When is a view, a view?

When is a view, a view? In particular how does one qualify a view when it comes to online video content, native advertising, and campaign videos?

YouTube considers a view to be a video displayed for 30 seconds (or the duration of the video if it’s less than 30 seconds long).

Facebook considers a view to be a video which is displayed on a person’s news feed for a minimum of three seconds (I’ve explored why that’s hugely problematic here).

As Greg Jarboe points out here, “…no one really knows what a view is actually worth. How many views do you need to increase brand awareness? How many views does a video have to get to have a direct impact on consumer perceptions and behaviors?”

Put simply, no one knows when a view is actually a view.

And while I agree with Greg, I feel that there is an answer. And that answer is, attention.

My point is that, a view is a view when the viewer is actually paying attention.

Ultimately what any marketer, publisher, agency, or brand wants is for their audience to pay attention to their content. Paying attention means that your content has engaged with it’s intended (or unintended) audience.

If you’re paying attention then the message behind the content has the opportunity to seep into your consciousness. Paying attention means that you can be provoked, inspired, motivated, or persuaded.

It’s my opinion that if you can quantify and verify how much attention was paid to your video then you can ascribe a value to it and therefore attention becomes the new currency of video content.

At my company, Limbik, we believe that driving action starts with measuring attention. And that a view is a view when the viewer is actually paying attention to it…

And so should you.