By Brianna Vetrano, Digital Marketing Consultant, Vetrano Digital Marketing

Let’s start with a hard truth: Impressions are one of the weakest metrics for measuring the true impact of place brand digital marketing, especially for paid campaigns.

Impressions simply count how many times your content appeared on a screen, even if only partially. But it tells us nothing about whether the message resonates, if the right audience is being reached, or if your marketing efforts are really helping attract investors, talent, and visitors to your region.

If your place brand is still using impressions as a primary KPI for digital success, it may be time to rethink your approach.

Here are five alternative metrics that provide a more insightful and meaningful picture of engagement and impact:

1. Conversions

Conversions are the actions you want a user to take on your website. For EDOs, DMOs, and IPAs, these typically include events like: clicks on email addresses or phone numbers; contact form submissions; newsletter signups; resource downloads; using tools like itinerary builders and GIS maps; or clicks on booking partner links.

Note: Most conversions aren’t automatically tracked in Google Analytics and need to be configured by someone with experience in Google Tag Manager.

Why this metric matters: Tracking conversions helps identify the channels, tactics, and audiences driving the most value, allowing you to allocate resources efficiently. It’s also a strong measurement for tracking meaningful growth over time.

2. Strong engagement indicators

Travel planning and location decisions take months, sometimes years. While bottom-of-the-funnel actions like contact form submissions and bookings are the ultimate goal for most place marketing organisations, earlier-stage digital actions can indicate strong interest in your region and shouldn’t be overlooked.

Examples include: spending 5+ minutes on the website; visiting 5+ pages; clicking on outbound links; engaging with social media buttons; searching venue lists; or viewing embedded videos.

Why this metric matters: Tracking strong engagement indicators can help showcase the impact of earlier-stage marketing efforts like digital ads and social media and provide insight into different stages of research and decisions. They can also be used as a targeting signal in your retargeting strategies.

3. User conversion rate

This measures the percentage of website visitors who complete at least one of your established conversion events. A strong conversion rate indicates that your messaging and user experience are effectively guiding potential investors, businesses, or visitors toward action.

Why this metric matters: A high conversion rate demonstrates that your marketing efforts are driving not just traffic but meaningful engagement. It helps determine which channels and tactics perform best, helping you maximise your resource allocation.

4. Click-through rate (CTR)

CTR represents the percentage of users who click on a digital ad, email link, or call-to-action after seeing it. A high CTR suggests that your messaging is reaching the right users and resonating with their interests.

Why this metric matters: CTR is a leading indicator of campaign effectiveness. If users aren’t clicking, your messaging or targeting strategy may need refinement. Tracking CTR helps optimise ad spend, test creative variations, and improve audience segmentation to increase engagement and conversions.

5. On-page engagement

Metrics like engagement rate, time on page, and pages per session reveal how deeply users interact with your website content. For place brands, higher engagement suggests that users are actively researching your region, exploring key resources, and considering their next steps.

Why this metric matters: Engagement metrics help assess content effectiveness and user intent. If visitors are spending time on key pages or viewing multiple sections of your site, they may be seriously evaluating your region for business expansion, relocation, or travel. These insights also inform content improvements and retargeting strategies.

Sharing with your stakeholders

If your stakeholders love big numbers, go ahead and include impressions in your reports—but don’t stop there. Show them the real value behind deeper engagement metrics and help them see why these KPIs matter even more. By bringing them along as you refine your measurement approach, you’ll help them see what really moves the needle.

Expert support to showcase the impact of your digital marketing

Brianna Vetrano is a digital place marketing consultant helping place brands drive meaningful digital results and showcase impact to stakeholders. Interested in elevating your organisation’s KPI measurement, setting up conversions through Google Tag Manager, or automating your digital reporting with custom, data-visualization dashboards? Learn more about Brianna and get in touch at vetranodigital.com.