Engagement can
last beyond a single
episode; lasting
engagement can
manifest across many
episodes of focus where
someone comes back
for more, again and
again and again. For
most people in the
world of marketing
and media, the
notion of successful
engagement is when
someone comes back
again and again and/
or they recommend the
experience to others.

May + June 2010

interactions
[ 1] Buchwalter, C.
“Integrated Interactive
Marketing: Quantifying
the Evolution of Online
Engagement.” Nielsen//
NetRatings, 2005. www.
nielsen-online.com/pr/
wp_050401.pdf/

is the most essential measure
of the success of any medium.
Engagement speaks to passion,
preference, and habit,” said
Charles Buchwalter, VP of ana-
lytics at Nielsen NetRatings, in
a 2005 white paper, “Integrated
Interactive Marketing:
Quantifying the Evolution of
Online Engagement” [ 1]
In this world, the point is to
stimulate engagement, to create
it and make it last for whatever
period is appropriate for your
offering. In the world of the
Internet, the goal of creating
or “driving” engagement is to
provide a platform for adver-
tising products or services.
This is as true for individuals
hoping to make money from
personal websites as it is for
large Internet companies; if my
content is engaging to you, you
will not only spend time but
become a repeat visitor, who is
drawn in by the advertisements
I have allowed to be placed on
my page. Facebook makes creat-
ing an advertisement an easy
step-by-step process for people
like you and me; the idea is we
will advertise there because it
offers the best exposure to the
most people. These are the con-
temporary billboards along the
highway, and this well-traveled
highway is not a quiet back
alley where the only viewers are
cats, rats, municipal workers, or
homeless people—agents whose
purchasing power or potential/
desire to take the (ad defined)
“appropriate” action is low.