According to eMarketer, digital ad spend in the US is expected to account for 54.2% of the advertising industry. For the first time in the history of the industry, Facebook, Google and other digital platforms will earn more revenue from ads than TV and other traditional media. Interestingly, all this boils down to advertising effectiveness.
Factors that determine advertising effectiveness
Advertising is critical to the revenue that companies report at the end of every quarter. In particular, the industry enables countless businesses to inform consumers about new and existing products. The more information consumers have about a product, the more likely they are to choose that product over others. This is especially critical in highly competitive markets. For example, Procter & Gamble spent $4.31 billion in 2018 to market its products and to expand the awareness of the brand. However, the effectiveness of the advertising is not manifest in the amount of money spent but in the return on investment.
Targeting is the first factor that determines advertising effectiveness. Particularly, an ad generates the highest rate of brand engagement and direct actions if it reaches the exact audience that needs the product or service. For example, erecting a billboard on a highway in Boston does not target the exact audience. As such, the impressions may be astronomic but direct actions are few. On the other hand, ambient marketing puts the ads in the hands of the audience. Here, the advertiser can pinpoint the exact demographic of the audience that needs the information and delivers to them.
In-the-hand ads leverage creativity to appeal to the audience
The second factor that determines 80% of the results from an ad campaign is creativity. Today, the advertising industry is suffering from inattention by the audience. Notably, the increased use of smartphones is a major distraction for people globally. Therefore, ads need to be very creative for them to attract as many eyeballs as possible. By their very nature, in-the-hand ads are creative. This is because they suddenly appear in places where people do not expect. As such, people appreciate them more and they cannot ignore them.
Thirdly, advertisers must be able to track the ads to guarantee advertising effectiveness. However, it must be possible for the tracking to happen in the first place. For example, advertisers cannot track billboard ads effectively because there is no way of knowing who saw the ad and who did not. On the contrary, in-the-hand marketing medium like door hangers are easy to track. For every door hanger delivered, there is 100% guarantee that the owner of the house will read the ad. This is because the owner must touch the door hanger before opening the door.
