Attention-Grabbing Metrics And Exposing The Digital Marketing Efficiency Myth

Sometimes good is good enough. But in today’s broken measurement landscape, where advertiser patience and budgets are stretched, it’s time to stop settling for approximations and assumptions that provide a “good enough” representation of what works in marketing and advertising and recalibrate metrics and models to reflect the ground truth.

So let’s start with the hard truth.

The widespread assumption that few marketers question: an ad that appears on a screen in front of a viewer reaches that viewer.??

The reality that more marketers are waking to embrace: an ad can be viewable with no attention paid.?

Moreover, time-in-view, which has dominated for over a decade as the most critical independent variable of modern measurement, has failed. Billions of media dollars are wasted on ads that potential customers and users don’t see.

This is the thought grenade that Dr. Karen Nelson-Field , media science researcher and founder of Amplified Intelligence , tossed out during the debut episode of Mobile Explorers podcast powered by Digital Turbine . It succeeded in blowing the minds of myself and my co-host Mark Slade , VP of Brand at Digital Turbine, and that was intentional. Karen was our first guest on the first and only podcast that explores the connection between brand and performance.?

Karen explains that the notion that attention and viewability are interchangeable is fatally flawed because the two are fundamentally different. She also explores the platforms that offer marketers value for money (because they are the least distracting and, hence, the most engaging) and reveals the “attention threshold” for advertising that has an enduring impact on KPIs and brand strength. (And the shocker: a whopping 85% of ads in a recent study did not reach that critical benchmark – which means that despite counting an ad impression, consumers were anything but impressed.)

Tidying up the measurement mess

Viewability is about how an ad is presented on the screen to a viewer; attention is how a viewer responds to the ad presented on the screen. (Karen’s definition of attention: “At its most basic, attention can be defined as concentrated awareness towards a reduced number of stimuli in our environment, while ignoring other stimuli.”)

Ignoring the critical difference between the two concepts can cripple campaigns, squander money and result in media mix modeling that completely misses the mark.

Fortunately, the industry is ready – even desperate – for change and eager to break the measurement myths that ultimately erode the bottom line.

As Karen puts it: 2023 marked the Year of Efficiency in Advertising. “Advertisers and agencies are tired of poor performance. And the more important thing is … we've really revealed the truth around inaccuracy around these metrics that are out there.”

Data constraints and cookie depletion are drivers, but Karen reminds us that the reasons run deeper than that.

“What advertisers are looking for is to tidy up and tighten up their efficiency and effectiveness on media buys media trading.” Using hard data and case evidence, Amplified Intelligence shows how settling for simplistic measurement has set marketers up for failure. “As soon as you reveal the truth around what's happening under the pipes, advertisers and agencies [realize] there's an opportunity to save money, yet do better. So it's back to basics.”

The platform is the biggest driver of attention

While marketers refocus on the basics, they also have to accept that all screens and platforms are not equal. If they were, reach-based planning would be a walk in the park.

It’s more complex than that because human attention is also complex .

Karen’s research shows how a video ad on one platform can capture attention and be a distraction on another platform. In other words, the ad units can be the same size, but the units will effectively render different results.

This is because Attention Elasticity –? the range of attention seconds possible under the conditions of that platform or format – can differ wildly. “Reach-based planning is all over the place because you make an assumption that every second of time that your ad is on screen, that people [exposed to it] are watching, and it's far from the truth.”

For example, scrollable formats and platforms that showcase them (such as social media) are less elastic. They allow users to skip, flip and scatter their attention, not focus it. Karen tells us that “an ad on a platform that people can scroll past really quickly might get 90% of your audience looking for half a second.” But then they drop off – and attention plummets with it. “When you actually think about it, it makes common sense.”?

Active Attention (eyes-on-ad) matters

And it’s time for the industry to measure it.

Mark shares how Digital Turbine benchmarks two Digital Turbine ad formats - video and end card. The outcome of a recent study with Amplified Intelligence is eye-opening.

The formats -- served in games, a platform that commands user attention –? capture and keep attention through the ad into the end card. This, Mark tells us, allows for long (and impactful) ad creatives and ensures strong and consistent attention to the story and the brand.

It also provides ammunition for the argument against placing big advertising bets on social, where the majority of advertisers currently spend the lion’s share of their budgets. It’s all about showing that a scrollable video format is not as good as a full-screen video format with audio. And Mark reveals the data to back it up.

My take:

Measurement simplification got the industry into its current dilemma, and measurement rigor will solve it. At one level, it requires an approach that combines device-based measurement (answering the question: is the ad shown?) and human-based measurement (determining if the ad earns attention). This is where Karen and her team at Amplified Intelligence are championing a reinvention and gaining traction. Little wonder companies ranging from US cinema advertising firm Screenvision to Snapchat are starting to put her work into action.

At the other end of the spectrum, it requires insights and content – including the Mobile Explorers series I’m excited to host starting this week – to challenge assumptions that keep marketers from realizing their work's full impact and potential and the return on their investment.?

My other obsession ?

Fortunately for me and you, my projects and pipeline – weekly podcasts , regular webinars and a steady stream of articles across major outlets, including Forbes and Pocketgamer.biz – allow me to mix, mingle and mind-meld with an eclectic mix of leading marketers, brands and bright minds.

They tell me the steps, strategies and stories that allowed them to drive positive business outcomes – and I share them with you.

This newsletter is my platform for pathbreaking ideas, groundbreaking practices and all the pure gold and goodness I mine from conversations, connections and observations.

So let me leave you with a view into my new obsession: segmentation.

Assumptions about customer preferences, patterns and types inform customer segmentation and, ultimately, all forms of communication, in-app and everywhere else. All the effort goes into bucketing users into groups and crafting messaging to match.?

I’m excited to discover how Aampe makes a case for marketers to do the opposite. It argues that creating multitudes of messages and letting these messages find their audience fit informs intelligent and adaptive segmentation that treats people as individuals, not numbers.

It’s an exciting concept poised to disrupt how companies architect and execute push messaging strategies – one I can’t wait to explore in upcoming posts and articles.

Let's Connect

One of the perks of my job is that I get to meet so many of you in person at events, this motivates and enthuses me, it has to be one of the best feelings, hearing your passion for your projects and discovering new technologies that brings mobile to the next level.

This is where I will be over the coming months, so please reach out and let's connect

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UA Society 12?October?2023