Defining and Measuring Digital Ad Engagement in a Cross-Platform World

“Making Measurement Make Sense” is a cross-ecosystem collaboration spearheaded by the ANA, 4A’s, and the IAB. The fourth pillar of the 3MS solution calls for “Brand Performance Metrics,” with the key goal of answering:

Which elements that are unique to interactive advertising are most important to Brand building?
Which social media metrics are most relevant to building Brands online and across platforms?
How can the plethora of interactivity metrics be defined and understood within the context of building Brands in a cross-platform world?

Advertising Engagement is at the heart of many of the challenges embedded in the fourth pillar of 3MS. In order to advance 3MS, it was critical to address the complexity and lack of industry consensus around the subject of Engagement. This whitepaper breaks through the maze of thousands of existing metrics and analytics that are referred to as Engagement and identifies a core group of thirty. The paper formulates a definition of Engagement and integrates mobile and social engagement concepts and metrics.
Like the rest of the 3MS initiative, the thinking in this paper incorporates both sell and buy side points of view.