10 Things I Learned from Joanne: Lesson 8
The Importance of Impressions
Photo by Jeff Nelson
This is the eighth article in a series called “10 Things I Learned from Joanne”.
In this article, I’ll explain what I learned from Joanne about impressions.
Joanne O’Connell is the co-author of the book that we recently published called Intentional Marketing: A Systematic Approach to Optimizing Performance.
Scroll down for a list of other articles in this series.
Impressions
In our book, we give this definition for impressions:
Impressions occur when an advertisement or an image is served.
Ideally, the view is in the market selected by the company, and they
can see (or hear) the advertisement, message, or post related to the
company and its products.
Let me break this down for you:
An impression happens when someone has the opportunity to see (or hear) an advertisement (or image, video, voice or sound)
The impressions are created intentionally (ideally) by or for the company
If done correctly, the advertisement would be made available at a location where people in the target market (prospects) can see or hear it
This, however, is a rather technical definition. Let’s look at an example that is a bit more interesting.
Billboards
Billboards are a simple way to understand the concept of an impression.
For quite a few years, I frequently drove monthly from Calgary to Edmonton to visit my Dad, Cliff Nelson. He was getting up in years and I enjoyed the visits with him. He had a wonderful life but eventually, he died in 2022 at the age of 92.
Here is a video of my Dad talking about introducing vaccines for Smallpox and Polio in Tanzania where he worked as a physician and surgeon. My father’s brother, Dave, and his sister, Gwen, were both severely affected by Polio.
On one trip a few years ago, as I was approaching Edmonton, I saw this trailer and billboard. I had made many trips to Edmonton and I noticed this billboard on every trip. On this particular trip, I decided to take the photo shown above.
The billboard is unusual. The shape is creative. It caught my eye. I liked it.
About 90,000 vehicles drive from Calgary to Edmonton every day. I’m not sure what month these numbers are for or if this is one way or both ways. These data are from 2015 which is nearly a decade ago. People in vehicles driving this route can see this advertisement from either side of the highway. Let’s make the following assumptions:
On a good day, about 100,000 vehicles are driving by this sign one way
On average, there are about 2 people in each vehicle. Some have only one person but other vehicles have 2, 3, or more people. Some buses going by may have 40 people. This average may be low but for this article, 2 people per day is a good number
There are 365 days in a year
As a result, the total number of impressions—opportunities for people to see the ad going one way—is 200,000 per day. In a year, that is 73 million impressions. It is pretty easy to conclude that many people driving this route have seen this advertisement.
How Many Purchased a Pool?
The next question that pops to mind is, “How many people responded and actually bought a pool?”
Let’s make a few more assumptions:
1% of the people who drove by, visited the website (visit)
1% contacted the company (prospect)
10% asked for an estimate (offer)
10% of those people, bought a pool (sale)
Let’s do some simple math to figure out the sales per year and the annual revenues:
But I Didn’t Buy a Pool. Why Not?
I never visited the website (except for today). My response to the billboard advertisement, as captured in my reaction, is important.
It is unique. It’s interesting. I don’t think there is another billboard on this stretch of highway that is similar to this one.
It is creative. The ad caught my attention. I looked twice at the billboard.
It is memorable. Even now, I can see it in my mind’s eye. I remember it. I tell people about it. As you can tell, I’m still talking about it.
If you were doing a brand awareness survey and asked me, “Did you see the billboard of the pool?” I would say, “Ya, I saw it.”
However, if your next question was, “Do you remember the name of the company selling pools? I would have to reply, “No, I don’t.”
What happened? Why can’t I remember the brand name? Even now, as I’m writing this article, I can’t remember the URL. I had to look at the picture again. Okay, I’ve got it: TanglePools.com.
My first reaction is, “That is a dumb name.” I get the “pool” part. I understand, “.com”. But “Tangle”? That part is impossible to remember. What do pools have to do with tangle? Or the reverse, what does tangle have with pools? As a brand name, I don’t get it. Literally, I forgot it.
But there is a deeper, more fundamental reason that I don’t remember the brand name.
I don’t care. This product is NOT for Me
I’m not planning to buy a pool. I have other priorities for spending my hard-earned dollars. And I don’t want the hassle of maintaining a pool. Simply put, in marketing parlance, I’m not in the market. I’m not a prospect. I will never be a buyer.
If I wanted to swim every day (without driving) and I had the cash stashed in my couch getting mouldy, I might consider it. But neither is true.
Value of Impressions (From ChatGPT)
This billboard is not appropriate for most of the people driving by. They are like me - they are not in the market to buy a pool. With this in mind, it could be argued that the billboard is useless. But the sheer volume of traffic makes this a worthwhile investment for advertising. Let’s do the calculation for ROMI.
There would have been an initial cost to design and create the billboard. Let’s ignore that cost because the sign has been there for years. There is likely a monthly fee for the farmer who owns the land. Let’s guess $500 per month or $6,000 per year. Our formula for ROMI is [(revenue - investment) / investment], so 600. That is a huge number. This means that every $1 spent on the billboard generates $600 in revenue. Fantastic.
Here is a list from ChatGPT of the value of impressions:
Brand Awareness: Impressions help in increasing brand visibility among the target audience, making them more familiar with your brand.
Top-of-Mind Awareness: Consistent impressions ensure that your brand stays top-of-mind when consumers are making purchasing decisions in your industry.
Credibility: Higher impressions often correlate with credibility. When consumers repeatedly encounter your brand, they perceive it as more trustworthy and reliable.
Audience Reach: Impressions expand your reach to a wider audience, increasing the likelihood of attracting potential customers who might convert in the future.
Engagement Opportunities: Each impression is a chance to engage with your audience, whether through a social media post, ad, or content piece, fostering interactions and relationships.
Market Positioning: A high number of impressions can help position your brand as a leader or innovator in your industry, distinguishing you from competitors.
Word-of-Mouth Marketing: Impressions contribute to word-of-mouth marketing as satisfied customers are more likely to recommend your brand when they recall it from previous interactions.
Data Collection: Impressions generate valuable data about consumer behaviour, preferences, and demographics, aiding in refining marketing strategies for better targeting.
Sales Pipeline: Impressions play a role in nurturing leads through the sales pipeline, gradually guiding them toward a conversion through repeated exposure to your brand.
ROI: Ultimately, impressions contribute to the return on investment (ROI) of your marketing efforts by building a foundation for brand recognition, trust, and customer loyalty, which can translate into increased sales and revenue over time.
What I Learned from Joanne
All this driving, looking, not remembering, and calculating is interesting but what did I learn from Joanne? The short answer is that I learned that paying attention to impressions is important. Let me make a list of the specific things that I learned from Joanne.
1. Marketing Buys Impressions
When you get down to the simplest definition, marketing buys impressions. That may seem too simple but it’s the truth. If you don’t create (buy) impressions, no one will know about your company and the products you sell. If you create many impressions (paid for or for free), everyone will know about your company: Think: Elon Musk and Tesla.
2. The Number of Impressions is Important, Sometimes
Logic would say that you would get more impressions when you spend more. This is true but some impressions are better than others.
3. Paying More per Impression is Often Better
As a marketer, if you focus on a narrow niche of the market, the cost per impression will be more expensive.
4. The Objective is Better Conversion Rates
Advertisements (images, videos and stories) that are humorous, creative or interesting will have a greater impact. Understanding your market and knowing what attracts their attention is the key to good marketing.
5. Location, Location, Location is Important (even for ads)
Where you place your advertisement is often more important than the number of impressions. Placing a banner ad about backcountry skis on a website like BackcountrySkiingCanada.com is going to be much more effective than an ad buried on page 12 of the paper version of the Calgary Herald. This is because backcountry skiers are more likely to do searches online to review products because of their age (younger), reading habits (mobile phone), and methods of doing research (googling).
Past Articles
The other articles are posted on the Anduro Blog.
Lesson 1: Each Level of the Model Must be Measurable
In the first lesson, I learned that each level of the marketing and sales model must be measurable. Joanne’s logic is that if you have a level in the model with no measurement, why bother with the level? I agree, wholeheartedly.
In the second lesson, I learned the difference between a measure and a metric. Read the article to discover Joanne’s genius and the magic between collecting and calculating.
In the third lesson, I learned that the basic components of marketing are simple but need to be in “alignment”. You need a product that solves a problem, a market that wants the problem solved (and is willing to pay for the problem-solving product), and a series of marketing activities that connect the market with the product.
Lesson 4: Inside vs Outside the Model
In the fourth lesson, I learned that Joanne distinguishes between “inside the model” and “outside the model”. This simple but not-so-obvious concept helps to simplify marketing and make it less overwhelming.
Lesson 5: The Stupidity of Ignorance
In the fifth lesson, I learned that people who design and develop a model of what is happening in marketing are much better able to see what is happening. In other words, they move from a position of ignorance to a position of understanding and enlightenment. In a nutshell, Joanne says, “People can do better.”
Lesson 6: Classifying Situations
In the sixth lesson, I learned from Joanne that from a high level, there can be issues with the product, the market, or marketing – or any combination of these. Classifying your company’s situation is the next step. In short, there are only a few situations that make logical sense.
Lesson 7: The Value of Estimating
In the seventh lesson, I learned from Joanne that estimating involves thinking and asking questions. By Joanne’s standards, this means doing a lot more thinking and asking many questions than I do naturally. I have to set time aside to think and develop questions consciously.