Challenge
Advertisers can no longer rely on click-throughs to gauge online ad performance. Not only does post campaign reporting tend to negate ad dwell time, but it completely overlooks whether or not your ad has even been seen. Not all ad placements get the same amount of viewer attention, thus placements do not hold the same value for the media, nor do they create the same ROI for the advertiser. How can we get a fuller picture of how efficient media is at the most granular level?
Solution
In order to address this Media Contacts have developed Artemis Intelligent Tags. This new proprietary technology measures the visibility of advertising online; a visibility which varies according to the format used, the location and, above all, the site. In analysing the structure of the page, scripts allow the tool to measure whether the ad has been seen, how long it will be seen for and its exact position.
Media Contacts conducted a multi-site analysis using Artemis intelligent tags on a sample of 18m impressions for Nationwide Building Society across a large blind advertising network.
Results
The results were truly groundbreaking:
- A staggering 1/10 ads were not actually seen.
- The average campaign viewing time was 39 secs – 15% higher than the online average.
- Users were 70% more likely than the industry average to interact with the online creative.
- Much higher post click conversions then previous campaigns.
- Research also highlighted that there was no link between CTR and user interaction.
Emma Ellis, Digital Research Manager at Media Contacts believes that: “the ratio visibilty duration/CPM is very useful to optimise our clients media plans. Not only does this demonstrate the real value of Media Contacts online advertising efforts, but it provides complete client confidence in media plan efficiencies.”
Alex Bennet of Nationwide stated: ‘Working with MPG’s “Artemis Intelligent Tags” has provided greater insight into the true value of Nationwide’s Display advertising in a period where tight accountability of budgets is increasingly important. The testing that we have undertaken has allowed us to re-introduce Display as a viable option now that we are able to discount post impression activity based on whether the consumer has actually seen the campaign or not. We are also able to gain improved understanding of the effectiveness of individual creative executions from analysis of both dwell time and consumer interaction.’
Findings gleamed from this analysis further perpetuate the argument that clients can no longer rely on clicks to gauge online ad performance. Doing so fails to capture the impact of advertising impressions or view-through on attitude and future behaviour. By utilising Artemis intelligent tags™ Media Contacts are now in a position to derive real and more accurate CPMs and perhaps, more importantly, yield smarter and more credible monetization models for their clients.