Building Digital Ads The Right Way

Image courtesy of Marketing Land

Digital Ads are Everywhere.

Whether we are on our desktop computer, laptop or mobile smartphones, we are subjected to numerous advertisements on a daily basis.  It is in our e-mails, strategically positioned throughout our social media accounts and just about everywhere you can think of.  Offline it is still prevalent. Driving to work and you see that billboard on the right hand side? Check.  Going to the washroom and using the urinal with a smoking ad right within your eye sight? Check.  Digital ads are no different, as the billion dollar industry is embracing technology and doing their best to capture our attention spans.

But let’s look at the facts…Many of us hate the constant bombardment of advertisements that are placed on our screens.  Here are some interesting stats and figures that compliment this sentiment:

– The average click through rate of display ads across all formats and placements is 0.17%
– Ad blocking grew by 41% globally in the last 12 months
– There are now 198 million active ad block users around the world
– A study revealed that only 2.8% of participants thought that ads on website were relevant
– About 60% of clicks on mobile ads are accidental
– 54% of users don’t click banner ads because they don’t trust them
– 33% of internet users find display ads completely intolerable

Digitial Ads are Annoying?

Clearly, there are a lot of bad digital ads that waste our time.  They can simply desensitize us, that program our minds to make ads a mere afterthought.  Marketers who constantly try to get our attention often fail because…they simply alienate us.  Who here is sick of Retargeted Advertising? (Put your hand up wherever you are reading this post!).  It is no secret that we as consumers will use the internet for research and opinion.  But the fact remains that we are however, more likely to talk to someone for actual feedback on a product or service.  This traditional word of mouth marketing approach has more validity in shaping our purchase decision.

Having that said, if advertisers are going to get our attention on social platforms, let’s take into consideration what is essential in building presentable digital ads on a network such as Facebook:

What Makes a Compelling Digital Ad?

Here are some good characteristics that define a successful ad:
– Click through (Is it worth you finding more about this ad?)
– Engagement (How interested are you in the ad?)
– Conversion (Will this lead you to a purchase?)
– Stop power (Did this really grab your attention?)

A highly great site I recommend for you to test your ads:
http://admocks.adparlor.com/

Be sure to always include:
– A central image
– Brand logo
– Supporting text elements

Here a few mock ads using the clothing brand H&M that I have created for example:

News feed ad size
Right hand ad size
Right hand ad size
Mobile ad size
Mobile ad size
Original image edited with Canva
Original image edited with Canva

Resources

“The 2015 Ad Blocking Report.” PageFair. PaigeFair Limited, 30 June 2016. Web. 31 Dec. 2016. <https://pagefair.com/blog/2015/ad-blocking-report/>.

Chaffey, Dave. “Display Advertising Clickthrough Rates.” Smart Insights. Smart Insights, 26 Apr. 2016. Web. 31 Dec. 2016. <http://www.smartinsights.com/internet-advertising/internet-advertising-analytics/display-advertising-clickthrough-rates/>.

“Digital Ad Spend Worldwide 2016.” Statista. Statista, n.d. Web. 31 Dec. 2016. <https://www.statista.com/statistics/246567/global-online-advertising-revenue/>.

Doern, Bill. Visual Skills For Social Media. Seneca College. N.p., 15 Oct. 2016. Web. 31 Dec. 2016.

Frederick, Ben. “60% Of All Mobile Banner Ad Clicks Are Accidents.” 02/04/2016. MediaPost Communications, 4 Feb. 2016. Web. 31 Dec. 2016. <http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/268266/60-of-all-mobile-banner-ad-clicks-are-accidents.html>.

Jatain, Vishveshwar. “Ad Blockers Are Perhaps the Biggest Problem That Publishers Are Facing at the Moment, Here’s an Essential Premier on What You Need to Know about Them.” AdPushup Blog. AdPushup, 09 Oct. 2016. Web. 31 Dec. 2016. <https://www.adpushup.com/blog/5-things-publishers-need-know-ad-blockers/>.

Shemenski, Jay. “Display Advertising Is Failing. What’s Next in Digital Marketing?” Marketing And Growth Hacking. Marketing And Growth Hacking, 02 Mar. 2016. Web. 31 Dec. 2016. <https://blog.markgrowth.com/disruptive-advertising-is-failing-what-s-next-for-digital-marketing-7f391a02181#.vmoy5kl7r>.

Stec, Carly. “20 Display Advertising Stats That Demonstrate Digital Advertising’s Evolution.” HubSpot Blog Homepage. HubSpot, 25 Sept. 2015. Web. 31 Dec. 2016. <https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/horrifying-display-advertising-stats>.

“2016 Mobile Adblocking Report.” PageFair. PaigeFair Limited, 23 Nov. 2016. Web. 31 Dec. 2016. <https://pagefair.com/blog/2016/mobile-adblocking-report/>.