In the shift from a linear world to a streaming one, the conventional wisdom about advertising frequency has been turned on its head.
Turns out there is no single correct answer to the question of how to optimize a campaign for total ad exposures per user. Rather, a spectrum of factors should inform how many ads an advertiser delivers to any given audience.
To help marketers better understand how the number of ad exposures influences a campaign’s effectiveness, Roku teamed up with IPG’s Magna media intelligence and investment unit, to conduct a study on the topic using Magna’s Media Trials next-generation research technology.
“Some of the most frequently asked questions we receive are to define optimal frequency, as advertisers strive to efficiently create awareness and drive purchase intent,” said Kara Manatt, EVP Intelligence Solutions at MAGNA. “As streaming TV becomes a more significant part of brands’ media investments, we delved into troves of campaign data, and the Media Trials team was able to put a number on frequency, from ideal, overall ad-recall to the idiosyncrasies of reaching audiences along different points of the purchase journey.”
Using Roku’s first-party data, Magna analyzed results from 53 campaigns across 14 verticals that ran over a period of two years, from 2021 to 2023.¹ We looked at the impact of ad frequency on everything from message association and ad recall to brand favorability and purchase intent.
Below, we outline a few high-level insights from the full study.
Magna found that a range of campaign elements inform the ideal frequency for a given marketing plan. These factors include audience segments, product category, creativity, and the maturity of the advertised brand.
Audience segment seems to have the biggest effect on frequency, making it the ideal place to start in planning. Consider who you’re reaching and why, and their familiarity with the brand.
Broad audience advertising requires much greater frequency than campaigns reaching in-market or existing customers. When reaching a general audience, ad recall reaches maximum impact at 10 to 15 exposures. But when going after in-market customers, advertisers can improve purchase intent after only four exposures. By shifting their audience strategy to reduce frequency, marketers can lower costs by as much as 67% without hurting performance.
Likewise, the impact for existing customers peaks especially quickly, requiring only two to three exposures to elevate purchase intent. Marketers should think of these campaigns more as refreshers.
Though the frequency required to drive purchase intent varies according to the audience, Magna noticed that incremental impact seems to be greatest among the first few touchpoints a consumer encounters. To make the most of this impact, brands should lead with creative that includes a clear call-to-action.
Another big factor in choosing a target frequency should be the maturity of a brand. Whether a company is new, established, or legacy greatly affects the ideal number of exposures.
Newer brands can drive recall at lower frequencies given their novelty to the consumer, but incremental impact begins to drop off after only two exposures. Meanwhile, mid-maturity brands exhibit a steady correlation between exposure and recall. High-maturity brands (legacy institutions like Coke, for example) benefit from longer campaigns of five months or more to maintain consistent levels of ad recall.
The study also looked at specific segments, with valuable lessons for some of the biggest consumer categories. Financial services brands are highly memorable up to a point –– about six exposures –– but may need to rely on more creative iterations to avoid diminishing returns. Ads from CPG companies deliver consistent impact up to 10 exposures, which could be tied to the comparatively short purchasing cycle. And given that car purchases are a high consideration, auto ads seem to require much higher frequency levels to drive the greatest impact.
Read the full report to learn more about the study.
¹ 2021-2023 Roku campaigns. Campaigns ranged from 1 month - 10 months. Avg length = 2 months