(Digital Signage) Media + Engagement = Greater Sales Revenue

Filed Under Advertising, Digital Signage, Mobile, metrics

Neat little article over at Ad Age

On how advertising engagement lifts sales.
ROI

Basically, the message in the article is that 1 “engaged” viewer is worth 8 non-engaged consumers.

the research indicates that not only does consumer engagement with media and advertising drive sales, but it also can drive sales more than media spending levels. That suggests even a relatively small media outlay could work wonders should the ads draw keen attention from consumers within media they also find engaging

It also says that:

figuring Engagement as a quantifiable metric in measuring media effectiveness adds a 15-20% increase in ROI over models that only use GRP (Gross rating point).
consumer engagement with media had three times the impact on sales media weight (GRPs) alone did
consumer engagement with the ads had an eight-times larger impact on sales than GRPs

The result? Good for anyone selling media:

Increased ROI [shown by adding engagement to the mix] could drive higher levels of investment in advertising vs. other marketing activities.”

Now, as the article states, “Engagement” is still in its infancy as a measurable and quantifiable metric and it’s always been a little academic until now. Bob Desena over at iO in New York, who I met a couple months ago in Toronto is doing some interesting work with some of the agencies in the UK on an actual equation for it which, I believe is to be released in October but it’s still pretty new.

I personally think Engagement is a little overated as a standalone metric and a bit of a whitewash to make CMOs less CFO centric (less focussed on pure ROI calculations of a medium) but the author summed up my feelings nicely in the final lines of the article:

engagement can’t be separated from media weight, “because you can’t have one without the other.”

Well put.

NOTE: Advertising Engagement can be looked at different ways…most of the time when it’s referred to by creative and traditional media agencies, I believe it’s used as a judge of the effectiveness of creative/content on a particular medium (how much the message and creative grabs the consumer). Other folks actually take it more literally and layer on the “uber-engagement” of attaching things like “text”/mobile intiatives wherein a consumer actually has to physically DO something like text a message to a number or even go even further on the “tactile” front and be “uber-engaged” by engaging with a touch screen or kiosk.

So, here’s a thoughts starter for you on the Digital Signage front:

If “engagement” is really just creative engagement and not tactile or action driven (e.g. texting a short code) on a medium and Digital Signage actually can facilitate “uber-engagement” via text2screen, dial2screen, etc…

AND…

…The recall of advertisements seen on in-store and place based Digital Signage media is double what TV is (research: average)…

…AND…

…Consumers are 20-30% less averse to ads on Digital Signage than TV…

…AND…

…Propensity to buy or spur impulse, brand and categorical sales after seeing an ad on Digital Signage has already been proven over and over…

…AND…

…Buying media on Digital Signage is cheaper than buying media on TV

…Wouldn’t it then stand to reason that the effective ROI of advertising on Digital Signage over, say TV, is MULTIPLE TIMES more ROI centric?

I’ve always asserted that this medium is THE MEDIUM + THE RELEVANCE OF THE CONTENT + CREATIVITY OF THE ADVERTISING….maybe this helps support that notion.

More food for thought
[UPDATE: July 12th: Apparently I’m slow - Bill Gerba seems to come to the same conclusions as well albeit with some different color commentary: Bill Gerba’s Blog]
digital-signage