DAGMAR Model

The DAGMAR Model is an Advertising Strategy that focuses on setting Defined and Measurable Goals.

Its name is an acronym for the principle it follows:

• Define Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results.

To do it efficiently, this Model highlights the 4 Phases that all Purchasing Processes go through:

• Awareness.
• Comprehension.
• Conviction.
• Action.

Also known, as the ACCA Steps.

1. Awareness: The Client Discovers the Product.

• Before this Stage, the Client didn’t know that this product existed.

2. Comprehension: In this Stage, the Customer Understands the Product.

• Its properties, price, main characteristics, etc.

3. Conviction: The Customer is Convinced by the Product.

• Its characteristics meet all the desired requirements.

4. Action: In the last Stage, the Customer Buys the Product.

• Or, in the worst-case scenario, Approaches it, but doesn’t buy it.

ACCA Marketing Steps

The DAGMAR Model proposes that, regardless of which of these Stages your Ads are directed to, your Objectives must be perfectly Defined and Measurable.

Let’s see a first example, so that you better understand what this model is looking for:

Google Ads is the epitome of the DAGMAR Model.

Imagine you own a small e-commerce store.

If you start an Advertising campaign with Google Ads, you can easily know:

• How many people saw your Ads.
• How much your Sales increased.
• How many people Clicked on each Ad.
• Which countries were most interested in your products.
• etc.

And most important, your ROI (Return On Investment).

• How much you earned for what you invested.

This tool allows you to easily Measure your Goals and assess how your Marketing Campaigns are doing.

For example, your DAGMAR goals could be:

• Increase Sales by a 10%.
• Have a ROI of 3:1 (You earned 3 times more than you invested).
• Receive a 15% more Impressions of your products.

All of them can be Measured and analyzed “with numbers”; Objectively.

Before we give you some Tips on How to set DAGMAR Goals, we need to clarify one thing:

• The difference between the AIDA Model and the ACCA Steps.

They look exactly the same… Are they?

These two Marketing Models are virtually the same.

The only Step that changes substantially is the “Interest“ Step, in the AIDA Model.

• It is substituted by the “Comprehend” Step in the ACCA approach.

To be interested in something, you need to comprehend it so, “comprehension” is assumed in “interest”.

• We could even say that ACCA Steps are “included” in the AIDA Model.
  • But it is only semantics.

Anyway… Make no mistake: They are exactly the same.

We recommend you to visit our “AIDA Model” Page.

• There we delve into these 4 Stages with lots of examples.

Here, we focus on Defined Advertising Goals.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself:

• OK but, What is a Defined and Measurable Goal?
• How can I set DAGMAR Goals?

Here are some Tips:

Goals must be Measurable with Numbers.

• Objective Goals.

DAGMAR Goals must follow an Action-Reaction logic.

• You must do something to achieve something.

Goals must be Coherent with the Company.

• Companies must set Goals that fit what they offer.

You must be able to relate the Marketing Campaigns to the Results obtained.

• Being able to identify the Action that made a Result possible.

Now, let’s see some examples:

We have chosen 4 popular advertising strategies and analyzed whether they fit the DAGMAR principle or not.

Let’s begin:

The Super Bowl has become famous, not only because of the sporting event.

• Also for its Expensive and Unique commercials.

Companies know that this event is seen by millions of people with high “purchasing power” in the most “consumerist” country in the world.

• It is the perfect setting to promote a product.

And, believe it or not, it allows companies to set Defined Advertising Goals.

How?

• Companies know “almost exactly” how many people will see their Ad.
• They develop Unique Ads, which will only be seen at the Super Bowl.
• They Invest a single amount of money in that Ad.
• With social media, they can evaluate the Impact of that Ad.

By comparing How much they spent and How much their Income increased in the following weeks, they can estimate their ROI (Return On Investment).

• And evaluate whether it was worth it or not.

Now, let’s analyze Times Square.

• Companies pay millions of dollars to display their brand in this famous place.

Isn’t this example similar to the Super Bowl one?

• No. Not at all.

In the Super Bowl example we saw how companies show a one-off commercial.

• This allows them to track how effective this commercial was.

However, it is almost impossible to evaluate the effect of Times Square’s Ads.

• These Ads don’t follow the DAGMAR Model.

Then… Why companies pay millions of dollars to show their logo?

• Exactly. Companies show their logo; their brand. Not a new product.

Companies pay millions of dollars for their Branding strategy.

• To increase their “prestige“.

But not for their Advertising Campaigns.

If you follow any YouTube channel, you may have heard something like this:

• “…introduce the text ***** and you’ll get a X% discount“.

* This text is usually the name of the YouTuber.

What is this?

Companies use YouTubers to promote their products.

And why they “force” you to introduce their name to get the discount?

• Because this way, they can evaluate which YouTuber is more effective.

These Discounts make things much easier to evaluate their Goals and Results.

Companies just have to compare How much they had to pay the YouTuber, and How much Profit they obtained.

• This way, they can calculate their ROI (Return On Investment ) very easily.

Sponsoring a Celebrity can be an effective way of advertising your products in a traceable way.

• How? Thanks to social media.

Companies pay Celebrities to share pictures wearing or using their products.

• In Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Then, it is very easy to Measure:

• How many “likes” these pictures have.
• How many times these pictures have been shared.
• etc.

And most important:

• How much their Sales increased in these particular products.

If designed correctly, this Strategy allows you to set Defined and Measurable Goals.

• Goals that follow the DAGMAR Model.

The DAGMAR Model is an Advertising Strategy that focuses on setting Defined and Measurable Goals.

It highlights the 4 Phases that all Purchasing Processes go through:

• Awareness: The Client Discovers the Product.
• Comprehension: In this Stage, the Customer Understand the Product.
• Conviction:The Customer is Convinced by the Product.
• Action: In the last Stage, the Customer Buys the Product.

Tips on How to set DAGMAR Goals:

• Goals must be Measurable with Numbers.
• DAGMAR Goals must follow an Action-Reaction logic.
• Goals must be Coherent with the Company.
• You must be able to relate the Marketing Campaigns to the Results obtained.