Five ways to increase attention time on your programmatic advertising campaigns

Find out why the best performing campaigns are informed by data-driven insights, alongside great creative that really speaks to your audience.

With one in three marketers saying that holding customer attention is the top challenge they face, and with more content and ads than ever to compete with, it’s never been more important to know how much attention your programmatic campaigns are really getting.

Attention time is a growing method of evaluating campaign performance, measuring not just how long an ad is theoretically in view, but how much attention users are actually paying to it. But how do you stop the scroll and make sure customers are really engaging with your ads, not just glancing at them in passing? And how do you make sure they are spending their time and attention on your ads, not your competitors’?

We already know that the best performing campaigns are informed by data-driven insights, alongside great creative that really speaks to your audience. Achieving the perfect balance between serving the ad at the right time, in the right place, to the right people, and using creative that engages the audience with your product is the key to achieving optimum attention time. Here’s our how-to guide.

1. Make it relevant 

Seeing your ad is no guarantee that your customers will watch the whole thing, remember the content or take action. To ensure your target audience are really engaging with your ads, you need to make sure you’re reaching them with relevant, targeted messaging at a time when they are most receptive to it.

But remember; you can no longer rely on data-led messaging alone. As we move beyond the cookie, it’s harder to know exactly who you’re targeting, so you need to make sure your creative really speaks to your audience. Give them a reason to watch, working alongside your customer data and insights to ensure your ads are getting the attention they deserve.

2. Use Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO)

Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO) uses data to serve highly-targeted ads in the right places, at the right times, with thousands of variations of content, creative and messaging. Meaning your audience will always be served ads that are tailored specifically to them and increasing the chances they will look at, and engage with, your ads.

Find out how we use DCO to help you target your audience and boost ROI here

3. Get the timing right

Did you know that mobile ads get the most attention when people are watching TV at the same time? On the other hand, only a quarter of people are receptive to them whilst shopping. So make sure you get the timing right.

Surprisingly, ‘double screening’ also improves the chances of a customer following up on an ad by 75%, significantly improving its effectiveness. So serving your ads during popular TV viewing times will help increase both time spent on your ads and campaign performance. 

4. Use takeovers, AR and expanded text and video

Tiny ads in the corner of your screen are never going to demand attention in the same way as a full on social media takeover or in-stream video or augmented reality (AR) ad. Grab your audience’s attention with creative that literally fills the screen, or in some cases, pops out of it – giving them reason to watch and engage with your content for longer.

5. Reward your audience

Gamification increases engagement by providing incentives to your audience to keep watching. Boost attention time using gamified ads which ask questions or set tasks in exchange for points or rewards, increasing the amount of time customers spend on your content.

With research showing that attention time is more than seven times more predictive for driving awareness, and almost six times more powerful for recall than viewability alone, improving the attention time of your campaigns is a great way to increase customer engagement, improve conversions and boost ROI.

We can help you achieve this through optimising your campaigns to reach your target audience with tailored brand messaging and asset combinations, delivered at the right time.

To find out more, get in touch with one of our advertising experts today.

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