This document discusses creating a model for measuring online engagement to help advertisers maximize ad effectiveness. It summarizes research that: 1) Identified key engagement factors like attitudes, behaviors, and interactions through a literature review and user survey. 2) Linked these engagement factors to ad recall and effectiveness metrics through a large survey combining user responses, web analytics and ad impact. 3) Developed a single "engagement score" combining the most influential factors to engagement. Higher scores correlated with increased ad recall and purchase consideration. 4) Proposes an engagement planning tool to help advertisers target audiences based on engagement profiles rather than just reach, providing a greater likelihood of reaching responsive individuals.

1. the whole picture
Online Engagement:
maximising ad effectiveness for advertisers
the whole picture

2. the whole picture
Online Engagement:
Engaged audiences
Today
Why does
engagement
matter?
What is
engagement?
Creating a
model of
engagement
Planning and
delivering on
engagement
Next steps

3. the whole picture
Why does
engagement matter?
the whole picture

4. the whole picture
Why does engagement matter?
The topic that won’t go away
the whole picture

5. the whole picture
Why does engagement matter?
Excess supply
of media
Increasing
volume of
communications
Ability to control
exposure
Declining
ratings
Harder to reach
customers
Need to focus
on quality as well
as quantity

6. the whole picture
Engagement for Advertisers
Helping advertisers maximise the
return on their media investment
the whole picture
g

7. the whole picture
Engagement for Advertisers
Research objectives
To assess whether there is a link
between media and ad engagement online
To create a single measure of media
engagement
To enable advertisers and agencies
to plan on engagement

8. the whole picture
Why does engagement matter?
The Approach
Desk research into measures of
engagement
Site wide survey covering survey
responses, web analytics and ad impact
Linking ad effectiveness and media
engagement and creating a single
measure of engagement
Validation of engagement measure
and creation of an engagement
planning tool
Engagement for Advertisers

9. the whole picture
Stage 1: Desk research

10. the whole picture
What is Media Engagement?
Attitudes? Brand love? Behaviour? Interaction?
• Enjoyable
• Opinion leader
• Authoritative
• Relevant
• Trustworthy
• Unique
• Modern
• Sense of humour
• Appealing
• Innovative
• Open
• Progressive
• International
• Quality
• Trustworthy
• Absorbing
• Advocacy
• Frequency
• Recency
• Age of relationship with site
• No of devices used to access
• Usage location
• Dwell time per visit
• Dwell time per visitor
• Visits
• Repeat visits
• Page views
• Not satisfied unless catch up
on news on the Guardian website
• Like to get behind the headlines
• Sense of community
• Reflection of own values
• Encourages interaction
• Essential source of information
• Talk to others about things seen
on site
• Clear set of values
• Challenges authority
• Challenges people to think
differently
• Gives more than one side of
the story
• Encourages a two way
conversation with users
• Performed a search
• Signed up for email
• Left a comment
• Emailed a story
• Shared on social media
• Participated in a poll
• Entered a competition
• Submitted a blog
• Listened to audio
• Performed a search
• Applied for a job
• Registered a job profile
• Registered on site
• Submitted a review
• Signed in to site
• Videos viewed

11. the whole picture
Why does engagement matter?
Stage 2: Site wide survey
the whole picture
g

12. the whole picture
Combining web analytics
and surveyed responses
User x strongly agrees
that they trust the site,
can recall seeing an ad
and on average visit
site once per day
Web analytics
Survey data

13. the whole picture
Testing ad effectiveness
Global digital
brand
Global finance
brand
Price comparison
brand
Major airline
brand
DVD film
release

14. the whole picture
Testing ad effectiveness throughout
the branding funnel
Recall
Ad Perceptions
Understanding
Favourability
Response

15. the whole picture
Stage 3: Linking ad effectiveness and
media engagement, and creating a
single measure of media engagement
the whole picture
g

16. the whole picture
Varying levels of ad recall
Source: GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Ad Recall
30.6% 20.0% 20.5% 18.5% 14.3% 23.0%
Global digital
brand
Global finance
brand
Price comparison
brand
Major airline
brand
DVD film
release
Average

17. the whole picture
Some ads catch the eye. Some offer new
information…
Ad Perception and Understanding
43.3% 28.8% 30.4% 73.5% 56.3% 40.4%
Find the ad eye-catching
Source: GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Global digital
brand
Global finance
brand
Major airline
brand
DVD film
release
Average
Price comparison
brand

18. the whole picture
Some ads catch the eye. Some offer new
information…
Ad Perception and Understanding
43.3% 28.8% 30.4% 73.5% 56.3% 40.4%
Find the ad eye-catching
Find the ad informative
16.9% 26.2% 18.3% 20.6% 33.3% 20.3%
Source: GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Global digital
brand
Global finance
brand
Major airline
brand
DVD film
release
Average
Price comparison
brand

19. the whole picture
Some ads drive favourability, some drive response…
Brand Favourability and Persuasion
15.4% 13.1% 13.6% 23.5% 14.6% 15.1%
Have better opinion of advertiser as
result of seeing ad
Global digital
brand
Global finance
brand
Major airline
brand
DVD film
release
Average
Source: GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Price comparison
brand

20. the whole picture
Some ads drive favourability, some drive response…
Brand Favourability and Persuasion
15.4% 13.1% 13.6% 23.5% 14.6% 15.1%
Have better opinion of advertiser as
result of seeing ad
Likelihood consider next time
14.9% 14.1% 33.0% 27.9% 25.0% 20.1%
Source: GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Global digital
brand
Global finance
brand
Major airline
brand
DVD film
release
Average
Price comparison
brand

21. the whole picture
But which engagement factors are most
strongly linked to ad effectiveness?
What attitudes towards
the guardian website are
displayed by those most
responsive to advertising?
Attitudes? Brand love? Behaviour? Interaction?
How much do those
responding to ads love
our brand?
What behaviours are
they displaying?
How are they interacting
with our site?

22. the whole picture
Twelve media engagement factors
most strongly linked to ad recall
Input Theme
I would not be satisfied with my day
if I did not catch up on the news
This site makes me feel like part of
a community
Innovator
Authoritative
Trustworthy
Recommendation (NPS)
Emailed a story
Signed up for email updates
Entered a competition
Shared a story on social media
Left a comment
How often visit the guardian website
Attitudes
Attitudes
Brand love
Brand love
Brand love
Brand love
Interaction
Interaction
Interaction
Interaction
Interaction
Behaviour

23. the whole picture
Creating a model
of engagement
the whole picture
g

24. the whole picture
Creating a model of engagement
Creating a single engagement
score from these 12 factors
100+ = Higher than average engagement
Endex = 100 = Average site engagement
<100 = Lower than average engagement

25. the whole picture
Creating a model of engagement
Ad recall increases in line with Engagement
Source: GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Engagement score vs ad recall
(average across all ads tested)

26. the whole picture
Creating a model of engagement
Media engagement also linked to ad effectiveness
at the business end of the branding funnel
Source: GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Purchase Consideration
Next time you are looking to purchase
(insert category), how likely are you to consider
the following brands?
Endex
119
114
111

27. the whole picture
Stage 4: Planning and delivering
on engagement
the whole picture

28. the whole picture
Engagement for Advertisers
Helping advertisers maximise the
return on their media investment

29. the whole picture
Planning on engagement
Creating an engagement planning tool
Endex
Score
Who are our most
engaged users?
Where are they on the
guardian website?
How do we profile
engagement by
demographic profile
and site usage?

30. the whole picture
Planning on engagement
Advertiser
target audience
Engagement
planning tool
Plan on guardian
sites by engagement
A greater likelihood of reaching an audience
responsive to your advertising

31. the whole picture
Planning on engagement tells a
different story to planning on reach: women
Source: Comscore May 2011 and GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Planning on reach Women - Unique users Planning on engagement Engagement (Endex)
Guardian News
Guardian Life & Style
Guardian Sport
Guardian UK News
Guardian World News
Guardian Football
Guardian Money
Guardian Jobs
Guardian Politics
Guardian Business
Guardian Film
Guardian Music
Guardian Technology
Guardian Books
Guardian Travel
Guardian Environment
Guardian Culture
Guardian Science
Guardian Law
1,543,341
819,228
763,682
698,332
622,141
491,640
479,906
446,536
426,915
422,178
367,808
358,423
339,920
339,736
338,451
301,944
257,682
172,505
63,157
Guardian Technology
Guardian Environment
Guardian Jobs
Guardian Law
Guardian Life & Style
Guardian Sport
Guardian Football
Guardian Money
Guardian Business
Guardian Music
Guardian Travel
Guardian World News
Guardian Politics
Guardian Film
Guardian Books
Guardian UK News
Guardian Culture
Guardian Science
Guardian News
114
114
113
113
112
112
112
112
111
111
111
110
110
110
110
109
109
109
107
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

32. the whole picture
Planning on reach, profile and engagement: women
Source: Comscore May 2011 and GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Endex
%profile
Targeting women on the guardian website:
reach, profile and engagement by site

33. the whole picture
Planning on engagement tells a
different story to planning on reach: income £50k+
Source: Comscore May 2011 and GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Planning on reach £50k+ – Unique users Planning on engagement Engagement (Endex)
Guardian News
Guardian Sport
Guardian Football
Guardian Life and Style
Guardian World News
Guardian UK News
Guardian Business
Guardian Music
Guardian Money
Guardian Politics
Guardian Technology
Guardian Culture
Guardian Films
Guardian Books
Guardian Jobs
Guardian Travel
Guardian Science
Guardian Environment
Guardian Law
1,803,645
1,251,409
818,982
703,289
696,480
643,256
484,758
452,570
418,554
389,680
373,702
373,446
368,520
346,567
296,658
253,203
236,337
225,404
58,214
Guardian Culture
Guardian Life and Style
Guardian Music
Guardian Sport
Guardian Football
Guardian Film
Guardian Jobs
Guardian Travel
Guardian Books
Guardian Technology
Guardian Science
Guardian Environment
Guardian UK News
Guardian Law
Guardian World News
Guardian Money
Guardian News
Guardian Business
Guardian Politics
119
118
118
116
115
115
113
113
112
111
111
111
110
110
109
109
108
108
108
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

34. the whole picture
Planning on reach, profile and engagement: £50k+
Source: Comscore May 2011 and GNM Online Engagement Study Base: UK respondents (3,907)
Endex
%profile
Targeting affluents on the guardian website
reach, profile and engagement by site

35. the whole picture
A model for
measuring
engagement
Proving link
between media and
ad engagement
An engagement
planning tool