The digital advertising market grew by another 5% in 2023 to €3.7 billion in spending (Adformatie, April 17, 2024). This makes digital an increasingly important component in the media mix. All the more important to spend every media euro impactfully. Patricia van Zon, Sr. Digital Communications Consultant at STROOM inventoried the most important developments in which known and new factors come together to estimate the impact of campaigns.
'The digital market is maturing. We're seeing a move toward steering and evaluating more on impact, rather than impressions and cost.'
This article describes the five most important factors for impact of a digital campaign.
Factor 1: Attention value crucial for impact
Impact is a broad term. By impact we mean: Striking and effective creation that leads to growth in business and brand KPIs such as brand awareness, consideration and conversions.
More and more studies, including from Lumen and Karen Nelson-Field show that there is one clear variable that correlates with this. And that is attention. A factor that to date is rarely included in considerations within online media.
Impressions and especially the cost per impression (CPM) are often used to weigh different media and ad formats against each other. However, the question of whether each impression has equal value when it comes to impact is just as relevant as the cost aspect. If ads are not seen, they can never get brand KPIs moving. Unfortunately, the most inexpensive ad formats are also the formats with the lowest attention value. When you factor the impact component into the evaluation of these ad formats, many impressions turn out to be a waste of investment.
For example, an online video campaign churned out around content from RTL or Talpa on a TV screen has greater attention value than that same video on a more cursory social media channel like Instagram. In the first case, people are relaxed on the couch watching their favorite program, while in the second case, someone may be waiting for the train and mindlessly scrolling through their timeline or stories. An impression on connected TV may be more expensive, the attention is also many times higher than on social media.
So the first factor we consider is attention value.
Why does attention value matter?
With increasing pressure on online advertising, the importance of deploying media dollars as effectively as possible increases the likelihood of being seen, and therefore the likelihood of growing your brand.
Consumer attention is spread across more devices and channels than ever. This fragmentation in the media landscape doesn't seem to be over either. Users are exposed to +10,000 (commercial) messages per day. In the past 5 years, content has increased +500% but only +4% media consumption.
On top of that, people pay attention to ads only1% of their time. That's equivalent to about 9.5 minutes a day. So attracting and holding attention is more important than ever to get your message across and really make an impact.
Attention value level depends on objective
One objective is not the other and that means the desired attention value differs by brand KPI. Upperfunnel KPIs such as spontaneous or assisted awareness are easier to get moving than deeper KPIs such as consideration. To remember a brand name, the attention value does not have to exceed 2 seconds. But to convey why people should choose a specific brand requires more time. Consideration only grows significantly after 10 seconds according to Lumen research.
There are several underlying factors affecting attention value: these range from device, advertising clutter to screen coverage and trust in a medium. We include all of these factors in media planning at STROOM . Optimizing the chance to be seen is crucial. Not all media have the same attention value, and the type of channel and device also play an important role.
At STROOM , we are convinced that attention value is certainly not the only factor that leads to growth.
Factor 2: contacts per week
In addition to the level of attention value required to achieve growth, the study also examined how long this uplift lasts. This showed that the shorter the attention value, the faster the impact also subsides.
Many online media are ephemeral and therefore impact sinks quickly (on average within 4 to 7 days). Therefore, we also look at contacts per week, those contacts must be high enough to sustain impact (according to theory). Depending on the attention value of a campaign, 1 to 3 contacts per week are needed to maintain the uplift. Ideally you should be present always-on, but when your impact drops below the impact threshold it makes more sense to be present for a shorter period of time so that when you are present you are at least above that threshold. If you stay below the threshold then always-on quickly becomes always-off and thus a waste of investment.
Factor 3: Target the market: higher reach drives growth
Reach remains an important (perhaps the most important) factor for an impactful campaign. If you reach a larger portion of the target audience, more people are exposed to the message in absolute terms: the non- and light users. As a result, you see faster growth on primary brand KPIs. For the long term, these are the people you want to have reached now in the short term, so that you are more quickly considered as a brand later.
You can achieve such great growth rates in the group reached by the campaign, if this group is smaller than 50%-70% of the population, the effect on the whole population will be negligible. In this case, exposed vs. non-exposed research shows good results, but you don't see that growth reflected in your business results.
Brand growth is achieved by reaching non- and light users and uplifts in an exposed group only have a significant effect on brand growth in a population if you reach a significant portion of the population. In short reaching a substantial portion of your target audience, ideally more than 70%, at least 50% is necessary for growth.
Factor 4: Maximize message delivery: focus on completed video views
Longer contact time increases the likelihood of message delivery. This makes us strive for a high number of fully viewed videos when deploying video. After all, 1,000 impressions with a viewing ratio of 50% are conveying the message more effectively than 1,000 impressions with a viewing ratio of 10%. The more people who get the full message the more effective an impression is, giving you more value for your money.
Factor 5: Creation key factor effective communication and retention
attention
With the right media planning, we can create conditions for an impactful campaign by targeting the right reach, contacts and attention value. That doesn't get you there. Almost half of a campaign's effectiveness is determined by creation. Media provides the initial attention. A striking and clear creation must ensure that attention is retained and the message comes across to the target group.
Conclusion: How do you get the most impact from an impression?
With sufficient attention value, with multiple contacts per week and at least 50% reach, you can get the most value from impressions. At STROOM , we are happy to help put together the optimal online media mix based on these factors, taking into account your brand's objective.