TikTok‘s recent insights shed light on the difference between attention and engagement in advertising. While attention measures initial focus, engagement evaluates post-viewing interaction and sentiment.
For anyone in the world of marketing, understanding the magic behind a successful advertisement is crucial. Just like an opera singer can shatter a wine glass using their voice, a concept called resonance plays a pivotal role in ensuring an advertisement’s efficacy. The importance lies not just in garnering attention, but in maintaining the right type of engagement with consumers.
While both attention and engagement are often thought to mean the same thing, they’re intrinsically different. Back in 2002, the Advertising Research Foundation distinguished between the two, describing attention as the extent of focus on an advertisement and engagement as the brain’s reaction to it. In essence, Attention x Resonance = Engagement. Furthermore, attention is what happens before an ad is seen, while engagement is the post-viewing interaction and feeling towards the ad.
Research by TikTok points to certain creative elements that keep viewers watching longer. Features like incorporating real individuals boost watch time by 9%, leveraging a TikTok trend ups it by 14%, and narrating a compelling story results in a 16% increase. On TikTok, thanks to its immersive full-screen, sound-on user experience, viewers actively engage with content they find captivating.
Although longer view durations often lead to improved brand metrics, it’s not a straightforward relationship. Quality of content, audience demographics, and ad format variations play a significant role. For example, a study involving online banners demonstrated that a mere 1-second view could result in a 40% ad recall, which could jump to 70% with a 4-second view.
For TikTok, impactful ads don’t necessarily need to be long. Their internal studies show that a staggering 90% of an ad’s effect is realized in the initial 6 seconds, with the first 2 seconds capturing half of that impact. However, as video length increases, viewer count tends to drop, hinting that brevity might be more effective.
Brands need to view attention in the broader context of their overall marketing strategy. Platform-specific strategies often yield the best results. For instance, while short TV ads can captivate, digital video ads on platforms like TikTok, tailored to their style, often outperform owing to their immersive experience.
Drawing from advertising expert Randall Beard’s 2015 insight, where he highlighted Resonance’s role in ad effectiveness with his formula, Reach x Resonance = Reaction, it’s evident that in today’s rapidly fragmenting media landscape, the ad industry needs a unified, adaptable standard for measuring ad exposure and impact.
In this ever-evolving media landscape, it’s not enough to just capture attention. Brands must strike the right chord, resonating with their audience to ensure genuine engagement and desired outcomes. TikTok’s insights offer a valuable lesson for marketers: understanding your platform and audience is key, and sometimes, less truly is more.
