Consumers First: Best Practices for Creating Engaging Ad Experiences

By Sam Duncan, Director of Product Management, Pictela
12/13/11

Did you know that 75% of people don’t like to click on online ads? And that 59% of people say they dislike online advertising all together? Even though people claim to dislike online ads, we saw nearly 15M interactions with our Premium Formats over a three month period. We also know that these units are producing results for clients, with nearly a 50% renewal rate. So, where’s the disconnect?

Consumers First: Best Practices for Creating Engaging Ad Experiences

We teamed up with Nielsen to take a look at the intersection of the population exposed to Premium Formats with Nielsen's robust online panel, to garner insights about consumers’ online advertising behavior. And what we found was a group of people we like to call, “Engagers”.

Engagers are people who proactively spend time with advertising.  They are at the forefront of the digital media space, as they are more likely to consume media online, make online purchases and use social media.  Interestingly enough, Engagers and Non-Engagers have the same demographic profile, meaning that people are not pre-disposed to engage with online advertising.  We learned that engagement with online advertising is a direct result of creating consumer-centric, exceptional experiences.

Below are some best practices to creating an exceptional ad experience:

  • Keep the user on the page: 75% of people say they will interact with online ads on the publisher’s site
  • Don’t insult their intelligence: 26% of Men believe their intelligence is insulted by online ads – so teach them something valuable with a video app or product showcase with informational hotspots
  • Start an interactive conversation: Millenials grew up with the web, which may be why they’re 32% more comfortable interacting with display ads, so target them with ads that have polls and quizzes so they can interact and get immediate feedback from a brand
  • Encourage, don’t force a purchase: Women are 2x more comfortable buying a product after seeing an online ad, so give them a discount or coupon to drive sales

To find out more about what makes up an Engager, and how you can get them interacting with online ads, click here to download the full study.

Source: Nielsen Custom Study, August 2011

Keywords: Premium Formats

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