Mobile screens have many distractions. There is a lot of text, color, sound, and motion - and fingers are scrolling fast. The majority of what is technically “seen” is likely missed, according to recent research.
But beyond that, even if something “appears” on a mobile screen, there is no guarantee that eyes will even be looking at the phone. How often do people shift their gaze from their phones to their TV when multi-screening? Or how about when we’re walking and need to cross the street?
Simply put, it doesn’t matter if your ad is viewable on a screen since it’s hardly a guarantee it was even seen. Which is why in 2023, views and impressions will no longer be a valid measure of success. They’re vanity metrics.
Instead, brands need to focus on real business outcomes, i.e. brand awareness and revenue. And that starts with capturing your users’ attention. Here’s why attention is the most important metric in 2023 and how to make sure your brand is capturing it.
Why graduate from the old school focus on visibility?
Attention isn’t necessarily new. In the days of “appointment TV viewing”, advertisers understood that shows had people’s undivided attention at certain hours of the day. Prime-time TV became the pinnacle of ensuring you had a captive audience. But that’s not the case with mobile.
Research shows that the amount of mobile ads that are “viewable” is significantly lower than the ads that get counted as “viewed.” As the study’s authors put it, “The mobile interface itself is full of glossy and colorful elements, so everything on the screen can potentially catch your attention… It seems that when everything is made to stand out, nothing pops out in the end.”
Even if users see your ad, it doesn’t guarantee they’ll have a meaningful interaction, especially with the average person encountering up to 10,000 ads per day. There’s a big difference between being seen and being remembered. Do you remember the last ad you saw?
Focusing your ad strategy on attention - the metric that matters
Eight years ago, Google shook the market by revealing that 56% of rendered ads were never viewable on a screen. While platforms have improved on this metric, there have been other shifts in how people use their mobile phones - they’ve become the go-to device for killing time typically in quick, snackable moments, and often when we’re already distracted. And because mobile advertising has become even more massive than TV, it’s not only about growing users. It also has become a branding opportunity.
As a result, the definition of mobile advertising success has shifted. The most effective advertisers use it to build their brand and revenue. The best way to measure success, therefore, is through capturing attention. While eyeball tracking metrics are not yet universal, they have proven to be successful in brand recall.
So, how do you build attention? In the study cited earlier, strong creative was the biggest driver of attention, above other factors like being voluntarily viewed, sound, and duration.
To succeed in 2023, approach mobile advertising as a full-funnel strategy. You need to capture attention to build your brand, promote your product, gain interest, build relationships, and provide incentives. Follow these tips for success.
1. Think like a gamer
As mentioned above, gaming apps dominate downloads. Tapping into the gamer mindset can help other apps capture attention through in-game advertising, which continues to grow.
There is inherent attention built-in to most games. They are one of the few app categories that can truly capture someone’s undivided attention - and beyond that, they use many tricks to ensure ads are seen. For example, rewarded videos enable users to opt in to watch a video ad in exchange for an in-game reward, such as an extra life or in-game currency.
Rewarded video is by far the advertising option most favored by consumers, with three-quarters of users saying it makes them like the brand more. And by giving them the choice to watch, you help ensure you’re putting your ad in front of eyeballs that are ready to give you their attention.
2. Consider the "lean-back" moment
The “lean-back” moment describes the moment when a user unlocks their phone, and starts scrolling through their apps, hoping to be hit with a spark of inspiration of what app to open next. As many as 88% of consumers engage in this “appnostic” behavior, unlocking their phone without having a specific app in mind.
When consumers are feeling appnostic, placing your brand in strategic spots on a smartphone can help your brand spark their interest. For example, your brand advertising can be part of the content that smartphones recommend or make accessible via toolbars and widgets. When someone is looking to be entertained, your brand wants to be in places in can be easily discovered.
3. Don’t skimp on storytelling
Make sure your creative calls back to the user’s previous experience and the story presented with your other ads. Use short, snappy, fun messaging. Consider using opt-in, full-screen, or in-app ads that block out other distractions so the user can better focus on your story.
Above all, campaigns must be memorable. Strong creatives will hold attention longer. And while the longer an ad is viewed matters when it comes to brand recall, ad creative must be APPEALING to be viewed longer.
That’s why a full-funnel strategy is essential. So much of a user choosing to actually tap on your ad depends on whether they’ve heard of your brand before.
4. Leverage attention beyond your ad
When focusing on performance UA, there are other ways to help grab attention and boost your performance metrics. For example, preloads are one way apps like Facebook, YouTube, and Amazon keep their brands strong - they don’t have to cross the hurdle of convincing someone to download your app; it’s already installed on their phone. And their app icon serves as a strong brand touch point every time it’s seen.
Most importantly, preloads come with an element of trust baked in. Customers are naturally inclined to trust a preloaded app because they already trusted the big name brand of the mobile carrier or manufacturer who endorsed your app. So, they’re more likely to explore your app instead of visiting the app store and considering your competitors.
Capturing attention in 2023
The importance of viewability has been on a steady decline since 2014. In 2023, a major paradigm shift will occur as brands kick out viewability altogether and refocus on attention.
Brands who succeed will use creative storytelling across their full funnel to get our fast-scrolling fingers and darting eyes to focus attention on their ads.
