For your local business, effectively managing ad frequency can help you to optimize your advertising investment, maximize conversions, and avoid waste in your budget.
Advertising frequency is a metric representing the number of times a consumer is exposed to an ad during a campaign. It is a vitally important metric that can help businesses understand how often potential customers see their ads and how effective their campaigns are.
Advertising frequency is an important consideration in your media mix. Frequency can be a critical factor in driving consumers to action and boosting recall of your business, products and services.
However, mismanaged, frequency can have negative implications including ad fatigue and higher costs. Too low of a frequency will lead to your messaging getting lost in the noise; while too high a frequency will lead to the audience being desensitized or even annoyed by the repeated exposure.
Serving more impressions than you need to convert is a waste of advertising budget, as is continually serving impressions to already saturated or disinterested audiences.
What is a good ad frequency starting point? The rule of 7:
The rule of 7 is an historic and established advertising principle that states a customer needs to see a brand’s message at least seven times before they are likely to make a purchase. The rule emphasizes the importance of repetition to build familiarity, trust, and credibility with potential customers. This can help influence the audience’s behavior and lead them to committing to a purchase.
The rule of 7 dates back to the 1930s but remains viable in today’s digital age. In today’s era of advertising bombardment, if you can target the right audience and create 7 memorable brand experiences for them, it will be much easier for your business to stand out from the competition.
While these benchmarks represent good starting points, the ideal ad frequency ultimately depends on many factors including the campaign’s goals, the target audience, the audience’s behavior, the platform and the content type. You should start with benchmarks, but always monitor and adjust based on the data.
How do you best manage this repetition? Frequency caps:
Frequency caps enable you to manage the number of times your advertising will be served to any individual within defined timeframes. By utilizing frequency caps it is possible to maintain consumer interest and avoid wasteful impressions.
Setting a frequency cap ensures that users avoid getting bombarded with the same ad repeatedly, which can lead to ad fatigue and decreased effectiveness. The exact frequency cap will depend on the specific ad campaign and audience.
There are tactics and tools you can use to test for the optimal ad frequency based on your situation.
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- Run different test frequencies: Run multiple ad campaigns with different frequency caps and compare results.
- Use tools like Firebase or Adobe Audience Manager: Online tools like Firebase allow users to A/B test ad frequencies with a small subset of users. Adobe Audience Manager helps you to find the balance between the number of impressions served and conversions.
Here are some best practices for managing ad frequency:
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- Align with your business goals: Set an ad frequency cap that prevents ad fatigue, uses your advertising budget efficiently, and optimizes conversions. Monitor and manage consistently.
- Rotate creatives: Rotate creative messaging and visuals throughout the campaign to ensure your audience sees new messaging. Also try different ad formats to inspire interest and action.
- Understand your audience: Monitor your customer’s journey closely and adjust frequency caps to optimize performance.
- Pay attention to viewability: Improve your ads’ viewability to increase their value and conversion rates.
The key to effective advertising frequency is finding that sweet spot between the number of times a potential customer sees your ad and responds; and before the next (marginal) exposure is considered wasteful. It’s about striking a balance between exposing an audience enough to encourage action without causing negative feelings.
If you’re interested in learning more about the value of ad frequency, Sentinel Solutions can help. We have experts who will effectively pace your campaigns to ensure you are optimizing every dollar invested in your marketing plan.
Give us a call at 603-352-5896 or send us an e-mail to advertising@SentinelDigitalSolutions.com if we can be of help.
