• by P.J. Bednarski , Staff Writer @pjbtweet, October 16, 2013

Being hired to do funnel research would seem to offer a lot of job security, since figuring out why consumers buy what they buy and when they buy it--and based on what advertising--seems to be impossible.

But a new report from eMarketer, the research firm, once again dives into that murky pool with the contention that advertisers almost always use their digital advertising to build awareness rather than suppose that it could be useful for changing opinions, or building up consideration or creating preferences.

It cites a study from Sharethrough that shows, for example, that only 38.4% of marketers it queried had “purchase intent” as one of their objectives with their digital campaigns. But 94.6% said they expected the digital platform would do a great job building awareness.

The eMarketer report. “Digital Video for the Full Advertising Funnel: Touchpoints for Every Objective” seems to make the point that the limits to digital advertising are often/usually created by marketers themselves.

Not expecting better results, they don’t look for it when it might be right there in front of their mugs, because awareness is so simple to spot. The rest of the funnel? Measuring how digital advertising changes opinion, builds loyalty or leads to conversion is a lot tougher.

One of the likely answers is that a marketer can’t expect a lot of those results—not quickly, anyway—without attempting something more than the standard pre-roll spiel. Interactive ads would seem to have a better chance of driving the consumer all the way through the funnel.

It seems, in fact, that the digital advertising business could do a better job operating within their own funnel. Many of them seem pretty far from conversion themselves. You know, if you believe it you can achieve it, and all that.    

CORRECTION: The headline on my Oct. 11 VidBlog, “A Third of Millennials Don't Watch Any TV, But Overall, Consumers Give 'Reading' Some Credit” overstated results of a New York Times survey about how many viewers have stopped watching TV in favor of online video.

The chart, presented at a conference in Las Vegas, said 34% of Millennials “watch mostly online/no broadcast TV” but the Times says it meant that 34% watched mostly online or watched no TV.

From a deeper dive into the survey,  the report says  10% of Millennials say they watch no broadcast TV.  Also,  8% of Gen X respondents and 3% of Baby Boomers say they don’t watch broadcast TV, not 20% and 10% respectively, as originally reported.

An updated version of the headline and story has now replaced the original online.    

pj@mediapost.com