So what should advertisers do now to improve engagement with consumers?
Engagement should address the relevance and behavior of consumer interaction with advertising messages. Advertisers need campaign tools that focus more on building relationships than on pushing or prodding consumers to action. A large part of building a brand relationship with a consumer is developing a better understanding of the consumer, engaging her with relevant advertorial at the right time in every step of the conversion funnel.
Consumers are far more likely to be impacted by an ad when it is relevant to them. They tune out irrelevant content that they aren't interested in -- advertorial or otherwise. All else being equal, one could argue that a user's engagement with an ad is inversely proportional to his/her engagement with the content surrounding that ad. Contextual and behavioral targeting can measure consumer engagement with advertorial in a contemporaneous way that other advertising media cannot. Search is only a good indicator of engagement when measured over time.
The latest in behavioral and contextual advertising technology enable marketers to personalize their messages to consumers by serving hyper-targeted and varied ad formats at every stage of the purchase cycle -- ensuring that the right offer is reaching the consumer at the right time. New tools that measure engagement by the degree to which the user is engaged throughout the conversion cycle lets advertisers know what messages work. Rating systems that assign value to each consumer action throughout the funnel give advertisers a more accurate measurement of real engagement.
Engagement is about building better communication with consumers -- it isn't an egg timer. Advertisers are moving their dollars online because they know great branding is not about how many consumers see your message, but about how many are willing to carry your flag. If advertisers want to know just who their brand fans are, they need to measure engagement by the degree to which consumers are engaged with the advertorial. When that message is relevant to consumer interests and what they are reading, they are more likely to listen.
What better way to start a new conversation with consumers than to treat the potential brand evangelists as more than just a number? They are the most highly engaged and should be targeted in unique ways that reflect both their engagement and their ability to influence.
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Robert Dykes is founder, chairman and CEO of NebuAd.
