Digital engagement score: 4 ways of measuring quality time with you

Summary

Traditional customer satisfaction scores were built for a world of in-person interactions and phone calls, leaving a gap in how brands measure whether digital touchpoints — apps, websites, and social channels — are actually building engagement rather than just processing transactions. A digital engagement score is proposed as a way to close that gap, evaluating whether customers’ time on a brand’s digital channels is genuinely well spent.

Three case studies illustrate different approaches to building engagement: Alibaba’s use of livestreaming, gamified rewards, and a dedicated Gen Z social commerce app to keep shoppers inside its ecosystem; AIA’s Vitality wellness program, which ties financial rewards to healthy behaviour across subsidised gym memberships and personalised health challenges; and UpBank Australia’s use of TikTok and gamified branded content to build financial management awareness among younger, mobile-first customers.

Four measurable ways to track digital engagement are then laid out — active user counts, frequency of digital interaction, average time spent, and attach rates for secondary products — each illustrated with examples from banking, search, and social commerce, giving brands practical starting points to benchmark their own performance against sector leaders.

• Metrics covered: daily and monthly active users, interaction frequency, average time spent, and attach rates
• Brands referenced: Alibaba (Taobao Live, Taibang), AIA Vitality, UpBank Australia, NAB, Naver, Kuaishou, and Grab