If you have content that is

1. Needed
2. Engaging

Buyers will click. Otherwise, they won't. That's really about it.

Trying to scheme to improve CTR is a waste of time. They should really eliminate the CTR from the Alamy Rank scheme if they are still using it, because buyer clicks started to fall by the wayside when Alamy introduced the image rollovers.

The few sales I've made didn't even show up as 'zooms'.  As far as I know, none of those statistics for 'views', 'zooms', 'CTR' are significant.   There are  hints on the site that your 'Alamy Rank' means something, but nothing specific. 

In my experience yes CTR does make a difference

I went from a CTR of .86 (and doing well with sales) down to a CTR of .24 and being in the doldrums for a few months between sales after adding new imagery.  It will all change with the re-rank.

The interesting thing is that when your CTR is lower your ratio of views to zooms actually increases which will benefit you at the next re-rank.

I also agree though that most sales are not a result of views.  Actual sales also fit into your rank (as well as "other" things that Alamy has alluded to but will not confirm or deny).

I suppose it depends, but like a watched pot... people will buy what they need and zooms, views and CTR and all of that Does Not Create Sales. It reflects interest.

I had someone who counts and I don't know if it was Getty or a buyer or just some idiot, go through and view every one of my images, in Feb. Want to see stats through the floor!  My rank went from image 10 on first page, in general (very rough) to about page 100. So yes, it will affect your view rank. If that's all you care about, have fun trying to trick the system into ranking you higher, so you get better views, which is turn will work against you, because more views and less CTR and your ranks drops.

See where this is going? Vicious cycle. 

I have also had sales without views. It's like many other statistics. It's a measuring tool for watching what has happened. Like a trend. You only know there's a trend, after it's happened. Trying to create a trend to manipulate the future becomes much more complicated.