Benchmarks vs. Baselines: When 'Above Average' Isn't Good Enough

It always starts the same way. A campaign wraps, and the team pulls up the performance report. The click-through rate? Above benchmark. CPM? 30% lower than the platform average. There’s a general sense of relief, maybe even celebration. Everyone’s nodding. Job well done. But then someone asks the one question that doesn’t show up on the dashboard: “Did it actually drive anything?” That’s when things get murky. Benchmarks: The Rental Tux That Sort of Fits Benchmarks have become a go-to comfort metric in media analytics....

June 2, 2025 · 4 min · 836 words · Senthil Thyagarajan