How Transitioning from Clicks to Site Actions Lowered CPA 81% & Increased Customer Acquisition

KORTX assisted a high-profile hotel and casino shift its marketing measurement focus from traditional digital marketing KPIs such as CTR (clickthrough rates) and engagement rates to site actions. Because the entertainment industry is highly competitive–spanning casinos, concerts, sports, and dining—this strategic change meant that every marketing dollar directly influenced key outcomes.

Challenge

The hotel and casino’s marketing campaigns were anchored in vanity metrics like clickthrough rates (CTR) and engagement rates. While these metrics indicated interest, they did not capture the depth of user interaction or the ultimate success of marketing efforts in generating tangible business results.

Strategy

Recognizing the need for change, we shifted our marketing KPIs to metrics directly impacting revenue. Campaign goals transitioned from superficial engagement metrics to substantive site actions that reflected genuine user interest and purchase intent.

Tactics implemented:

• Enhanced Site Action Tracking: We identified key areas of engagement and implemented a comprehensive pixel strategy, providing deeper insights into how users interact with the website beyond mere ad clicks.
• Insightful Audience Targeting: KORTX Intelligence discovered that our client’s audience favored streaming sports and was 8.7X more likely to be the local team’s sports fans, guiding targeted marketing efforts.
• Optimized Media Buying: We used Axon to capture website actions precisely, Split Assist™ to optimize bids on top-performing segments, and Kampus for real-time campaign tracking to ensure our media buying was as efficient as possible.
• Diversified Media Approach: The client transitioned from “always on” Display with occasional rich media to a broader mix, including OTT (Over-The-Top media) and DOOH (Digital Out-Of-Home).

Success

We enhanced our client’s full-funnel marketing approach by refining site tagging and diversifying tactics, boosting user engagement, and optimizing budget allocation. Our strategic KPI overhaul yielded impressive results:

1. Substantial CPA Decrease: After shifting our KPI focus for Display and Rich Media, we achieved a $13.74 CPA reduction (from $17.08 to $3.29) in the first quarter.
2. Increase High-Intent Site Actions: There was a 349% increase in website actions such as “Initiate Checkout,” which directly correlates with revenue-generating activities.