There are so many people who think their product or service sells itself. Even though you could have the best, most affordable service in town, people might not have any idea who you are. There are a few things to think about when starting an online marketing campaign: How big is your company? Where are you located? Who do you want to target? There are companies who think targeting the entire United States for one month with 50,000 impressions will do them wonders. Come on, your geography matters. Sure, we could get you 50,000 impressions in the United States, but each person targeted will probably only see your ad once. I can tell you right now, you won’t get the results you’re hoping for.
It takes someone 7-8 times of seeing your ad in front of them for it to resonate. You can’t expect to run a couple of ads one time and have the consumer immediately want to buy the product. A person needs to know you, your reputation, and your product before making a purchase. Building visibility, familiarity and a positive reputation takes time and a series of memorable contacts. Impulse purchases happen, but rarely.
Throughout history, most ads have been all about branding. You’re watching television and you’re interrupted by marketing—Apple’s brand new iPhone; Acura’s new 2015 TLX; an insurance company saving you loads of money in only a matter of minutes. But internet ads can catch consumers at the very moment they’re looking for something. Say you are searching for a carpet cleaning service and up appears an ad for 15% off. You click it and take a quick glance at the website. Then a few days later you see the ad again. You get increasingly more familiar with the company as a whole. Then, you call them.
The stages of an online purchase include:
- Awareness – Before the potential customers have even started looking for a product or service, they will probably be aware of some of the major brands and may even have an idea of what they’re looking for. However, lesser known brands may also offer a comparable product or service.
- Consideration – If the consumer is interested further, they will start doing more research to get information on your product or service. Is this something I need? Are there bad reviews about this company, product or service?
- Intent – Time to really think about things. Do these people know what they’re talking about? What options are available?
- Decision – Okay, the customer is convinced and is ready to make a purchase. Is the transaction smooth? Is the process easy?
The bottom line is we want you to reach as many customers as possible (when they’re already searching for a product or service like yours) without you feeling like you’re ‘wasting’ your advertising dollars. By analyzing reach and frequency data, we can find out how many people saw your ads and how many times they saw them over a certain period of time. This is one way to get you the best results possible.
