Using Creative Basics to Connect With Customers Even in the age of big data, basic smart design can still give you a marketing edge
INDEX 1 Introduction 3 6 7 9 11 12 14 14 15 16 Methodology Does size matter? Which works better: Static vs. Animated Ads? Impact of color Animation Length Logo Position Auto images Pricing and call-out text Conclusion Glossary
INTRODUCTION 1 In a data-driven world, marketers are increasingly focused on audience targeting, personalization, and other performance drivers we can manipulate thanks to the rich data available. But basic creative still matters. Creative remains central to how consumers respond to an ad, whether it s the appropriateness of the text, placement of the logo, images, interactivity, or call to action. An ad can be served to the perfect consumer at the perfect time and in the ideal context, but conversion is still influenced by what the ad looks like. To find out what makes a user click on an automotive ad, for example, we analyzed approximately three hundred creatives over a four month period from January to April, 2017. Ads were part of live global campaigns that served at least 65 million impressions. We found that details such as size of the creative, type of creative, and color can have an immense impact on an ad s effect on a consumer. KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE: Animated creatives have a 3.5x higher conversion rate than static creatives on desktop, while on mobile web, static creatives have a better conversion rate - 1.8x higher than animated. Creatives that have a dominant darker color work well for brand awareness campaigns with a CTR that s nearly 2.2x higher than creatives that have a lighter color. Auto images drove a higher conversion rate of 1.2x than creatives without an auto image. Price details in a creative perform better for brand awareness campaigns with a 1.6x higher CTR than creatives that don t have pricing details. The viewability rate for these creatives is also higher by 15%. [1]
Creative remains central to how consumers respond to an ad, whether it s the appropriateness of the text, placement of the logo, images, interactivity, or call to action. [2]
METHODOLOGY We analyzed approximately three hundred creatives over a four month period from January to April, 2017. Ads were part of live global campaigns that served at least 65 million impressions. We developed an image processing model to extract features from the creative and then tied them back to performance. We compared the creatives specifications with various campaign metrics and found interesting correlations between creative attributes and the ad performance metrics. For extracting features out of the images, we trained an image processing model that captures properties such as text, presence of a face or car, the dominant color in the image, etc. Using this trained model, we analyzed 320 images within the auto vertical globally. The positioning of logos was divided into nine segments to analyze which position of the company logo achieved the best performance. We correlated the collected creative properties with campaign metrics including impressions served, CTR, CVR, fold positions, and viewability. In order to analyze creative performance, we split the creatives by supply type, i.e., desktop web, mobile web, and in-app impressions. The creatives were further divided on the basis of fold position and viewability. An uplift scheme was established to judge the performance of creatives, with reference to the average performance of creatives under that segment. The analysis revealed that these variables, if implemented correctly, could enable higher performance and thereby increase ROI for the campaign. [3]
DOES SIZE MATTER? 2 When looking at creative sizes, we took into consideration the width, height, and formats of creatives, such as banner ads, leaderboard ads, skyscraper, etc. For auto ads on desktops, animated creatives drive a 3.5x higher conversion than static creatives, while on mobile web, static creatives have a 1.8x higher CVR than animated ads. The best performing ad sizes on desktop web are the billboard (970x250) ads and the half page unit (HPU - 300X600) while on mobile web, the medium rectangle (300x250) works best. CVR Uplift - Desktop 10 1 0.1 120x600 160x600 300x50 300x250 300x600 320x50 728x90 970x250 Animated Static CVR Uplift - Mobile Web 10 0.1 0.1 0.01 120x600 160x600 300x50 300x250 300x600 320x50 728x90 970x250 Animated Static [4]
When it comes to viewability, static creatives have a better viewability rate on desktop than animated creatives, regardless of size. [5]
When it comes to viewability, static creatives have a better viewability rate on desktop than animated creatives, regardless of size. On desktop, skyscraper ads (160x600) have the highest IVR at 83%, followed by the Half Page Unit (300x600) at 69%. Viewability (Desktop) 80% 60% 40% 20% 160x600 300x50 300x250 300x600 320x50 728x90 970x250 Animated Static For brand awareness campaigns, we found that animated creatives in larger formats such as billboard leaderboards (970X250), leaderboard banners (728x90) and half page unit (300x600) tend to perform better on all devices. On desktop the CTR for Billboard ads (970x250) is nearly 3x higher than the average CTR. CVR Uplift - Mobile Web 10 1.0 0.1 160x600 300x250 300x600 320x50 728x90 970x250 Animated Static [6]
CVR Uplift - Desktop 10.0 1.0 0.1 120x600 160x250 300x600 320x50 728x90 970x250 970x250 WHICH WORKS BETTER: STATIC VS. ANIMATED ADS? 3 For brand awareness campaigns, we found that animated creatives in larger formats such as billboard leaderboards (970X250), leaderboard banners (728x90) and half page unit (300x600) tend to perform better on all devices. On desktop the CTR for Billboard ads (970x250) is nearly 3x higher than the average CTR. Supply Type 2 0.25% CVR *1000 1 0.10% CTR Desktop Mobile In-App [7]
Sizes STATIC ANIMATED SUPPLY TYPE Most Impressions Served Max CVR Max CTR Most Impressions Served Max CVR Max CTR 160x600 970x250 320x50 728x90 300x600 970x250 DESKTOP WEB 33% 2.43 0.17% 40% 5.90 0.2% MOBILE WEB 320x50 83.65% 300x250 4.11 300x250 0.13% 320x50 51% 970x250 2.52 970x250 0.2% IN APP 320x50 76% 320x50 0.16 320x250 0.39 320x50 41% 728x90 2.18 728x90 0.69% In brand awareness campaigns ANIMATED CREATIVES IN LARGER FORMATS work better. 970x250 300x600 728x90 [8]
IMPACT OF COLOR 4 Color has a profound impact on click through rate. We found that 75% of all impressions which had a darker shade in the creative appeared above the fold*, while this number was only 50% for creatives that had a lighter color. Creatives with a darker dominant shade have a 2.2x higher CTR than creatives with lighter shades and have fared better for brand awareness campaigns. *Above the fold: The portions of a webpage, and specifically ads that are visible to the visitor without scrolling. Fold position, when considered in conjunction with the dominant color/shade, has a high positive correlation with CTR. (Correlation factor = +0.67) CTR Uplift 5 1 Desktop Mobile Web In-App 0.2 CVR Uplift 5 1 Desktop Mobile Web In-App 0.2 Dark Light [9]
Color has a profound impact on click through rate [10]
Conversely, on mobile web and in-app placements, creatives that had light colors as the dominant color saw more conversions and higher CTR than darker shade creatives. Light colored in-app creatives have a 5x higher CVR than the average in-app CVR for all auto creatives. ANIMATION LENGTH 5 On desktops, CVR rate steadily increases for longer animated creatives, although the viewability rate decreases. Animated creatives on desktops on average have a 3.5x higher CVR as compared to static creatives. Animation Length (Desktop) 70% CVR *1000 5 3 50% 30% IVR 1 10% static <3 Sec 3-5 Sec 5-8 Sec >8 Sec CVR IVR On mobile web and in-app, animated creatives between 3-5 seconds perform better in both click-through and conversion rates. This is also supported by the fact that the viewability rate decreases steadily as the animation length increases for in-app creatives, and users tend to drop off before viewing the entire animation. [11]
Animation Lenght -Mobile Web & In- App 4 0.5% CVR*1000 3 2 0.3% CTR 1 0.1% Static <3Sec <3-5 Sec <5-8 Sec >8 Sec Mobile Web- CVR*1000 In-App CVR*1000 Mobile Web- CTR In-App CTR The CVR for animated creatives between 3-5 seconds on mobile web and in-app is 2x higher than the average CVR, with CTR as high as 1.5x higher than the average CTR LOGO POSITION 6 The placement of logo on the creative also influences performance. Logos that are placed at the top centre had the highest CVR uplift. One-third of all creatives analysed placed their logo in the top center of the image. The next best placement of the logo for performance campaigns is at the top right of the image. The highest in-view rates are for creatives with the logo placed right in the center of the creative. The viewability rate for such creatives is 1.5x that of the average viewability rate for all static creatives. When it comes to brand campaigns, static creatives with the company logo in the bottom three grid sectors have a 2.6x higher CTR than the average CTR. [12]
Logo Position Matrix % Creatives 3.9 % Impressions 2.5 CVR Uplift 0.59 CTR Uplift 0.37 %IVR 47 % Creatives % Impressions CVR Uplift CTR Uplift %IVR 32.4 34.4 1.45 0.98 49 % Creatives % Impressions CVR Uplift CTR Uplift %IVR 23.0 31.2 1.08 0.88 50 1 2 3 % Creatives 3.4 % Creatives 16.7 % Creatives 1.0 % Impressions CVR Uplift 3.4 1.01 4 % Impressions CVR Uplift 20.3 0.56 6 % Impressions CVR Uplift 0.3 0.19 CTR Uplift 0.84 CTR Uplift 0.69 CTR Uplift 0.60 %IVR 41 %IVR 83 %IVR 75 7 8 9 % Creatives 1.5 % Creatives 6.4 % Creatives 11.8 % Impressions 0 % Impressions 3.4 % Impressions 4.6 CVR Uplift 0 CVR Uplift 0.01 CVR Uplift 0 CTR Uplift 1.47 CTR Uplift 3.19 CTR Uplift 2.21 %IVR 41 %IVR 40 %IVR 51 [13]
AUTO IMAGES 7 Of all the desktop automotive creatives analyzed, 80% did not have an auto image. Digging deeper, we found that creatives that have an auto image have a 1.2x higher CVR than creatives that had no auto image. When comparing the dominant shades in the creatives with the presence of auto images, we found that light-colored creatives with auto images have a 1.35x higher CVR than average. Although only 35% of these impressions were above the fold, they have a slightly better-than-average viewability rate as well. Out of all the desktop creatives with an auto image, the ideal logo position is either in the center or the top right. These are the only two logo placements that have an above average conversion and CTR. If we were to combine the presence of a auto image with a callout text, the CVR of a creative increases by 1.6x than creatives that don t, and CTR is 1.7x higher. PRICING AND CALL-OUT TEXT 8 The inclusion of price details in a creative delivers better performance for brand awareness campaigns. These creatives have a CTR that is 1.6x higher than creatives that don t have pricing details. The viewability rate is also 15% higher for these creatives. A similar trend can be observed for call-out text. Creatives with callout text have a 1.8x higher CTR than creatives that don t. CVR is similar regardless of call-out texts on these creatives. Interestingly, pricing details on the creative don t help in increasing CVR. The CVR for creatives without pricing details is nearly 4x than that of creatives with pricing details. [14]
IDEAL CREATIVE Desktop Mobile LOGO LOGO CAPTION CAPTION 300x250 Static Light 2 Yes Yes No DIMENSIONS ANIMATION LENGTH COLOUR LOGO POSITION AUTO IMAGE CALLOUT TEXT PRICING 300x600 > 8 sec Dark 2 Yes Yes No [15]
CONCLUSION Creative still matters. By incorporating the right logo placement, call-out text and even the colors that will have a better impact on performance, marketers can successfully increase campaign performance. But the secret lies in testing your creative constantly and understanding what will resonate with your audiences. [16]
Glossary
ATF (above the fold): The portions of a webpage, and specifically ads that are visible to the visitor without scrolling. BTF (below the fold): CTR (click-through rate): CVR: Viewability: IVR: The portions of a webpage, and specifically ads, that are not visible to the visitor without scrolling It is the ratio of impressions that led to a click on the creative to the number of total impressions viewed on a page, email, or advertisement. It is the conversion rate and shows you how effective your marketing campaigns are at converting clicks and impressions to sales. It is a value calculated as follows: (Conversions / Impressions) X 1000 It is an online advertising metric that aims to track only impressions that can actually be seen by users. For an add to be measured as in-view, 50% or more of the creative has to be in-view for at least 1 second. In-view rate. The percentage of view-measured impressions that are in-view. [18]
ABOUT MEDIA IQ Media iq is a leading global analytics technology company that uses its superior analytical platform AiQ to unlock insights from data to drive business growth. Media iq has a clear vision for its clients - to inspire through insights. We are experts at ingesting large amounts of data, modeling data to convert into insights and then actioning these insights through a variety of products and services. In short, Media iq makes data valuable, insightful, and intelligent, which helps agencies and brands engage customers, grow sales and unlock new revenue opportunities. Founded in 2010, Media iq has over 350 staff serving over 600 clients, and enjoys a 97% client retention rate globally. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Media iq has offices across North America, Europe and Asia. For more information: Visit: www.mediaiqdigital.com Contact: talktous@mediaiqdigital.com [19]