• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, November 26, 2007

That social networks are monopolizing an ever greater share of consumers' time is clear. It is less clear exactly how marketers in the United States and abroad can most effectively measure their engagement across these burgeoning channels.

JupiterResearch recently analyzed the European market for social and engagement marketing, which highlights key findings about how marketers and their agencies measure the effectiveness of engagement in marketing campaigns.

The JupiterResearch report states: "Engagement marketers' two most commonly tracked metrics are those provided on all standard ad-serving reports: click-through rates and impressions. While these metrics can contribute to marketers' understanding of engagement, on their own they are simple and unenlightening direct response metrics."

"Technology continues to lead and expand into new markets, with careful attention to Europe as we track the growing demand for Premium Rich Media across the globe," says Patrick Vogt, CEO of Viewpoint, parent of Unicast and its User Engagement Index, which was cited in Jupiter's study as a useful resource for marketers.

User engagement refers to the level of attention and interaction an advertisement draws from a customer. The Unicast User Engagement Index measures a number of metrics, including interaction rates, ad display time, video play time, click-through rates, and both positive and negative user interactions. Positive interactions can include mouse-overs, banner expands, video plays and average display time.

Negative interactions can include the "click to close" actions. With this Index data, clients can compare their ads' performance against the average performance for each ad format and campaign, as well as compare engagement levels for all ads within a particular industry.