World-famous CMO Stuart McDonald remarked brilliantly regarding metrics when he claimed that “Time and money are your scarcest resources. Data reveals impact, and with data, you can bring more science to your decisions.” Even though the many various metrics used in the digital marketing world can be confusing, many of the most successful players have paid extra attention to a particular one of interest lately.
Time spent on a page is a very familiar means of measuring content’s success rate, even though some form of engagement while there is essential. Various AI-fueled experts have stated after research that a minimum of 15 seconds spent on a page is a beneficial amount, and have reported positive results in revenue by using it as a measurement standard. Even though that may not seem long, we are all reminded of how quickly we click to go “back” if we are not curious or interested!
The intention here is to not give so much clout to metrics that mean less for the bottom line, and not to hold too much stock in every single visitor that arrives at the URL. This 15-second metric focuses on visitors who are actually engaged with a piece of content, and the data also sheds light on the post-click customer journey, with AI offering suggestions for the next sensible action.
Re-targeting the 15-second plus visitors with AI-recommended content has in many cases yielded better results for return on investment than even the most calculated ad-network buys. In today’s climate, one factor that has been proven is user attention span: if the content or “exit lure” is carefully cultivated, the user will follow and even be prompted to convert.
For a prominent travel destination, the 15-second engagement model was used to funnel visitors to a landing page meant to kick the engagement factor up a valuable notch. As a result, the average time spent over the benchmark doubled and the click-through ratio to another video rose from 1.5% to 2.28%. If the means of engagement feels organic and elements of the website design are aligned with previously mined data about the target market, they can view you as a desired destination that is intriguing rather than an obstacle.
During strategy development for a nationally-known financial brand, using this metric as a fundamental saw an increase from 14 to 95 seconds average time spent on the site, as well as a positive impact of around 8%. It has frequently been proven that having your target audience feel an organic connection to your product is always positive, but “rushing it” in the storyline department sometimes has less-than-favorable results.
Being able to target and have the ability to redirect visitors on a website who develop a connection with the content will ultimately drive revenue. For some brands such as sporting goods, this has proven less difficult, and companies offering necessities like medications have encountered a few stumbling blocks. Given the recent events during a pandemic, the domain of digital movie streaming and video games have seen a large amount of success with engagement duration, as many are embracing the number of consumers now staying at home.
During these times that have changed so rapidly. people aren’t reading content the way some may necessarily think they are and the entire measurement system may have “suffered breakdown.” Instead of being so focused on tracking the number of views, the focus should now be on the quality and duration of those views. Here at St Louis’s top boutique ad agency, we have closely monitored the changing environment, and will formulate a custom approach to assure that your digital reach has the audacity to keep viewers engaged.
As times continue to be unpredictable in the digital marketing realm, all of us at Farfetched Studios are committed to using an “all hands on deck” approach that sees us combining our years of experience to yield results. From the time that your goals are communicated to us, we set to the task to envision a results-driven campaign. It can be very satisfying to look over a winning quarterly report, while putting together another winning formula for the times ahead. If you have encountered massive inspiration and feel that the story you have to tell is groundbreaking, our team will see to ironing out the details and transforming the average website visit into an “extended stay!”