Buzzwords like ‘scrolling economy’ and ‘shrinking attention spans’ have been making rounds on the daily. You find them in almost every other article out there, trying to tell you the reasons why such a phenomenon is taking place and how we can deal with it.
Well, the good news is that attention spans aren’t declining to the point of endless scrolling, and neither are they only eight seconds long. Just look at any movie goer who sat through Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (Approximately $361M at the box office!). Consumers are just more selective with how they spend their attention and who they give it to. It’s all about engaging them with the right approach. The question is, of course, how?
To find out, Twitch collaborated with Kantar to conduct a study across six markets during April 2021. Here’s what we found.
1. Engaging Live content makes the Skip buttons obsolete
When relevant ads that are in line with the channel’s content and users’ interest are shown, the seamless immersion helps the consumer focus on the content, not the skip button. If we let numbers do the talking, 93% of the consumers completed 30-second ads on Twitch. This is at least 3.5x higher than other services.
This means, with powerful content relevance and immersion, the consumer doesn’t scroll or click away. They simply keep looking and listening to what the ads have got to say. Even those who don’t stay until the credits roll stay on for an average of 97% of the ad and take home its key message. Our experience with Twitch streams simply proves that greater brand exposure doesn’t have to be disruptive or invasive. It should be an extension of the overall content the consumer is already taking in to work.
2. Quality over Quantity
Brand exposure is always quality over quantity. Sure, you might remember an ad repeatedly popping up across screens, but you probably wouldn’t think of it in a merry way.
If you want consumers to remember your brand on- and off-line, one perfectly placed ad can easily do the job of ten misplaced ones.
This isn’t just mere conjecture. Brand ads appearing at least once a month on Twitch increased unaided awareness by 13%, six times more than ads appearing at least once a week on other services. Effectiveness doesn’t always mean standing out and hovering around 24/7, because fitting in and capturing the consumers’ awareness can be the perfect conversation starter.
As a bonus, better engagement and stronger purchasing intent will naturally follow. For a better picture, we’re looking at a difference between an 8% increase in purchasing intent when ads are seen on Twitch to the 1% to 2% of other services. Remember. Brands only have seven seconds to make an impression, so make those seconds count. Don’t waste it on badgering, and use it to earn real attention capital.
3. A Sense of Belonging
Even outside of this time of isolation, we all want a sense of community—giving, receiving, and sharing. The digital space is the perfect playground for live interactions; on Twitch, chat interactions continuously takes place in live streams. It encourages a positive feedback loop that reinforces and rewards, involving everyone all at once.
The Twitch community embodies this fact, boosting the identity and position of brands by 1% more than other services. Here, the 1% is small and mighty, allowing your brand to make an effective, lasting impression on the consumer. That is, if your brand manages to connect to the community in a way that’s both authentic and entertaining. For brands who succeed, the rewards can be immense.
When all of these come together—focusing on content relevance and immersion, being selective of how and when your ad comes on, and allowing your brand to become part of a digital community—you will come to realize that attention is to be earned. So stop worrying about short attention spans, because in this digital economy, it’s all about the attention spent!
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