What creatives really need to know about performance data
Creatives and numbers: it is not always love at first sight. But once you understand which data matters, you can make better choices. In your design. In your pacing. In your calls-to-action. At Banny we use performance data every day to make content smarter. Not to analyze everything to death, but to understand: what really works, and why?
In this blog we show you which simple metrics you need to know as a designer, motion creative or art director. No dashboards, no jargon, but with examples and smart questions you can start asking in your creative review tomorrow.
“A beautiful design is great, but if people drop off after three seconds, it misses its goal.”
How do you know if your ad is even being seen?
Check your view rate or thumbstop rate. They tell you whether your opening frame works or gets swiped away instantly. Whether you make a video, banner or display ad: if people don’t see it, nothing else matters. The view rate shows whether your ad comes into view and stays there long enough for anything to register. For videos, the 3-second view rate is especially interesting: how many people pause their scroll for a moment?
A strong first frame with a recognizable color, logo or hook makes the difference here.
For JD Sports we tested multiple TikTok hooks. The variant with sharp copy, a zoom-in and brand color in frame 1 hit a 34% thumbstop rate. The version without a visual cue got stuck at 18%.
Where do people drop off, and why?
Use your view-through rate (VTR) and dwell time to find the drop-off moment. Most videos are not watched to the end. But where do people drop off? You can see that in the view-through rate. And with dwell time or time-on-ad you can see how long your audience lingers on rich media or carousels.
See people swiping away around second 7? Then your pacing is too slow. Is your top CTA at the bottom of the banner, but nobody scrolls that far? Then it is not your message, it is the placement.
In a DOOH campaign for a fashion brand, we saw dwell time increase from 4 to 9 seconds as soon as we added subtle movement (wind in fabric, a blinking price tag). The message stayed the same — only the design held attention longer.
Does anyone actually read what sits below the fold?
Scroll depth gives insight into the visibility of your content in long-form ads and landing pages. If you are proud of the USPs in your third block, but nobody ever scrolls down there… then your design misses its goal. Scroll depth shows how far visitors really get.
Use that insight wisely: put the most important info at the top, split content across frames or add sticky elements.
In a display campaign we saw that 70% of the traffic didn’t scroll past 50%. The product carousel (where it all had to happen) sat just below that. After rearranging, CTR rose by 22%.
Which version drives action, and which only drives a view?
Check the engagement rate: how many people click, like, share or comment? Your ad can look fantastic, but if nobody responds to it… it misses its goal. With the engagement rate per variant you can see which visuals or copy resonate. Pay special attention to differences in shares: that says something about emotional impact.
Seeing a high thumbstop but low engagement? Chances are your visual hook is good, but your message doesn’t invite enough action.
So now what?
You don’t need to be a performance analyst to use data smartly as a creative. Just start with these four questions:
Is your ad being seen?
Where do people drop off?
Do people read what you find important?
Which version triggers a response?
