Make an Impression on an Impression

One of the countless, neat things about advertising is that we pay for your eyes. We call these, (you) impressions. No matter what the medium, whether it’s a billboard or a Facebook ad, we calculate the estimated number of impressions, to figure out how much it will cost to get your message out there. A billboard on a highway means more eyes will see your ad than one posted in a small town somewhere. But if you’re in one of the few businesses in a small town somewhere, a billboard might make more sense than a Facebook ad.

The science behind which set of eyes sees your ad is really just a lot of research. It makes sense to serve a Chewy ad to someone searching for the best dog food to feed their pet. It also makes sense to serve that same ad to someone who follows dog groups on Facebook. You wouldn’t serve a luxurious destination ad to someone making minimum wage. Or, maybe you would – and if that’s the case, stop wasting your money and give me a call. It can get pretty linear, you just need the budget for all of that data and execution.

And then there’s some ads that don’t make much sense at all – have you ever been served one of those Wish ads and wondered what you’ve done to get it? I’m convinced there’s no science or research involved, they just make them as weird as can be to make an impression – and it works. I bet you know exactly what I’m talking about. In case you don’t, now you do.

Sometimes it’s not about selling your product or service. Sometimes you just need to get your name out there in the awareness stage. Ads can be used for many different reasons, but the best execution comes when our advertising expertise aligns with the goals of the client (or as we call them, Key Performance Indicators).

In my opinion, your goal should be to make an impression. Ironic, huh? Make an impression on the impression. It’s the best way to utilize your limited time and cost. In order to do this, I’ve found that the most important things your ad can have are the following:

1. Consistency

2. Emotion (I lean towards humor)

3. A purpose

A great execution and example of this would be Allstate’s series of Mayhem. Fun fact, this series has been running since April of 2010. If you haven’t seen one of these, they’re worth the impres- I mean, the watch. If you haven’t seen one of these, check out the most recent one I saw while watching Hulu.

It’s amazing that in another 10 years, this same ad will be just as relevant and just as funny. Each of these ads use the same character, Mayhem (consistency) and tie in a relatable issue to either make you laugh, or even worry (emotion). Another fun fact, fear is the most effective emotion to use in order to get action. A mixture of both is yet again, another fabulous idea. They all end with the same message – your cut rate insurance won’t cover you like Allstate will (purpose).

As we all sit at home and scroll on our phones, or turn on the TV to find something to play in the background while we scroll on our phones, advertisers need to make their impressions count. Now is the perfect time to experiment and run a series of A/B testing to see which ads perform best. Our eyes are where you can see them, so give us something great to see! After all, you’re paying for it.