The campaign is live, the report has arrived, yet the managing director scrolls through the feed and can’t find a single ad for the brand. Hence the question: is the advertising running at all? For those used to billboards and TV, this really is strange — everyone sees a billboard on the main avenue. Online, the logic is different.
Ads are shown to a selected audience
Online advertising is set up to reach specific people: by gender and age, city, interests, device type, time of day and online behaviour. If you yourself don’t fall within those parameters, the system simply won’t show you the ad. This is a normal consequence of targeting: the budget is spent on people who might buy, not on everyone indiscriminately.
The algorithm may be deliberately skipping you
You constantly visit your own website, like your own posts and follow your own accounts. If the campaign is aimed at a new audience, users like you are often excluded from delivery so that the money goes on people who aren’t yet familiar with the brand.
The ads live somewhere else or at a different time
There are purely technical reasons too. An ad may:
- be shown only on smartphones while you are browsing on a computer;
- run only at certain hours;
- appear in search or on third-party websites rather than on social media;
- be targeted at a different city or region.
The fact that you haven’t personally come across the ad doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
How to check that the campaign is working
Instead of hunting for ads in your own feed, open the report and look at the numbers:
- reach and impressions among the target audience;
- clicks, visits and enquiries;
- how the budget is split between platforms and formats;
- A/B test results and creative comparisons.
If these metrics are in order, the campaign is doing its job even when you can’t see it. If you still have questions, ask your contractor to explain which settings are driving delivery and why. Our article on calculating CPA, ROI and LTV will help you work out which metrics matter most.
Want transparent reporting on impressions and results? See how SKY Central Asia handles digital marketing and what our digital services include.
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