In marketing, "viewers" refers to the individuals exposed to a particular marketing message, advertisement, or piece of content, regardless of the medium. This can include people who see a billboard, watch a TV commercial, encounter an online ad, or view a social media post.
The concept of viewers also varies across different channels. Like traditional media (TV), "viewers" are measured using ratings data. For online ads, "viewers" are often called impressions or reach. In print, "viewers" are estimated using circulation numbers.
It's rather essencial to track viewers, as it helps marketers determine which channels and tactics are most effective at capturing attention and can also help in the analysis of campaign performance.
Unique viewers are often tracked using cookies and IP addresses. Imagine if a visitor has not accepted a cookie or visited from a different browser - in that case, that visitor will register as a new, unique viewer.
Marketers can increase the number of viewers by optimizing their marketing strategies to reach a broader target audience. This can be done by using a mix of channels, targeting their messaging, improving their targeting parameters, and ensuring consistency across all marketing channels.
Marketers evaluate marketing campaigns' performance using the number of viewers. It's a base metric for showing the campaign's reach, which is then combined with engagement data to determine campaign effectiveness and ROI.