Jess Miles, country manager for ANZ at IAS explores the perception and future outlook of attention measurement and optimisation in digital media.
In the digital advertising universe, attention is not just a metric; it’s a phenomenon that’s stirring up conversations, debates, and innovations. While there’s a universal nod to its importance, the path to effectively harnessing attention is less clear, often mired in diverse methodologies and interpretations. The Attention Payoff report offers a beacon of clarity in this murky landscape, revealing how industry experts are grappling with and capitalising on, the multifaceted nature of attention.
According to this report, a staggering 88 per cent of media experts say their company currently uses attention measurement; however, there remains murkiness around the term “Attention.” The landscape is dotted with varied attention scores and methodologies. This diversity underscores the need for a deeper, more nuanced understanding of what constitutes effective attention measurement.
The report serves as a guide to demystifying the concept of attention, offering a structured approach to define, measure and leverage attention. It’s not just about acknowledging its significance; it’s about unravelling the layers to understand the real business impact and success rates that attention-driven strategies can yield.
The Essence of Attention
Imagine attention as the spotlight in the vast theatre of digital media. It’s where the gaze lingers, engagement deepens, and messages resonate. A recently released whitepaper decodes this spotlight into measurable dimensions: Visibility, Situation, and Interaction, each playing a critical role in captivating and retaining consumer attention.
Business results, like conversions or sales, must be present to determine that attention has occurred. Media experts also broadly agree about the importance of all signals — Visibility, Situation, and Interaction — for attention scores.
Attention: The Catalyst for Business Triumph
Attention transcends views or clicks; it’s the heartbeat of customer engagement, underpinning the potential for conversions and revenue growth. The right attention strategies can improve key business results such as media performance, revenue opportunity, online traffic, interactivity, and branding. The study found that three-quarters or more of those using attention measurement reported robust gains in ROAS, brand safety, and new sales lift. These areas are critical for brands and agencies, indicating that attention-focused strategies contribute significantly to optimising advertising expenditure and enhancing brand reputation.
Both media quality and revenue opportunity stand out among ad buyers, but publishers are much less likely to cite revenue opportunity as a measure of success for attention. More than three-quarters of the respondents reported substantial improvement in viewability, new sales leads, and ad interaction — three of the most important results sought after by attention users.
Navigating the New Terrain of Attention Measurement
In the dynamic world of digital advertising, the evolution of attention measurement marks a pivotal shift. The adoption of attention measurement and optimisation to consumer attention is necessary for experts across the industry. A striking 83 per cent of media recognise that having an effective attention strategy is important for their company.
As the industry pivots towards attention, confidence is growing across brands, agencies and publishers. An impressive 78 per cent of attention measurement users say their company is ready to optimise toward attention in the next 12 months. This encompasses 86 per cent of brands and 79 per cent of publishers that believe they are poised to optimise towards attention in the coming year. This readiness reflects a growing understanding of attention’s role in enhancing the efficacy of digital campaigns.
However, the landscape is not without its challenges. On the one hand, we have advertisers ready to optimise attention; on the other hand, we continue to have those yet to adopt this approach. Attention non-users perceive multiple challenges, such as the lack of resources in place to implement an attention strategy, insufficient knowledge about the topic to support future efforts, and lack of understanding of attention measurement at the organisational level. These challenges highlight the need for more comprehensive education and resource allocation in the industry.
In today’s advertising environment, where consumers are bombarded with fleeting ads, capturing attention is more critical than ever. The quest for impactful advertising begins with engaging the consumer’s attention. Today, where multiple ads vie for attention, often displayed for a fraction of a second, the question of whether an ad truly captures the viewer’s attention becomes paramount. Harnessing attention in the right way, with the right attention scores and methodologies, is crucial in setting yourself up for success.
