At the heart of this issue is a question that’s divided marketers for ages—what truly drives business results, broadening your audience reach or increasing the number of times your target audience sees your ad?
—Elena
Showing an ad just once is enough to boost sales.
A study by Nielsen analyzed sales response for heavy, medium, and low frequency strategies. Surprisingly, the low-frequency strategy performed best, taking only 1.9 impressions per point of sales growth compared to the high-frequency strategy which needed 7.3 impressions per point of sales growth.
Both matter, but lean towards reach.
It’s hard enough to agree on definitions for “reach” and “frequency.” Consensus on the ideal balance between the two is just about impossible.
We’ll work with the understanding that reach is the percentage of your target exposed to your ad at least once during a campaign, while frequency is the number of times a person sees that ad.
And the ideal balance? Well, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. But reach is often underprioritized. Broad reach drives awareness at scale, presents your ad to a more diverse audience, and allows for greater media flexibility and efficiency.
Plus, focus on frequency can be damaging. CTV viewers report their top problem with the channel is being shown the same ad too many times. Unfortunately, overexposure can deter the very consumers advertisers are trying to convert. Based on a study by IPG and Nexxen, intent-to-purchase drops 16% among viewers who see the same ad six times.
Of course, leaning into reach isn’t about just throwing your ad everywhere. It's making every first impression count. If your ad is funny, unique, or interesting, people won't need to see it a bunch of times to remember it.
"Reach Maximalism”
This article from Jon Lombardo for The B2B Institute dives into the value of targeting a wider audience and how some common beliefs about repeating your ads might lead campaigns astray. Read the article
Trust + attention is a powerful duo.
“Build trust and earn attention. The entity that gets the most trust will get the most customers.”
—Seth Godin, author
