By Lance Wolder, Head for Strategy, PadSquad
Marketers have spent the past few years shifting their focus to new metrics to gauge the impact of an ad: viewability and attention. In theory, they hope to get a more realistic view of how much time consumers actually spend engaging with their content. While this is a step forward, it misses the bigger picture. Rather than just ensuring an ad is seen, shouldn’t the real focus be something more meaningful?
Well-crafted ads that tell a story or evoke emotion perform best, no matter where they’re placed. Research, including studies by MAGNA and Yahoo, has shown creative quality was responsible for 56% of purchase intent.
Let’s be honest: when was the last time you remembered an ad solely based on where it appeared? Chances are, the content—the humor, the story, its relevance–is what stuck with you. That’s the real measure of an ad’s success.
Historically, our problem as an industry has never been getting the ad in front of consumers but rather, creating an ad that is worth the attention and time of audiences. In our race to capture attention, we’ve lost sight of the fundamental value exchange between the advertiser and the ad’s viewer. When someone gives us a slice of their time, we must offer something valuable in return so that they’ll take action.
Bridging the Attention-Outcomes Gap
So, how do we bridge the gap between attention and outcomes? It starts by recognizing that attention is an important component. Attention measurement can provide valuable insights to inform our creative and media strategies. However, we need to dig deeper to understand if attention or viewability are translating into the results that truly matter to the business.
This means taking a more outcomes-focused approach to campaign evaluation rather than simply celebrating high-attention metrics. As an industry, we should ask tough questions to determine if we are investing in ads that genuinely resonate with the audience and inspire them to engage.
As consumers spend time doing more than watching TV, we must expect more from the creative we deliver in every channel. It’s time to break down the creative and media silos and foster a more integrated approach that aligns media placement, targeting, and creative so that we can do more with every ad placement. This might mean bringing the creative and media teams together earlier or embedding creative strategists directly within media planning teams. We have to create a connective tissue between what a consumer sees across all devices.
Rethinking Success Metrics
Next, we must be able to reevaluate how we determine success, and it starts with providing value for the consumer. Today, consumers have more choices with how and where they get their content, or if they’ll skip the next ad. By focusing on campaign KPIs such as attention, viewability, and metrics like video completion rate, we’ve forgotten that we must provide the consumer value in exchange for their attention. A lack of this understanding has led to banner blindness where viewers skip, avoid, or outright ignore online ads.
Success shouldn’t be measured solely by cold, linear statistics such as ROAS, but more by brand health and lasting impressions. Metrics like brand awareness, consideration, and purchase intent reflect a campaign’s true impact. When brands focus on connecting with consumers on a deeper level, they will get the results that matter. It’s my belief that by putting in the work, we’ll see meaningful results, including a trail back to ROAS.
Agencies and marketers alike often chase short-term performance metrics without making a clear connection to business outcomes. But are those metrics delivering value, or are they just easier to measure? Our industry must resist the urge to settle for success on surface level metrics and instead push for campaigns that foster genuine connections that result in meaningful outcomes..
A Balanced Approach
At its core, successful advertising has always been about creative rather than technology. If we look back to the days before digital ads, the most critically acclaimed campaigns stood out because of the creative, not the newspaper or magazine where they appeared. Honestly, I believe the industry needs to take a more balanced approach: something that considers placement, attention, and creative as interconnected and equally important. I think we’ve learned that great creative without optimal placement and visibility doesn’t drive results that make a true impact on business.
The holy grail is finding that sweet spot where high-quality media placements are paired with relevant, engaging advertising creative that inspires action. So, the next time you find yourself fixating on attention metrics, take a step back and ask yourself: “Is this ad worth seeing?” If the answer is no, then it’s time to rethink your strategy.
