Probably, the most sensitive area for any content-producing company is the interest of its audience. Sometimes, the more customers are willing to consume informational products, the more successful such firms will be. However, it becomes harder for companies to keep the interest alive. Understanding why measuring the audience’s engagement is so complicated is essential in ascertaining the role that measurement metrics have in the media world.
The reason why “engagement” has become such an important topic within the media world lies in the extensive promotion of this concept. Any company that wants its products sold will invest in a marketing strategy. In this area, the product is the engagement tools, which are promoted by companies that succeeded in this regard, such as Hearken (Owen, 2018). Therefore, it is more a case of successful selling rather than the actual importance of engagement.
The absence of objective, quantifiable parameters predetermines the difficulty surrounding the evaluations of the audiences’ engagement. Harken itself acknowledges this complication but still claims that it can be transcended (Nelson, 2018). For instance, one of the discernible indications of public interest in the subject is the number of pageviews and subscribers (Owen, 2018). As these data are not exhaustive, Harken’s endeavors signify the role of audience metrics as tools, which provide a general understanding of the customers’ interest rather than their real needs.
Altogether, it should be evident that the media world currently experiences problems with engaging audiences and ascertaining customers’ interests. The more news companies lose subscribers, the more desperate they are for any metrics, which would allow them to measure the mood. Harken offers such metrics, as well as solutions to engaging the audience. However, it remains a mystery whether Harken’s tools are working or it is just another successful yet short-lived business venture.
References
Nelson, J. L. (2018). The audience engagement industry struggles with measuring success. Columbia Journalism Review. Web.
Owen, L. H. (2018). Is audience engagement a mushy construct based on anecdata — or something audiences actually want? NiemanLab. Web.