Marketing has changed fundamentally.
We should no longer just count traffic and views.
We need to scale attention, and it's quite different.
With the top 3 Attention KPIs we’re about to share, you can show your ad impact without the need for data crunching or heavy eye-tracking studies.
Here’s what you need to track to make an impact.
What are Attention KPIs?
Attention KPIs (or attention metrics) help you figure out if your audience is actually paying attention to your content and, if so, what exactly they’re paying attention to.
It’s not enough to look at traditional ad performance metrics anymore. You need to know how much attention viewers actually pay to different parts of your ad to improve.
Here's why this Attention KPIs are important:
- Getting a True Measure of Ad Effectiveness
- Maximizing Ad Spend Efficiency
- Deeper Customer Insights
1. Ad Effectiveness
Let’s say you run an ad on social media. Thousands might scroll through it, but how many actually pay attention?
Attention metrics tell us if people have actually glanced at and processed your ad. This data helps plan future strategies.
For example, if you see that version A gets more attention compared to version B, you might make more ads like A in the future.
2. Ad Spend Efficiency
Think about your display ads for a second. Say you’ve got some ads where the headlines really grab people’s attention, and these ads have a higher click-through rate (CTR) compared to those where the headlines don’t catch anyone’s eye.
This insight is valuable because it tells you that for this specific campaign, spend more on ads that grab attention with the headline and less on the ones that don’t.
They’ll read your message, you’ll get the clicks, and you’ll save money by not wasting it on ads that aren’t working.
3. Deeper Customer Insights
Attention metrics offer a unique view into customer behavior that other KPIs often miss.
It’s about knowing which parts of your content captivate your audience and make them stay and look around.
Traditional metrics might show you how many people watched your video, but attention metrics reveal which scenes sparked their interest and which did not.
How to Choose Impactful Attention KPIs
When choosing Attention KPIs, the key is to focus on attention metrics that connect to your business goals and can provide actionable insights to achieve them.
So first off, define your goals and choose what you want to achieve with attention metrics:
- Is it to improve ad engagement?
- To drive brand awareness and brand recall?
- Or to measure the effectiveness of your ad creatives?
Your goals should guide the KPIs you choose.
Whether you’re considering short-term performance, long-term brand awareness, or both, advertising is subject to the laws of attention and emotion.
This is especially true for the creative.
A 2017 study by Nielsen looked at 500 campaigns and found that 89% of an ad's success is in the creative. “Creative is the #1 driver of ROI,” says Leslie Wood, Chief Research Officer at NCSolutions.
You can have the best audience targeting, ad viewability, and channel, but all that is worthless if the ad creative doesn’t earn attention and drive emotion.
3 Types of Attention KPIs You Can Track with Ease
Getting attention data used to be a real hassle.
It involved endless data crunching and complicated eye-tracking studies.
But with AI, it’s a breeze. No more heavy lifting—AI can quickly analyze and measure attention, making the process super smooth.
This means you can focus on what really matters – crafting great content and strategies – while AI takes care of the data.
So, let’s see the three types of Attention KPIs that you can track easily with help from AI.
1. Brand Attention
Brand attention is important because it’s how brands connect with people, create opportunities, and generate demand. It's a crucial factor for brand success amid the overwhelming noise from ads, posts, videos, and brand messages.
If people pay attention to your brand, they’ll remember you. And if they remember you, you’re on your way to becoming a household name.
When crafting brand narratives, you want the world to pause and pay attention. With Automatic Brand Tracking, you can instantly see how much people pay attention to your brand in each part of your video or image ad. This way, you can ensure that your content not only drives interest but also meets brand standards.
Neurons’ brand detection isn't just revolutionary for images, it's an industry-first for videos. You get detailed brand predictions for every frame of your video. If your video features multiple brands, you can easily see how each one is performing with our new Brand Attention graph.
Awareness is the first step of every customer journey. No awareness means no conversions. This is why 70% of marketers say building brand awareness is their top priority for social media. If you’re one of them, check out some real-world examples of successful brand awareness campaigns to get inspired.
Ready to see it in action? Try out the Automatic Brand Tracking feature in Neurons. Get your demo now and start boosting your brand attention!
2. Sustained Attention
Now, let’s talk about Sustained Attention. This one’s all about understanding how engaged people are with your content and how it influences their decisions.
With Neurons, you can measure sustained attention using the "Time Spent" metric.
This metric is particularly useful for marketers and content creators who want to know which parts of their visuals (like ads, websites, or product packaging) are grabbing and holding viewers' attention. Curious about the science behind this? You can read more about it here.
3. Social Media Attention
You’ve got less than 2 seconds to grab someone’s attention on social media. After that, you have to keep them hooked for another 2 seconds, and then for another 2, and so on.
Tracking social media attention helps you understand what elements of your ads are catching viewers' eyes and which ones make them scroll on. This insight is crucial for optimizing your ads for better performance.
For example, for big brands, highlighting brand elements in social media posts boosts brand recognition, making them more credible, relevant, and likable. For smaller brands, it’s often better to focus on the product or other key parts of the post.
The Neurons Start Attention score is your secret weapon here. It predicts where customers will focus during the first 2 seconds of a 5-second ad exposure. This makes it a key tool for measuring social media attention. You can quickly see if crucial elements like your brand or call-to-action (CTA) grab viewers’ attention right away.
What is more, Neurons AI recommendations help you design your ads so the most important elements (like your brand or CTA) are placed where they’ll catch the viewer’s eye in those critical first 2 seconds. This ensures these key elements are noticed immediately, maximizing engagement.
So, if you’re looking to improve your social media game, the Start Attention scores are a must-have. Use this metric to optimize your social media ads, so that important ad elements are noticed immediately.
Get access to Attention KPIs, and much more
Neurons can help you track Attention KPIs and eventually improve your bottom line.
Currently, you can put your assets to the test—for free. You can book your session here!
Test your visuals in seconds, and save time & budget with optimized creatives that deliver.
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