In my opinion, gross impressions whether in broadcast, digital, or print, are one of the most frequently used, and often times, the most meaningless statistics. The primary reason being the majority of people are led to believe that if they're present where an audience visits, then they've made an impression. In most cases, I believe nothing could be farther from the truth. Making an impression is, of course, different in each media, but it's the most important aspect of any media buying. For purposes of this blog, I will assume that those entering a media have already determined that it delivers a significant number of your target audience. (That's a BIG assumption.) The critical key in making an impression is understanding your target consumer- who they are, what they want, and what you may be offering that will cause them to know you, like you, and trust you, and thus respond to your offer. There are many factors which may impact whether you make a “good” impression. Here are just a few:
- How cluttered is the environment?
- How attentive is the audience to the available messaging?
- Are you making an offer with a call to action which matches the media? i.e. in digital, is there a simple link to click on? In print, are you using a trackable phone number? With broadcast, are you using an easy-to-remember URL?
- Does the design and the aesthetics of your advertisement technically match your target consumer and your business's brand position?
Frequently, I see advertisers willing to spend significant amounts of money in a media, and yet spend little or no time developing effective and powerful creative targeted to make a clear and compelling impression. We have had clients who we have actually reduced their total media expenditure while increasing their expenditure on creative, and it has yielded much better net results. I believe many business people are intimidated by the creative process and undervalue its importance in making your media purchase effective. Everyone's heard the expression "you don't get a second chance to make a first impression". I would modify that to say "you don't get a second chance to make a good impression". Spend more time on how to make a good impression before you start buying lots of gross impressions. (Pun intended.)
