What is Ad Recall Lift and Why It Matters for Your Marketing Campaigns

In today’s crowded digital landscape, merely getting an ad in front of people’s eyes is no longer enough. To truly engage your target audience and drive action, your ads need to be memorable. This is where measuring ad recall lift comes in.

Ad recall lift shows how effectively your ads are breaking through the noise and making an impression in your audience’s minds. Tracking it provides insight into the awareness and engagement your campaigns are generating. This article will explain what ad recall lift is, how it’s measured, and why it should be part of your marketing strategy.

What is Ad Recall Lift?

Ad recall lift measures how much more likely people are to remember your ad after being exposed to it compared to people who haven’t seen it, It indicates the “lift” in ad recall that comes from running a campaign,

Specifically, ad recall lift calculates the difference between:

• The percentage of people who remember your ad after seeing it (exposed group)

• The percentage who would remember your ad without seeing it (control group)

So if 50% of people exposed to your ad recall it, but only 20% of the control group do, your ad recall lift would be 30%.

Higher ad recall lift signals your messaging and creative is breaking through and resonating. Lower lift means your ad isn’t memorable enough or reaching the right target audience.

Why Measure Ad Recall Lift?

There are a few key reasons ad recall lift is a valuable metric:

• Gauge ad awareness – High recall means your ad is grabbing attention rather than getting lost in the shuffle. This awareness can impact future decisions.

• Assess creative effectiveness – Recall indicates what creative resonates best with your audience to drive engagement.

• Benchmark ad campaigns – Compare lift between different campaigns to identify your most memorable ads.

• Determine ideal frequency – See if additional ad exposures significantly boost recall.

• Evaluate brand lift – Recall shows how your ads impact brand perception and interest.

Essentially, ad recall lift offers actionable insights to help optimize your marketing. It can highlight what’s working and what needs refinement.

How is Ad Recall Lift Measured?

There are a few common methods of measuring ad recall lift:

Surveys

The traditional way is via surveys. Participants are shown ads and later asked if they recall seeing specific ads or brands. Comparing recall between an exposed group and a control group highlights the lift.

Pros

• Direct measurement from target audience

Cons

• Can be slow and costly to run surveys at scale

Search Lift

This analyzes search trends to see if people search more for your brand after seeing ads. Uplift in searches indicates your ads are boosting mindshare.

Pros

• Scales well for big brands

• Passive measurement based on behaviors

Cons

• Only works for brands with search volume
• Hard to filter out other factors impacting searches

Predictive Modeling

Platforms like Facebook use data modeling and machine learning to estimate ad recall lift. This approach scales and is efficient for advertisers.

Pros

• Built into platforms like Facebook and YouTube
• Large-scale measurement without surveys

Cons

• Modeling is imperfect and just estimates lift

Ad Recall Lift on Facebook

Facebook offers “estimated ad recall lift” as a metric for brand awareness campaigns. Their modeling estimates how many more people would remember your ad if asked within 2 days of seeing it.

You can find it under these campaign objectives:

• Brand awareness
• Reach
• Traffic

Facebook determines the incremental lift by comparing recall between an exposed group and a control group. The modeling considers over 1,000 behavioral signals to predict who will remember an ad.

Facebook constantly refines this model through large-scale polls that ask random samples of users about ad recall. This powers fairly accurate lift estimates without surveys.

Ad Recall Lift on YouTube

YouTube also helps advertisers measure ad recall lift for video campaigns. They offer Brand Lift studies combining surveys and search lift data.

For surveys, YouTube shows your ads to an exposed group and a control group. They later ask both groups questions to gauge recall lift.

The search lift analysis tracks how much more the exposed group searches for your brand after seeing your ads. Increased organic searches indicate your video ads are more memorable.

On YouTube, Brand Lift studies have minimum requirements so make sure your campaigns meet the specs. Overall, they provide robust quantitative data on ad recall.

Tips for Improving Ad Recall Lift

Here are some tips to boost ad recall lift based on best practices:

• Prioritize standout creative – Visuals, copy, and format should be distinctive to aid memory.

• Refine target audience – Dial in your targeting to reach the most receptive audiences.

• Increase ad frequency – Additional exposures can improve memorability, but don’t overdo it.

• Test ad variations – Try different versions and measure lift to identify what resonates.

• Use video – Video ads tend to be more engaging and memorable.

• Track lift over time – Optimize based on how lift trends across campaign flights.

Should You Prioritize Ad Recall Lift?

Ad recall lift provides valuable insight, but brands need to consider their overall goals when deciding whether to emphasize it.

For awareness and upper-funnel campaigns, lift indicates your messaging is breaking through. High recall can drive future engagement.

But for direct response, your priority is driving conversions. In these cases, strong recall lift is less meaningful if it doesn’t impact the bottom line.

Look at ad recall lift together with conversion metrics. If you can achieve high lift while still hitting response goals, that’s ideal. But don’t skew campaigns solely to increase recall at the expense of performance.

Brands focused on reaching and engaging new audiences tend to benefit most from optimizing for ad recall lift. Just balance it with business objectives to choose the right priority.

The Bottom Line on Ad Recall Lift

Ad recall lift is a key metric for understanding your ad awareness and memorability. It provides actionable insight into which creative resonates and how campaigns influence brand perception.

Higher lift signals your ads are cutting through distractions rather than just being part of the clutter. But balance lift objectives with overall marketing goals to ensure you drive measurable impact.

Tracking ad recall lift scores campaigns on their ability to stick in your target audience’s minds. Combine it with conversion metrics to optimize both awareness and response. With the right balance, ad recall lift can become a valuable new metric in your marketing performance toolkit.