Attention Playbook: Predicting Attention to Optimize Advertising Effectiveness
Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2024 10:02 am
User attention spans are at an all-time low. Since 2004, average screen attention has decreased by 69% . In a world saturated with content, advertising channels, and touchpoints, we have become adept at ignoring, “skipping,” closing, or otherwise neglecting ads and therefore brand messages.
Advertisers have long tried to find solutions by creating more impactful, more intrusive ads, or even by increasing tracking and exposure through sometimes aggressive retargeting campaigns.
But is it really effective?
As attention spans decline, advertisers are increasingly looking for tools that go beyond simply measuring ad viewability. Instead, they need solutions that reliably determine whether users have actually engaged with the messages they contain.
Understanding the impact of advertising on business results is essential.
With accelerating market fragmentation, saturation of advertising spaces, and ever-tighter tracking restrictions, brands are placing increasing importance on the effectiveness of their campaigns.
Beyond the famous “do more with less”, it is about establishing a cash app database clear correlation between impressions and ROI for each campaign. As Google points out, purchasing decisions are made in the “messy middle” , that is to say the gray area between the first contact with a brand and the moment of conversion, of purchase. This “middle” is mainly translated by the discovery of content on the open web. The problem? Brands are having more difficulty than ever understanding the value of these touchpoints.
Over the years, brands have focused on several key KPIs to measure the effectiveness of these touchpoints: reach, viewability, completion rate, etc. Today, viewability is the main KPI for digital advertising: for an impression to have value, you have to make sure that the user has actually seen the ad. However, viewability alone does not allow you to measure real engagement with a brand message; much less the business results that result from this engagement.
Towards a new paradigm, that of attention.
Visibility and reach are good indicators of exposure to a campaign. Today, however, brands need to multiply their touchpoints throughout the consumer's digital journey. It is during this discovery phase that visibility is no longer enough and advertisers need to measure real results.
Attention has emerged as a new indicator from the “messy middle” and is quickly becoming the key KPI to optimize vs. simple viewability to achieve better ROAS. Studies show that a high viewability rate does not necessarily mean high attention.
Focusing on viewability, therefore, does not guarantee that your campaign will get attention or effectively impact your business results. Furthermore, Lumen’s research has shown that high viewability is often inversely proportional to attention and engagement .
Bottom line: High visibility does not mean high attention or likely action.
Don't wait to surf the attention.
Onyx by Outbrain™ leads the way in enriched advertising experiences on the open web by predicting high-attention moments based on years of contextual expertise and real-world engagement. Read more in our dedicated playbook.
Advertisers have long tried to find solutions by creating more impactful, more intrusive ads, or even by increasing tracking and exposure through sometimes aggressive retargeting campaigns.
But is it really effective?
As attention spans decline, advertisers are increasingly looking for tools that go beyond simply measuring ad viewability. Instead, they need solutions that reliably determine whether users have actually engaged with the messages they contain.
Understanding the impact of advertising on business results is essential.
With accelerating market fragmentation, saturation of advertising spaces, and ever-tighter tracking restrictions, brands are placing increasing importance on the effectiveness of their campaigns.
Beyond the famous “do more with less”, it is about establishing a cash app database clear correlation between impressions and ROI for each campaign. As Google points out, purchasing decisions are made in the “messy middle” , that is to say the gray area between the first contact with a brand and the moment of conversion, of purchase. This “middle” is mainly translated by the discovery of content on the open web. The problem? Brands are having more difficulty than ever understanding the value of these touchpoints.
Over the years, brands have focused on several key KPIs to measure the effectiveness of these touchpoints: reach, viewability, completion rate, etc. Today, viewability is the main KPI for digital advertising: for an impression to have value, you have to make sure that the user has actually seen the ad. However, viewability alone does not allow you to measure real engagement with a brand message; much less the business results that result from this engagement.
Towards a new paradigm, that of attention.
Visibility and reach are good indicators of exposure to a campaign. Today, however, brands need to multiply their touchpoints throughout the consumer's digital journey. It is during this discovery phase that visibility is no longer enough and advertisers need to measure real results.
Attention has emerged as a new indicator from the “messy middle” and is quickly becoming the key KPI to optimize vs. simple viewability to achieve better ROAS. Studies show that a high viewability rate does not necessarily mean high attention.
Focusing on viewability, therefore, does not guarantee that your campaign will get attention or effectively impact your business results. Furthermore, Lumen’s research has shown that high viewability is often inversely proportional to attention and engagement .
Bottom line: High visibility does not mean high attention or likely action.
Don't wait to surf the attention.
Onyx by Outbrain™ leads the way in enriched advertising experiences on the open web by predicting high-attention moments based on years of contextual expertise and real-world engagement. Read more in our dedicated playbook.