A recent article in Marketing Week found that 65% of people don’t remember the ads they see on social media networks. People’s ad recall is low, mainly because as consumers on social networks, we are scrolling increasingly fast on our smartphones and see a LOT of content.
And that’s what I’m talking about in today’s video.
If you’re ‘doing’ paid social advertising (like we do for many of the brands we work with) this might sound like painful news.
However – all is not lost!!
The main issue is that when it comes paid social advertising, many people have an expectation of instance success.
You cannot run one ad, one boosted post, or one campaign and then wonder why it didn’t work out.
Think about it this way – if you were a window cleaning company, and your flyer dropped in the street once and then you sat at home crying because no one called you, people might suggest you flyer more streets, or flyer in that street again in a few weeks time and again a few weeks after that and again a few weeks after that.
What about if you delivered your flyers right after a big storm when you know windows needed to be cleaned? You would be able to reach more of your target audiences as there is a high demand for your services. OK, so you can tell I don’t know much about windows BUT that would be reasonable advice, right? And some might say that would be GOOD ADVICE!?!
Likewise, you don’t get someone on TV just running one ad and being like “Oh, that’s the end of my TV advertising campaign” do you? John Lewis doesn’t run their Christmas ad once and then turn it off.
When you’re on an escalator and see a brand’s advertising and that brand has taken over the advertising on the whole escalator in that tube station, and they’re not even on just one escalator, they’re on every escalator! Not even just in that station, but they’re in every station! You’re more than likely to remember that brand’s advertising because you constantly consume it when you’re in idle mode on the escalator and you see their advertising so frequently that it makes them pretty much unforgettable.
Advertisers and brands do this because nobody in the real world expects that you live and die on one ad.
And there’s no difference with online.
So if you’re worried that 65% of people won’t remember your ad, then don’t just run your ad once. Run an array of ads. Run ads over periods of time. Make sure that your adverts are frequently in the path of your target audience. You’ve got to try build trust and engage people and educate them over a period of time and commit to brand building for the long term.
