Commentary

5 Ways To Improve Viewability

There has been a call for more creativity in the industry as of late and brands are doing their best to figure out how to crack the creativity code. But underneath the creativity crisis lies an even more urgent problem that needs to be addressed: viewability.

With survey results from comScore showing that 46% of ads are never even seen by Web site viewers, the importance of viewability has never been more critical to the marketer.  If we don’t band together and figure out how to best ensure that all ads are viewable, the creativity involved in your advertising experiences will not matter.

But what will it take for marketers to create successful, viewable campaigns? Below are five suggested tactics that any marketer should have in their toolkit:

1. Don’t Distract, Engage
Any ad that can only be displayed around content is already starting at a disadvantage. These formats rely on the notion that in order to be successful, you must essentially distract the internet user from what they’re focusing on at the present time – the content. To ensure viewable ads, marketers need to reach consumers from within content, not around it.

2. User Control is Key
Be transparent - ensure that your ad formats are user-initiated, nonintrusive, and interactive, while also clearly identifying that they are ads. This puts control in the hands of the user – who will likely interact and engage with an entire online ad when they do so on their own terms.

3. Be Relevant
Consumers are much more likely to view an ad when they can relate to the content on some level. Ads experiences should actually enhance the content by being relevant, entertaining and useful to consumers.

4. Creativity is King
In order to maximize viewability, advertising must be creative. In some instances, repurposing content originally developed for other channels can still be compelling enough to engage the consumer, but specific ad formats need specific creative. Employing your own creative team, to handle both the creative needs of the online channel and the opportunities to develop more compelling ads within online content is a benefit. It also fulfills marketers’ needs to deploy creative that is as contextually relevant as the marketing messages they want to impart.

5. Failure is Not An Option – You Must Be Viewable
The IAB’s current definition of a viewable ad – half an ad being seen for one second – is a pretty low entry point, and marketers should be looking to exceed these standards significantly. The consumer’s attention is a more priceless commodity than ever before, and in order to truly garner their attention, you must create advertising that goes beyond the static banner ad.

Marketers need to be sure that they are doing everything they can to engage in creative ways and provide the consumer with a relevant, memorable ad experience. Only then will we be able to move this industry forward.
2 comments about "5 Ways To Improve Viewability".
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  1. Jeff Bander from Sticky, July 30, 2013 at 4:45 p.m.

    Number 6.

    Become Sticky.

    Be sure your ad is SEEN not just in screen.
    Sticky.ad

    http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/204936/#axzz2aZ0tcOR0

  2. Francine Hardaway from Undertone, July 30, 2013 at 4:49 p.m.

    We have found that video really helps this.

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