Earlier this year, Sarah Fay (Chairman of Board of Governors for ad:tech and iMedia) discussed advertising measurement with Ted McConnell, the new EVP of Digital at the Advertising Research Foundation.
I didn't want to spoil the entire interview, so instead I pulled out a few gems that Ted provided in the first ten minutes of their conversation.
- Observing is better than asking: In the research industry, marketers always ask people specific questions they want answered. Now, we have the ability to observe people. Difference between asking and observing is that observing is the only way to get out the box and discover new questions / insights that you hadn't initially thought about. (3:00 mark)
- Attitudes & Behaviors: In the past marketers used to look at behaviors and, with that information, assume that certain attitudes (in-market for ...) would apply to the user. Moving forward, Ted wants to see marketers identify attitudes first, which puts us in a position to predict behaviors like clicks, conversions, etc (4:30 mark)
- Delivering Value: Focus your social teams on creating value for the users consuming your brands content. Make sure that every bit of content your team produces delivers value to the user and avoid producing 'fluff material' (my wording, not Ted's) that mainly benefits you, the brand (6:30 mark)
You can watch the video in it's entirety by clicking on the link to the right: iMedia Interview with Ted McConnell
