Why marketers are leaning into attention vs. viewability metrics

When it comes to video advertising, viewability used to be king. But as identifiers go away, advertisers are migrating to “attention” metrics that better gauge meaningful interactions with advertisements.

“I often kind of refer to these as next-gen KPIs,” Will Margaritis, senior vice president of global commerce solutions at agency Reprise Commerce, said on a recent Tech-Talk Webinar. Attention metrics help ensure ads are in the top 10% to 15% of engagement and can be used for planning, optimization, and measurement, he said.

Key points:

• Two primary input signals for attention metrics are biometric data (eye-tracking technology) and placement and performance-level data (screen real estate, interactions, completion rates, etc.).
• While eye tracking can come off as “creepy,” most companies aggregate that data only from consumer panels who have opted into it.
• Because consumers are so reliant on their smartphones, mobile devices are a good medium for prioritizing these attention KPIs.
• Attention differs across age groups. Reprise Commerce found older individuals have a longer attention span. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re more engaged, “it’s just that as we grow older, we pay closer attention,” said Margaritis.

What the data says:

• Mobile devices lead other video mediums in reach, with 39% of all video ad impressions worldwide in the second quarter of 2022, according to August data from Extreme Reach and Insider Intelligence.
• Some 36% of buy-side advertising decision-makers plan to focus more on attention metrics this year, according to November 2022 data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

“[Attention metrics] give us a lot of data points to optimize and to make sure that we are getting that right ad in front of the right consumer because, let’s be honest, attention is something that we’re asking consumers for and we’ve got to be a little bit respectful of our using that attention to make sure we keep getting it,” said Margaritis.

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