Key metrics to track

To effectively manage lost impression share, you should regularly monitor several key metrics in your ad platforms:

• Impression share: This shows the percentage of impressions your ads received out of the total eligible impressions.
• Lost impression share (budget): The percentage of impressions your ads lost due to insufficient budget.
• Lost impression share (rank): The percentage of impressions your ads lost due to low ad rank.
• Quality Score: For Google Ads, this 1-10 score estimates the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. A higher Quality Score means lower costs and better ad positions.
• Click-through rate (CTR): A higher CTR indicates your ads are more appealing and relevant, which can positively impact ad rank.
• Conversion rate: Ultimately, you want your impressions to lead to conversions. Tracking this helps ensure your efforts to gain impressions are profitable.

By regularly monitoring these metrics, you can quickly identify issues and make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns. Addressing lost impression share is an ongoing process that requires continuous testing and refinement.

In summary, lost impression share highlights missed opportunities in your paid ad campaigns. By understanding its causes—budget or ad rank—and taking specific steps to address them, you can significantly improve your ad visibility, attract more potential customers, and ultimately drive better results for your business. Make it a regular practice to review these metrics and adjust your strategies accordingly to ensure your ads are always performing their best.