Advertisers and marketers crave the connection with consumers, commonly referred to as ‘engagement’ or ‘consumer engagement’. It’s a standard business term that’s been around at least since 2006, when The Advertising Research Foundation released their first definition of consumer engagement (or CE) as “turning on a prospect to a brand idea enhanced by the surrounding context.”

Now we have a myriad of methods and tools available to ‘turn on a prospect’. Which means consumer engagement has to be more than just having an interesting, interactive ad on a web page, blog or social media site. It’s not about ‘pages’, it’s about ‘stages’.

It is about creating compelling messages across all digital media (online, mobile, social) and understanding the stages a consumer travels through as they connect with the brand, product, and/or service.

Marketers will most often refer to five consumer stages or what you may hear of as the ‘consumer lifecycle’ – awareness, consideration, inquiry, purchase and retention. Marketers are always looking for ways to devise media that will encourage the consumer to move along this cycle.

TVGuide.com takes an interesting approach to these stages. A few years ago they revamped their site and now every page feels like a home page. Whether you a new user just aware of the site or a dedicated fan, from any page you can reach and share the content you like, building that interest into a passion and driving repeat visits and retention.

When you’re designing an ad you should ask yourself, where is this consumer? What stage are they in? How far can you get them go into the video, to use the app? And how many ways can you change and evolve the message?

About the author

Amy Beer
Covering the news, trends, and ideas that are driving innovations in online video and mobile media for advertising, entertainment and education. I’ve been involved with the evolution of online video for over 10 years, working with a variety of interactive agencies, advertisers and publishers to improve product development, project management and advertising operations.

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