I (finally) tapped an ad. Here's what I learned.

As a marketer, sometimes I think I'm immune to marketing.

Then I glance at my wife, and she reminds me how ridiculous that is.

Like nearly everyone on the planet, I'm marketed to constantly. I've found myself growing and learning about marketing skills and tactics from the perspective of a practitioner. Watching marketing happen in real time both as a marketer and a buyer provides a steady stream of new understanding.

One recent example came when I found myself clicking on a Facebook ad.

It was almost an out-of-body experience. I never tap on Facebook ads. I create them for people and manage campaigns. I study them, but try to avoid the lure of them as they flood my feed.

And, just like that, I tapped one.

But it wasn't "just like that."

I'd seen this ad in my feed for probably a year. A YEAR.

Not. Interested. Over and over. Scroll by scroll, flick by flick, it flew by my face.

Until.

Why? What happened? After that long, what changed?

I was just... ready. Life circumstances aligned. Things had shifted significantly enough in my world. Maybe it was just worn down. Chipped away.

Regardless, here's the more important thing, beyond what happened in me. Here's what I learned as a marketer.

Tenacious. Consistent. Persistent. Patient.

Whatever you call it, this marketer was in it for the long haul. They created these ads, they dialed them in. Optimized them. Targeted and tested, and then - they let them roll KNOWING that this is a long game.

Marketers talk about Impressions. The amount of time a buyer needs to see an ad before they take action. It's not a single impression, or 3 or 5. Sometimes it's around 10-15, and that's before somebody even finally consciously SEES your ad. Moving them toward action may take significantly longer.

Like, over a year.

Too often, companies will launch ads with a short-term mentality. "I'll try it for a couple weeks and see what comes back," and then shut them down if there is no response.

We generally advise clients to commit to at least 3-6 months to optimize and test ads, dial in audiences and focus results to BEGIN to see a return.

Watching my own marketer/buyer self respond to marketing was fascinating, and continues to be. I'll jump into funnels just to see how people set them up. I analyze copy and layout to see what's grabbing attention and what's leaving me in the dust.

But this new awareness of patiently lying in wait and rolling impression after impression to win a single engagement is a stark reminder of how demanding game of acquisition marketing is. It's not for the faint of heart.

But it does work incredibly well and extremely efficiently when done with skill and strategy.

Are you in it for the long haul? Or do you tend to pull the plug on generating marketing efforts too soon?