Why the World Stopped Clicking MMHK Oct 2008

On the Web, that strategy meant that success could only be measured one way: by counting clicks.  But consumers caught on immediately, and click-through rates began to fall.  As it turns out, consumers both globally and in Asia are too savvy and the Web is far too interactive to gauge success solely by clicks.  To do so is to ignore the Web's true promise of providing true interactivity and complex brand engagement.

Rich Media Gives Them What They Want

Put simply, advancements in rich media allow advertisers to make the most of the media space they invest in.  Rather than merely running standard banners with a vague hope that viewers will click-through for more content, advertisers have the ability to present their complex content and full-blown messaging directly in the banner itself.  Video, interactive games and complex engagement such as instant messaging which is more popular in Asia than elsewhere and peer-to-peer interactions bring the capabilities of a microsite to the banner environment.

This enhanced brand of functionality gives advertisers the unprecedented opportunity to engage their consumers directly and actively - to push content to consumers, rather than struggle to pull consumers away from their content.  Advertisers are able to display full-length video adverts, even collect important data for direct response campaigns without coaxing users away from the Web content they've sought out.

Creative Engagement - The Sky's the Limit

This requires an adjustment in advertising mindset in both the creative and the media capacities.  Creatively, push marketing can be a huge boon, as it opens up the playing field to an entirely new level of engagement.  We've heard it before, and it's actually true - the sky really is the limit for the creative mind.  With video functionality, contextual capability and interactivity that enable everything short of touching a consumer on the shoulder, creatives are free to produce anything they can dream up.  We've seen digital campaigns that allow users to "remix" video ads, to compete against other users around the world in complex in-banner games, and to communicate with others via in-banner instant messaging.

The key for creatives focused on push-marketing is to clearly identify the objectives of the campaign and what brand elements create the right engagement to reach those objectives.  Then to spark engagement with those brand elements in a meaningful, cohesive manner.

Media Planners  Re-examine Engagement

And for media planners, push-marketing requires a whole new way of looking at brand engagement.  As online behavior has shifted away from repeated clicking and fickle movements toward longer, more meaningful content interactions, the digital advertising industry has seen a corresponding move away from clicks. The dramatic rise in popularity of social networking and especially messaging are evidence of this trend. 

As we've moved beyond the click as the end-all, be-all of digital interaction, new metrics are necessary for evaluating the success of campaigns.  Engagement now comes in the form of new metrics like Dwell Time - the amount of time users spent engaged in all of the ad's interactive elements - or Expansion Rate or Interaction Duration.

Getting to the Bottom Line

Most industry experts agree that these engagement metrics provide a more accurate and holistic picture of brand engagement.  But at the end of the day, media planners are still looking for those hard numbers: what was the ROI?

Fortunately, new developments in engagement have brought quantum leaps in tracking technology as well.  One of the Web's greatest selling points has always been the direct path to conversion for direct response campaigns.  And with conversion tracking, third-party ad servers are able to track users' path from the time they first encounter an ad until the time they make their transaction.  Conversion tracking paints illuminates the campaign's success in driving sales, and it also clarifies the roles that different publishers and channels played in those sales.

Brands looking to maximize their online engagement should look beyond clicks.  By pushing content to consumers, they heighten the brand experience and give consumers the opportunity to interact without lifting a finger - literally.  By harnessing creative innovation, the deep potential of digital metrics and a progressive approach to marketing, they will open themselves up to new worlds.

Ross McNab

Sales Director Asia Pacific

Eyeblaster