adlibrary.com Logoadlibrary.com
← Back to Glossary

ACC (Awareness, Comprehension, and Conversion)

ACC, standing for Awareness, Comprehension, and Conversion, is a marketing framework that outlines the key stages a consumer progresses through in their journey towards making a purchase.

Definition

ACC stands for Awareness, Comprehension, and Conversion — a framework for structuring advertising campaigns across the marketing funnel.

The Three Stages

ACC aligns naturally with campaign structure — create separate campaigns for each stage with appropriate targeting, creative, and KPIs.

Why It Matters

ACC helps advertisers avoid the common mistake of running only conversion campaigns. By structuring campaigns across all three stages, you build a sustainable pipeline where awareness feeds comprehension, and comprehension feeds conversion. This approach scales better than pure prospecting because it warms audiences before asking them to buy.

Examples

  • Awareness: A new CPG brand runs a broad video ad campaign on YouTube and TikTok to build brand recognition among a wide demographic, focusing on lifestyle and brand story rather than specific product features.
  • Comprehension: A B2B software company retargets its website visitors with ads for a free webinar that demonstrates how its product solves a common industry problem, aiming to educate prospects on its value.
  • Conversion: An e-commerce store shows ads to users who abandoned their shopping carts, featuring the exact products they left behind and offering a limited-time discount code to incentivize completing the purchase.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the wrong metrics for a stage, such as judging an Awareness campaign's success solely on its immediate sales impact.
  • Focusing exclusively on Conversion-stage activities and neglecting top-of-funnel Awareness campaigns, which eventually depletes the pool of potential customers.
  • Assuming the customer journey is perfectly linear; in reality, consumers may move back and forth between the Comprehension and Awareness stages before converting.
  • Running creative that is mismatched to the funnel stage, like showing a hard-sell 'Buy Now' ad to a completely cold audience.