Brand Lift Studies: What They Are and Why They Matter
Modified on September 30th, 2026.
Everything advertisers need to know on what Brand Lift Studies are, and when and how to conduct them.
Impressions tell you an ad was seen. Clicks tell you someone acted. Neither tells you if your campaign changed how people think about your brand. That’s the gap brand lift studies are built to close.
For advertisers running video campaigns, especially on platforms like YouTube, where upper-funnel goals like awareness and consideration are so important, brand lift measurement is one of the only ways to prove a campaign delivered more than just views
What Are Brand Lift Studies?
A brand lift study is a research method that measures how an advertising campaign shifts the way people feel about a brand, rather than just how they behave after seeing an ad. Typical metrics these studies measure include:
- Ad recall (do people remember seeing your ad?)
- Brand awareness (have people heard of your brand?)
- Brand favorability (do people like your brand?)
- Purchase intent (how likely are people to buy what your brand’s selling?)
- Message association (do people connect your brand with the messaging you intended?)
The methodology is straightforward in concept: an exposed group that saw the campaign is surveyed alongside a control group that didn’t. The gap between their answers is the “lift”, or a direct read on what the campaign actually changed in people’s heads, not just on their screens.
How Brand Lift Measurement Works
In practice, brand lift measurement runs through short survey prompts served to sampled audience segments, asking questions like:
- Have you heard of this brand?
- How favorable is your impression of it?
- How likely are you to purchase products from it?
Comparing exposed vs. control responses isolates the campaign’s actual effect, controlling for everything else already influencing how people feel about a brand.
Who Creates Brand Lift Studies?
Brand Lift studies can be executed from a few different sources:
- Ad platforms themselves, like Google and YouTube, which offer native brand lift tools built into their measurement stack
- Independent research firms specializing in survey-based measurement
- Agencies and specialized partners running lift studies on behalf of brands, often layering platform data with third-party verification
On YouTube specifically, brand lift is a native, well-supported measurement option, which is part of why it’s become a standard ask for upper-funnel video campaigns rather than a nice-to-have. Pixability regularly builds brand lift into YouTube campaigns from the planning stage, not as an afterthought once a campaign’s already live.
What Are Brand Lift Studies Used For?
Beyond the topline “did perception improve” question, brand lift studies help advertisers understand:
- Which creative elements are actually resonating
- How strongly a message is landing is associated with the brand
- How lift varies across audience segments
- Whether certain channels or formats outperform others on perception, not just delivery
For categories where brand perception drives the purchase decision (automotive, CPG, financial services, etc.), this kind of insight isn’t optional. It’s often the metric that matters most.
When Should Marketers Use Brand Lift Studies?
The use-cases for implementing Brand lift measurement are varied but include:
- Launching a new product or entering a new category
- Expanding into a new market or audience segment
- Testing new creative directions before committing further budget
- Running any large-scale, awareness-driven campaign
- Any time upper-funnel goals, not conversions, are the actual objective
If a campaign’s success can’t be fully explained by clicks or conversions, that’s usually the signal a brand lift study is worth running.
How to Turn Brand Lift Insights Into Action
A brand lift study that just gets filed away after the campaign wraps is a missed opportunity. The real value shows up when the findings shape what comes next:
- Sharpening creative and messaging based on what actually drove recall
- Refining audience targeting toward the segments showing the strongest lift
- Reallocating media budget toward the formats and placements outperforming on perception
- Using lift data to strengthen the case for upper-funnel investment internally
We’ve seen this play out directly in YouTube campaigns we’ve managed. Brands using early brand lift signals mid-flight to shift budget toward the creative and formats actually driving recall, rather than waiting until a campaign’s over to learn what worked.
Final Thoughts: Measuring What Truly Matters
Brand lift measures impact, the part of a campaign’s performance that a dashboard full of delivery metrics can’t show on its own.
Getting brand lift measurement right means treating it as a planning decision, not a reporting afterthought, built into the campaign from day one, not bolted on once the media’s already live.
Unlock the Full Potential of Your Advertising
If you’re running YouTube campaigns and want to know whether they’re actually shifting awareness, favorability, and purchase intent connect with Pixability to see how brand lift measurement fits into your YouTube strategy.