I recently spoke with a client who was considering a digital advertising package with us. She liked the idea of her ad being seen in multiple places and was excited for the potential it could bring to her business. 

She should be excited. Digital advertising is a fantastic option for businesses today to reach their audience. One of the questions she asked early on in the process was “Does digital advertising work?” To best answer her question, and possibly yours, I’ll share with you the same story and questions I had for the client.

To start, take a look through Instagram and Facebook to see how many of the brands you follow are companies you hadn’t heard of 6 - 12 months ago? 

Next, I asked why she started following that particular brand?

Why have you continued to follow them?

Do you know how many times you saw their ads or information before you started following them?

She couldn’t answer the last question, and I wasn’t surprised. Many of us struggle to remember how we first heard about a new brand or product. It takes multiple exposures over a period of time for the human brain to become aware of something we’ve never seen or heard of.

For years (and I do mean years) the “Rule of 7” has stood the test of time in marketing. The rule of 7 is the principle that a consumer needs to interact with a brand seven times before a purchase might take place. 

While 7 interactions doesn’t seem like much, there are more factors to take into account in the process. What many business leaders fail to realize is that the rule of 7 only applies once they’ve come to recognize your brand, and doesn’t take into account the time and process of creating brand awareness and trust. Further study into brand recognition has uncovered the following:

• The first 4 times someone see an ad, it’s ignored 

• The 5th time an ad is seen, someone may finally read it

• The next few ads (times 6-8 an ad is seen) it’s annoying. This is that moment when you say “I’m so tired of seeing ads from ______.” This is often the time that many people find a way to stop an ad from coming across their digital feed.

• If they haven’t stopped the ad, ads 9-12 may come with a shift in perspective. The average consumer begins to question the relevance of the ad, and might even ask a friend, relative, or co-worker if they’ve ever heard of it before. Consumers might even visit the website asking if “this is legit.”

• By the 13th time someone sees an ad, they have created value in the particular brand or product and will then begin to engage more with that brand or product. They may even begin to visualize their life being better after purchasing the product.

• Ads 14-19 are really about the consumer selling themselves on why they need it. Great storytelling can help to solidify this. The better the story a company or product has about how it’s helped customers, the larger the emotional attachment that is created around the product. Consumers may even begin adding it to their upcoming purchase list or budget

• By the time a consumer gets to the 20th viewing of an ad, they’re usually ready to purchase.

Repetition is the mother of learning, and it’s an important practice to follow in marketing and advertising. If a digital ad is done well, it not only tells the buyer what to do, it reinforces over and over again how a product will solve the customer’s issue. This can solidify trust from the customer in the brand and create what every brand hopes for, a raving fan who tells the world about what they bought.

Now that you understand how a customer becomes aware of your product, here are the 4 BIGGEST reasons digital advertising works:

1. It Can Speed up the Process from Awareness to Recognition. 

   Based on what I talked about earlier, digital advertising can help your potential customer see your brand in more places and more often, speeding up their awareness and recognition. This doesn’t mean you show them 20 ads in one day and they're suddenly hooked. Just like building a relationship with a spouse or friend happens over time, so does a potential customer’s relationship with a brand. Consider it a strategic introduction process.

2. Increased Brand Credibility and Trust

   One of the benefits of potential customers seeing your brand in multiple places is that it builds credibility, trust, and legitimacy. The more places you put your company, the greater feelings of credibility and trust are created. Customer testimonials are also great for this, as they are social proof your product can solve the issues it promises to solve.

3. Bigger Reach on a Smaller Budget

   One of the single biggest benefits of digital marketing is it doesn’t cost a fortune to get started. Depending on your keywords and target buyer, the cost of digital advertising is considerably lower than other forms of advertising. While radio and television are great mediums to advertise, they’re costly and most TV and radio campaigns take months to see results. Digital advertising provides real-time reporting to help you gauge the effectiveness of your ads.

4. Highly Flexible and Can Adapt Quickly

   Digital advertising enables businesses and entrepreneurs to change their messaging quickly to better target customers and buyers. Looking to run a promotion this weekend? With digital advertising, you can create or change an ad quickly and choose a different target audience with just a few clicks. With traditional advertising, there’s a much longer lead time and a lot less flexibility in creating your messaging.

If you’re struggling with digital advertising, it might be time to enlist the help of a professional marketing agency to help you make the most of your marketing budget and attract your target customer. GoldBear Media can help. Start with our Digital Audit to learn what’s happening with your marketing, or reach out to us directly at hello@goldbear.media to start a conversation.