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For advertisers, attention is emerging as the new standard for evaluating ad effectiveness. But with the average person spending seven hours online every day—browsing, chatting, watching or working across multiple devices—and seeing anywhere between 4,000 and 10,000 ads in that time, standing out in an era of distraction is no easy feat.
Pre-dating the internet we know today, the concept of an attention economy—where a wealth of information causes a scarcity of attention—was first coined by economist Herbert A. Simon in the 1970s. The use of attention as a metric for ad effectiveness, however, is a relatively new development.
Already, clickbait headlines, never-ending social media feeds and personalized algorithms work tirelessly to keep users engaged. So how might a renewed focus on attention reshape the industry for the better?
What is attention?
According to one study, a 5% increase in attention volume leads to a 40% surge in in-market ad awareness. But attention is not an “all or nothing” concept. Rather, attention quality and quantity can vary greatly. So how do we measure this?
While no foolproof method has been developed, a variety of technologies including head movement-tracking, skin conductance, EEG scans, MRI scans and AI-enhanced eye-tracking have all been tested. Other ways of measuring attention involve ad interaction rate and time, active time on a screen, in-view time and audible or visible completion rates.
With many unknowns and variables still at play, greater research and a broader range of metrics are needed to clarify the specific factors that make online ads effective and how best to track and even define attention. In the meantime, however, it’s possible to optimize ads and the environments they’re placed in to boost consumer engagement and interactions, such as quality of the page, ad position, digital environment, page clutter, frequency and time of day.
Putting the consumer first
“Attention-grabbing” does not always mean a positive user experience. In a digital environment, there are many formats aimed at drawing in consumer attention—banner ads, pop-ups, videos, ads above and below the fold—but these are just as likely (if not more so) to annoy users.
Maximizing attention above all else can come at the expense of brand reputation and ad effectiveness. Nowadays, due to the reputation of pop-up ads and their sheer volume across the web, two-thirds (63%) of Gen Z users apply ad blockers to avoid the intrusive ad format as much as possible. One study cites the three main reasons for deploying ad blockers as intrusiveness, irrelevance and repetition.
Research also shows that as the number of ads increases, user attention decreases. This is true for both broadcast and digital channels, including Snapchat and Meta, as well as YouTube, which recently launched global frequency capping. Other small adjustments such as placement can also have a positive effect: Although not within the immediate line of vision, ads below the fold benefit from the attention and engagement users have decided to give page content, generating 29% more than those above the fold. Premium digital environments—trusted brands with quality content and loyal audiences—have also been found to boost memorability, dwell times and engagement, increasing ad equity.
Successfully generating a global, captive audience takes a lot more than simply getting noticed. Tuning into the attention economy requires an industrywide shift, focused on creating a more collaborative ecosystem with a shared goal of putting consumer experience first.
Prioritizing personalization
There’s no value in grabbing attention if the content isn’t relevant to the people seeing it. As such, personalization is key to engaging consumers the right way, encouraging them to take action rather than moving on to another task. In fact, tailoring ads is proven to work for marketers, with 89% reporting a positive ROI when they focus on personalizing their campaigns and 60% of consumers agreeing they would return to a brand following a personalized experience.
Streamlining decision-making
To turn attention into results, marketers need to make it easy for consumers to take the next step and have a measurable impact on the goals of a campaign. Whether creating enough mystery to encourage consumers to click through to the website or being clear about unique selling points to ensure potential customers make a purchase, close collaboration between all media players—from social media platforms to publishers, agencies and brands—can ensure ads are designed to be as useful and positive for consumers as they are for advertisers.
Collaborating to fill the data gaps
While attention metrics gain traction, we all know personalization and targeting is getting harder. As consented first-party data becomes ever more crucial to advertiser strategies, partnering with those who have it—trusted, premium publishers, for example—while maximizing their own data is crucial to brands. Marketers have the opportunity to build and tailor their digital ads around the interests, preferences and behaviors of their consumers, but only through collaboration with a variety of industry players can they gather the level of detail needed to get personalization right and reap the rewards.
While the industry has more work to do to truly understand the best way to measure attention as a predictor of ad effectiveness, all brands can start with their customers to build a more effective post-cookie strategy. Working together to achieve this will stand the industry in good stead to embrace the attention economy and build a positive environment for advertisers and consumers alike.
