It was the very first time Facebook had ever served me an ad for the Carv ski improvement app. It was perfectly targeted and timed while I was at the mountain. Since I already knew of this company and app, I clicked without hesitation and provided my contact information to register for a demo. The Carv marketing team likely counts me as a Facebook ad conversion, which is true, and some marketing professionals might be inclined to pour more budget into Facebook advertising. But more experienced marketers know this narrow view of metrics and analytics that relies heavily on last click attribution fails to explain my willingness to click or my confidence in signing up, agreeing to receive texts, and then showing up to test the app on the snow.
How to Build Brand Awareness
So how did I develop this level of brand positivity and product curiosity? I watched a number of instructional skiing videos on YouTube that Carv had sponsored. Featuring USA Olympic champion and brand ambassador Ted Ligety as the gold standard in these videos provided credibility and aspirational appeal. It might have taken two or more years of exposure to Carv messaging, seeing it over and over before finally noticing the ad and clicking.
Even the most advanced ad and customer tracking platforms would have a very difficult time linking my YouTube activity (not signed in) over the course of two years to the Facebook ad conversion. But it’s precisely this consistent exposure to the product over time that made the digital ad effective. Without a preexisting interest in the app, I likely would have scrolled right past the Facebook ad.
“It’s comforting for marketers to take asset allocation actions based on data such as clicks and likes. But there’s usually far more involved in every customer’s journey to the sale that defies quantification.”
It’s easy to track last click conversions so we’ll count them but it’s often the frequent advertising, content marketing, and trade show exposure months and years ahead of the click that establishes the brand and paves the way for the digital advertising to succeed. When it’s time to explore a purchase, this accumulated exposure to the brand over time gets prospects ready and willing to become customers.
