In case you weren’t aware of it yet, traditional TV viewing is in decline. More and more people are now spending more time watching YouTube, especially on their home TV sets, which has subsequently seen frequency capping become a bigger consideration – because seeing the same ad over and over again is just annoying and can hurt a brand’s reputation and impact.

That’s A Cap!

In line with this, Google has recently announced that it’s adding new frequency control options to YouTube campaigns, providing more ways for advertisers to manage how often their promotions are displayed to each user. As per Google:

“Earlier this year, we announced our frequency management solution on Display and Video 360 that allows marketers to manage the number of times people see their ads across YouTube and third-party networks. We’re now taking that a step further to revolutionize reach and frequency-buying on YouTube. This will help advertisers optimize towards more precise reach and frequency while ensuring that we continue to provide a suitable advertising experience for viewers.”

Under this new process, advertisers will be able to select a weekly frequency goal, which will then enable YouTube’s systems to optimize toward maximum unique reach at the desired rate. Basically, it’s a streamlining and optimization process that would allow you to squeeze every ounce possible out of your campaigns.

Of course, you should also probably have an idea of how much is ‘too much’, at least in this respect, because repeated exposure can actually be good for branding – until it isn’t. According to research conducted by Nielsen, traditional TV advertisers’ return on investment decreases by 22% when audiences see their ads more than five times in a week, and 41% when frequency exceeded 6+ weekly impressions.

The same stats are slightly different when it comes to online channels, but there is going to be a level where it’s too much, and frequency capping provides an option to manage this, and mitigate ad fatigue to optimize performance. Hopefully, this time, this threshold is effectively enforced – coming from personal experience, most videos I’ve watched on YouTube have the same ads, while certain videos had between 2 – 4 different ads, with some even being sandwiched in a 20-minute or less video. Imagine how immersion-breaking such an occurrence would be when you just want to binge a series.

The Wrap

We’ll have to wait and see how this evolves with use and through time. Either way, it could be a good way to maintain brand awareness, without going too far. Whatever the case, it’ll certainly come in handy for those wanting to refine their campaign strategies, as well as for viewers who’d want a little less ad clutter spoiling their otherwise good watch time.

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Sources 

http://bit.ly/3ElVLsX