Awareness campaigns don't optimize for clicks or conversions. Instead, they can optimize for reach (unique people), impressions, estimated ad recall lift (people likely to remember your ad), or ThruPlays and video plays. They're bought on a CPM basis and can use frequency controls to limit how often each person sees the ad.
Awareness is valuable for launches, events, local brand building, and political or advocacy campaigns — anywhere reaching a defined population matters more than an immediate response. It shouldn't be judged on cost per lead; measure it with reach, frequency, and, where budgets allow, brand lift studies.
Example
A new restaurant runs a reach campaign capped at two impressions per week to everyone within five miles, building awareness ahead of its grand opening.
How Sloss Digital uses it
We use Awareness campaigns for launches, local market saturation, and political campaigns, with tight frequency controls and lift measurement rather than click metrics.