Definition

A crude measure of how many humans eyeballs are looking at your ad—basically a less scientific way of saying 'impressions' that sounds cooler in meetings.

Example Usage

That billboard gets 50,000 eyeballs daily according to the media plan, though nobody can verify this.

Origin

Madison Avenue slang dating to print advertising era

Fun Fact

Eyeballs are notoriously hard to measure accurately, which is why billboard companies' reach claims are simultaneously generous and probably lies

Source: Advertising slang and media buying

Related Terms

Beginner

impression

In marketing and advertising, a single instance of an ad being displayed, regardless of whether anyone actually looked at it or immediately scrolled past. Digital marketers obsess over impressions like they're collecting Pokemon, even though an impression doesn't guarantee anyone's eyeballs actually made contact. It's the vanity metric that makes your campaign look successful before you check the click-through rate.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Beginner

customer persona

A fictional representation of your ideal customer, complete with a name, photo, and backstory, created to help marketers remember they're selling to humans and not just demographic data. It's imaginary friends for adults with marketing budgets.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Beginner

permission marketing

A marketing approach where companies obtain explicit consent before sending promotional messages, as opposed to interruption marketing which assumes everyone wants to hear about your product. Revolutionary concept: not annoying people who didn't ask.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Intermediate

Top of Funnel

The widest part of the marketing funnel where you cast the broadest net possible and hope some fish are actually interested in enterprise software. It's where you attract the maximum number of people who will never, ever become customers.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Intermediate

loss leader

A product deliberately sold at a loss to attract customers who'll hopefully buy other profitable items, the retail equivalent of free samples at Costco. It's why printers are cheap but ink costs more than human blood.

📣 Marketing / Advertising
Beginner

bottom of funnel

The final stage where prospects are ready to convert, having survived the grueling journey through awareness and consideration. Where marketing hands the baton to sales and hopes they don't fumble.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

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See “Eyeballs” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

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