Short-form metrics & strategy
Click-through rate: definition and examples
What is Click-through rate?
Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who click a link or call-to-action after seeing it, calculated by dividing total clicks by total impressions and multiplying by 100. It measures how well a piece of content motivates viewers to take the next step.
When you'd use it
- 1When a video includes a call to action and you want to know how many viewers followed through.
- 2When testing two different caption or overlay versions to see which drives more link clicks.
- 3When evaluating whether a paid video ad is converting views into site visits.
- 4When diagnosing a campaign where traffic to a landing page is lower than expected given impression volume.
- 5When comparing CTR across ad creatives to identify which visual approach prompts the most action.
Example
A direct-to-consumer cookware brand ran a 15-second TikTok ad with a shop link and achieved a CTR of 2.1 percent across 500,000 impressions. After changing the video's final frame from a product shot to a text card reading 'shop the set,' CTR climbed to 3.4 percent on the next campaign.
Use cases
- 1Measuring how many viewers clicked a product link after watching a short demo video.
- 2Comparing CTR on a video that shows the outcome first versus one that builds to a reveal.
- 3Tracking click-through rate on a series of short ads to determine which creative drives the most traffic.
FAQ
What is a good CTR for short-form video ads?
Benchmarks vary significantly by industry, format, and platform. For TikTok and Instagram Reels ads, a CTR between 1 and 3 percent is typical, with top-performing campaigns reaching 5 percent or higher. These figures shift as ad formats and audience behaviors evolve, so compare against category-specific benchmarks over platform-wide averages.
Make on-brand short-form video from the footage you already have.