Measure Instant Impact: Winning the First Second with Pre-Launch Testing

Advertisers need to optimise ads for impact before they are launched and not just rely on hindsight metrics. The traditional method of campaign optimisation is like driving while only looking in the rear-view mirror. A modern ad creative testing approach flips this model on its head: pre-launch testing and ad optimisation with the help of predictive A.I. heatmaps. It’s a quick win. Advertising gurus can never agree if we all see a few hundred or a few thousand ads every day, but all will agree it’s many more than before the internet explosion when it was generally believed to be below a hundred.

Whatever the figure, the inconvenient truth is the vast majority will be ignored. An even more inconvenient truth is that brands pay for an ad after it has been viewable for just half a second, and yet ads need to be seen for two to three seconds or more to become memorable. And remember, being viewable does not mean being seen. Despite this, only one in ten will be viewable for a second or longer.

What brands need from advertising and what they get charged for are diametrically opposed. The way campaigns are measured also leaves a lot be desired. Once a campaign is over, consumer panel studies and analysis of campaign data will shine some light on performance, but that leaves advertisers in a budget-sapping position of permanently looking in the rear-view mirror to understand impact.

How Does Eye Tracking Work for Instant Impact Analysis?

This is why brands need to think more about the reptilian part of the human brain. It’s where the basic instant reactions to stimuli are processed to protect our survival. That means it’s the part of the brain that will process the first fleeting glimpse of an image before other regions start to make sense of what we’re looking at by interpreting it and forming memories.

You have the time it take to click your fingers to capture attention and make a logo stand out, if you’re lucky, maybe a strap line. Yet focus is always placed on post impression metrics when what really matters is what chance an ad has to catch the eye and what part of it will a person see for that split second.

That is why brands need to adopt metrics that speak to the likely impact an ad will have. Where will the eye go in that split second, what will it see, are those the important parts of the ad we want to land? Measure this before a campaign is launched, and an ad is already optimised, before it even leaves a creative’s computer.

This is why we’ve developed a simple pair of scores and graphic guidance within our AI eye-tracking tool.

From Heatmap Analyse to Gaze Plots: Our AI-Powered Tools

Heatmap – to give you the full picture on where the eye will go and move to, predictive eye-tracking heatmaps reveal what will be seen and what is more likely to be overlooked, at first glance.

‍Attention score – how well is your ad set up to be noticed, to demand attention. It’s fundament to advertising, to grab attention, and yet too few advertisers measure the likelihood of catching a viewer’s eye. This is relevant for Advertising (DOOH, Display, Social) to see how well a creative stands out in its contextual environment.

Clarity score – once you’ve grabbed attention, you need to make sure people are looking at what you want them to and they can understand what you are showing them. Is your design clutterded or does it intuitively lay focus on limited visual elements, like your brand, product and strapline and not, say, the beautiful backdrop. For a deep-dive into clarity, read our How-to article on analysing and interpreting Brainsight's benchmarked Clarity score.

Peekthrough – this is the part of an ad or website that will not be as readily taken in, in the first instance, as the rest. If your brand logo or product are in this area, it’s time to take action. For UX it means the page is (not) naturally guiding the user/visitor in terms of visual hierachy.

Gazeplot – this maps where the eye will wander and is particularly useful to understand what will instantly be seen but also in what order. If your ad makes an emotional connection (i.e. by looking at a person, mascot or brand ambassador), followed by the brand and then the key message, your ad will make an impact instantly, anchoring the right elements for the potential engagement phase that follows.

Boosting Your ROI with Predictive Eye Tracking

The crucial aspect is that these tests can be applied with ease and speed so creatives and marketers can get the optimum balance that ensures the ad not is not only ‘on brand’ but also stands the best chance of having the required impact in a fraction of a second.

Measuring campaign success is vital but, if these are the only set of metrics used, brands miss the opportunity to launch with the creative optimised to perform at its best before a single dollar, euro or pound is spent on half second impressions. Without using affordable AI eye-tracking software, lessons are learned once budget has been spent, rather than before, when there’s still a chance to make a difference and maximise ROI.

The choice is clear: rely on hindsight once your budget is gone, or use foresight to maximize your impact from the very first impression. Brainsight gives you the affordable AI tools to do just that. This proactive approach of ad pretesting with the help of instant attention and a.i. Heatmaps is slowly finding its way to standard practices for agencies and brands, and more and more marketing platforms are picking up articles about predictive eye-tracking, such as our UK publication in New Digital Age.

Ready to move beyond guesswork? Discover the power of pre testing advertising with a free, 14-day trial of Brainsight today.

Mini-FAQ

Q: How can I predict if my ad will be noticed?

A: You can predict if an ad will be noticed by using AI-powered predictive eye-tracking tools like Brainsight. Our platform generates an Attention Score that measures how well your creative stands out in its context (channel), like DOOH, display- and/or social ads. It also provides predictive heatmaps and gaze plots that visually show which parts of your ad will grab a viewer's attention in the first crucial seconds, and in what viewing order, helping you identify and fix blind spots or change visual priority before you launch.

Q: What can I test before launching my campaign?

A: Before launching, you can test almost any visual aspect of your campaign: URL’s, images and videos. This includes testing different versions of an ad (i.e. A/B testing creatives), variations in imagery or video, the placement and visibility of your logo, the clarity of your key message and strapline, and the effectiveness of your call-to-action (CTA). This process, known as ad creative testing, ensures every element is optimized for maximum impact.

Q: How is predictive eye-tracking different from traditional eye-tracking?

A: Traditional eye-tracking requires participants to come to a lab and wear special hardware (glasses or headsets) to track their eye movements. It's slow, expensive, and difficult to scale. Predictive eye-tracking uses a sophisticated AI algorithm, trained on vast amounts of human eye-tracking data, accurately simulating where people will look. It's software-based, delivering results in seconds instead of weeks, making it scalable and far more cost-effective. Note that instant attention is based on the human brain’s instinctive viewing behaviour,  which comes before the engagement-phase. For measuring the latter, you must turn to live eye-tracking testing.

Q: Isn't this the same as live A/B testing on platforms like Facebook?

A: No, it's a crucial preceding step. Live A/B testing on platforms like Facebook requires you to spend media budget on all ad variations, including the ones that don't perform well. Non-performing ads will phase out quickly, but a) after spending budget on that data, and b) without knowing why. Maybe they were great for engagement, but needed to be tweaked for attention or clarity. Pre-launch testing with our tools allows you to optimize your creatives before you spend a single dollar on media and to cover those basics. The platform A/B testing that follows is all about the engagement performance, not the hygiene factors that you’ve covered upfront. Instant Attention pre-testing helps you understand why one creative works better than another, so you launch with only your strongest assets, thereby maximizing your return on ad spend from day one.