In a rush? Here’s the short version.

Click-throughs are dying, and that’s not a bug—it’s the new B2B reality. Buyers see your ad, don’t click, but still visit your site or talk about you internally. That’s engagement too.

ABM lets you track what actually matters: account-level visits, content interactions, and buying committee behavior. At Collective ABM, we swap static campaigns for weekly-optimized ones. We monitor who’s visiting, what stage they’re in, and tailor creative every week to match.

If you’re still judging performance by clicks, you’re missing the big picture. Modern B2B buying happens off the radar. This article shows how to track and influence what truly moves the needle.

Traditional B2B advertising metrics like click-through rates (CTR) and UTM-tagged clicks are losing their relevance. In today’s B2B environment, buyers often don’t click ads but still engage with your brand and move down the funnel. This article explores why CTRs are in decline—especially in B2B—and why account-based engagement is a more accurate way to measure performance.

The Decline of the Click-Through (Especially in B2B)

Click-through rates on digital ads are notoriously low. For instance, LinkedIn’s sponsored content averages a CTR of just 0.4–0.6%. Many buyers may see and find an ad relevant but choose to research independently—often bypassing UTM links and instead searching or directly visiting your site. With AI summaries (LLMs) and changing user behavior, the number of tracked clicks drops even more.

UTM tags, while useful, only track direct clicks. They fail to capture valuable “off-the-radar” behavior—like when a prospect sees an ad, then later Googles your brand. Privacy laws and cookie restrictions further limit tracking across devices, making traditional attribution less reliable.

Hidden Engagement in the “Dark Funnel”

B2B marketers are increasingly acknowledging the “dark funnel”—the untrackable interactions that still influence buying decisions. Display ads, for instance, often result in later site visits without any clicks. These “view-through” engagements are common and powerful. Many buyers recall ads without clicking and act on them later.

B2B buying is collaborative. According to Gartner, 8–11 people are typically involved in complex B2B purchase decisions. They conduct independent research, message each other via Slack or email, and share content—much of which isn’t tracked. In fact, buying groups spend up to 70% of their research time in untrackable channels such as peer discussions and anonymous content consumption.

If you only measure clicks and form fills, you ignore most of the journey. Ads can shape perceptions and influence decisions even without generating direct engagement.

From Clicks to Accounts: The ABM Advantage

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) shifts the focus from individual clicks to account-level engagement. Rather than asking “Did someone click?”, ABM asks, “Did the right accounts see our message, engage with it, and progress toward purchase?”

Key ABM metrics include:

  • Website visits from a target account: Did multiple stakeholders engage with your site?
  • Content interaction: Are they downloading whitepapers or attending webinars?

At Collective ABM, we’ve seen accounts go through full campaigns without a single click, only to later appear on our site in groups—consuming high-value content and eventually entering the pipeline. These ads worked by building awareness and nudging the account silently toward conversion.

By focusing on accounts, ABM ensures visibility among all decision-makers—even those who never click. For instance, a CFO might never engage with ads but still see your brand often enough to mention it internally: “I keep seeing these guys—should we check them out?” That’s influence that traditional metrics miss.

Rethinking Performance: Engage the Full Buying Committee

It’s time to rethink what success looks like. If your reporting still revolves around CTRs and UTM traffic, you’re missing the bigger picture. B2B buying is a group process, and much of it happens in stealth mode. Metrics must reflect that reality.

At Collective ABM, we integrate CRM data to track outcomes at the account level. With closed-loop reporting, we connect ad exposure to actual pipeline results—so you can see how many decision-makers engaged and what actions followed.

The takeaway: A low CTR doesn’t mean failure. It might simply mean your buyers prefer to engage differently. Focus on overall engagement, account movement, and downstream impact.

Let’s Shift the Focus

Let’s stop chasing vanity metrics and start reporting what matters: increased visits from target accounts, improved pipeline velocity, and buying committee coverage. These are the numbers your leadership actually cares about—and they better reflect the value of modern B2B marketing.

The bottom line: Clicks will continue to decline. What matters is whether your ads reach and influence the right accounts. ABM helps you do exactly that—aligning your metrics with how buying decisions are actually made.

Questions? Reach out to hello@collectiveabm.com.