How to work out Click Through Rates for Programmatic Advertising
Calculating Click-Through Rates for Programmatic Advertising
To calculate the click-through rate (CTR) for programmatic display ads using a demand-side platform (DSP), you would need to access the data provided by the DSP.
The process can vary depending on the specific DSP you are using, but generally, you would need to log in to the platform and navigate to the campaign or ad group level.
Once you have accessed the data, you can calculate the CTR using the formula:
(Clicks / Impressions) x 100 = CTR.
The DSP should provide you with the necessary data, such as the number of impressions, clicks, and conversions for your campaign. You can also use the DSP’s built-in reporting or analytics tool to view the data; often, it’s represented in charts, tables, and graphs.
It’s important to remember that the DSP‘s data may differ from the data provided by the ad exchanges or SSPs (Supply side platforms) that the DSP is buying inventory from, as DSPs use algorithms to optimise campaigns and adjust bids for audience segments. Additionally, some DSPs have different ways of counting and calculating metrics, so it’s essential to check with the specific DSP’s documentation or support team if you have any doubts.
How to work out Click Through Rates for Programmatic Advertising
Free Paid Media Review
We are a world-class programmatic marketing agency that can generate more sales and leads for you. Leave your email address, we will contact you for your free paid media review.
Advant Technology — LinkedIn Ads for Enterprise Technology
Which markets change your campaign, and how
A working companion to the multi-market playbook.
Explore what actually differs between the UK, US, DACH
and APAC — or answer four questions to see whether your
account list needs one campaign structure or several.
United Kingdom
UK
Message-based formats
Available
Outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland exclusion since Brexit,
so Conversation Ads (successor to Message Ads) are not
caught by the EU restriction that applies to Germany.
Governing regime
UK GDPR.
Standard UK GDPR employee-data handling applies;
no equivalent to Germany's works-council
co-determination layer.
Decision culture
Closer to US pace.
Single decision-maker with committee sign-off is common;
buying-group validation is typically faster than DACH.
Localization
English-native.
No localisation tax on creative or landing pages
for UK-only targeting.
United States
US
Message-based formats
Available
Conversation Ads run without the
EU/EEA/Switzerland restriction.
Governing regime
CCPA / CPRA.
California's B2B and employee-data exemptions expired
1 Jan 2023 (AB 25 / AB 1355 / AB 1281 not renewed).
Business-contact data in ABM lists touching California
residents is now in scope.
Decision culture
Fast-moving, champion-led.
Often an internal champion drives the process with
executive sign-off, rather than slower group consensus.
Localization
English-native.
Tone and proof points differ from UK
(ROI framing, case-study style) but no language barrier.
Germany-led DACH
DACH
Message-based formats
Unavailable in EU/EEA/CH
Following a Nov 2021 CJEU ruling that native inbox
advertising needs direct-marketing consent under the
ePrivacy framework, LinkedIn stopped EU-targeted
Message/Conversation Ads (new campaigns blocked
15 Dec 2021, existing ones suspended 10 Jan 2022).
Governing regime
GDPR + BDSG.
Germany's Federal Data Protection Act adds works-council
(Betriebsrat) co-determination rights over some
employee-data processing. A works agreement cannot itself
legitimate otherwise-inadmissible processing
(German court ruling reported Jan 2025).
Decision culture
Consensus-driven.
Formal sign-off and longer internal validation typically
precede commercial conversations — plan reporting
windows accordingly.
Localization
German materially outperforms English.
True below enterprise-only accounts; enterprise buying
groups are more English-tolerant, but mid-market is not.
Singapore-led APAC
APAC
Message-based formats
Confirm in Campaign Manager
Singapore sits outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland exclusion,
so formats are presumed available — but coverage isn't
centrally documented by geography, so verify before
planning.
Governing regime
PDPA (Singapore).
A distinct consent-and-purpose-limitation regime,
not equivalent to GDPR. Treat as its own compliance
track, not a GDPR analogue.
Decision culture
Not representative of wider APAC.
Singapore is English-language and Western-business-norm-adjacent;
this does not extend to Japan, Korea or Greater China
buying culture.
Localization
English viable — for Singapore only.
Do not treat English-only creative as a proxy for the
rest of APAC if the account list extends beyond
Singapore/Hong Kong hubs.
Decision-culture notes are directional, not universal —
treat as a planning prior, not a rule for every account.
Is the target account list evaluated by one centralised,
cross-border buying committee, or by in-market/regional
committees?
Does the plan rely on message-based formats
(Conversation Ads) in any EU/EEA/Switzerland market?
Does language localisation materially change conversion
quality in at least one target market (e.g. DACH below
enterprise, or APAC beyond Singapore/Hong Kong)?
Is your target-account list in every market comfortably
above LinkedIn's practical minimum audience size
(commonly cited around 300)?
Recommendation
Answer the questions above
Select one answer for each question to see
the recommendation.
Recommendation
A unified structure fits your answers
Your account list is centrally decided, doesn't depend
on a restricted message format, and localisation isn't
a material factor — the exception case for a single,
unified campaign structure.
None of the market-splitting triggers apply —
re-check this if your account list or market mix changes.
Recommendation
Split by market: separate campaign groups,
budgets and thresholds
At least one structural factor makes a shared
template unreliable across your markets.
Regional buying committees mean each market is a
separate decision unit — a shared campaign group
would blend distinct audiences.
A message-format plan cannot run as one structure
if it includes an EU/EEA/Switzerland market —
Conversation Ads aren't available there, so at
minimum that market needs a different format mix.
Where localisation changes conversion quality,
a shared budget and qualification threshold will
misread the localised market's real performance.
At least one market may sit below the practical
minimum audience size — consider folding that
market into a regional structure rather than giving
it a standalone campaign group.
Check each market's target-account list against
LinkedIn's minimum audience guidance before finalising
how many standalone campaign groups to build.
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
