Josh Partridge, VP & Head of EMEA at Yahoo Advertising explains why advertisers must raise their digital creative game if they’re to attract customers.
Internet nostalgia is a funny thing. We talk about digital transformation as if it’s new, but, in reality, it’s not.
Those who are old enough will remember the early days of surfing the internet. The thrill of the dial up as it competed with the fax machine for telephone line space and, once connected, the riot of different fonts, bullet points and largely text-based design that made up the average homepage.
Creative innovation was hard to come by in a format that was basically teletext on steroids, but when it did arrive, it caused a stir. Founded in January 1994, Yahoo witnessed the first-ever banner ad. Launched by AT&T in October that year, it ran on what is now Wired.com. It was so unusual it generated a 44% click-through rate (CTR).
By contrast, today’s consumer can view wrap-arounds, pop-ups, idents, pre-rolls, fourth-wall breaking AR and myriad of other formats. Whether they’re on the street with digital out-of-home (DOOH) at the bus stop, at home watching ConnectedTV or via mobile, tablet, laptop and games console - brands now have unprecedented access to consumers.
The digital marketplace is teeming with opportunity. Which means it’s also hyper competitive.
And this competition is intensifying further in a challenging economic climate, where consumers are increasingly discerning with spend. This pressure is most clearly reflected in retail footfall, where after a rise of 9.4% from January to February 2023, March saw a slide of nearly three per cent.
It's a tough market. The only way to thrive is to raise your digital creative game.
How can we be so sure? Well, we recently commissioned a study from MAGNA Media Trials that set out to understand the role that creative quality plays in ad effectiveness, and identify the elements that contribute to quality creative.
The research found that media placement and creative work hand in hand when it comes to effective advertising strategies. We all know the relative benefits of above-the-line (ABL) versus below-the-line (BTL), how impactful a skippable ad needs to be and the argument for wrap-arounds versus pop-ups. But that’s just half the battle. You’re looking to deliver a feast for the eyes (and sometimes ears).
The report, Creative, the Performance Powerhouse, found that while media placement helps marketers find consumers where they are at any given time, creative quality is responsible for 56% of the purchase intent. Media placement and targeting delivers the other 44%.
Of course, ad creative isn’t just there for the consumer to chuckle, grimace, sigh and move on. It must drive action.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that focusing more effort on your creative delivers more brand response bang for your buck. When it comes to top-of-mind recall, creative outstrips media placement and targeting by an order of nearly three to one (79% versus 21% - although clearly, both are still needed). There’s a similar ratio when it comes to brand favourability – creative drives 77% versus media placement and targeting’s 23%.
It might seem like a daunting task, and in some ways, it is. To be effective, you should be making sure your creative is optimised across devices, taking advantage of the mobile mindset, for instance. There must be compelling brand propositions, device-appropriate collateral and calls-to-action (that go to a mobile-optimised website – there’s no point spending time refining your mobile creative for the link to drive potential customers to a cluttered, barely navigable and slow landing page).
But it’s often the small changes that make the biggest difference. Even simple A/B testing to decide whether a background should be yellow or red, the copy bold or caps, can make an appreciable difference in CTR and engagement. While the industry is still evaluating AI creative execution, when it comes to optimisation you can let the machine take the strain.
Similarly, understanding which creative delivers best on which platform or device can transform ad success. We know that upping the visual impact works. Ads with human presence or enhanced product imagery effectively attract consumers who have a propensity to buy - increasing message association amongst this audience by 50%.
That means you’re not just attracting attention. You’re attracting the right sort of attention.
What else do you have in your toolbox? Be informative – if you’ve got perks, add-ons, product benefits and promotions, sing them from the rooftops. Informative ads stay on screen for an average of eight seconds more than base ads.
Don’t be afraid to go bold. Subtlety is for interior design and sarcasm. Larger, colourful and more visible logos drive higher transactional moments and 24% more search intent than base ads. And, if in doubt, tell the customer what to do. A more direct call-to-action drives higher interest and action with 41% more people visiting the brand’s website.
We’ve come a long way from a couple of channels, a handful of hyperlinks and a static display box. Broadband and 5G are pumping messages out to consumers at a terrific rate.
But the principles remain the same.
Working on your creative output as much as – and in tandem with – your media placement, reaps many more rewards than just relying on placement alone. If you can innovate to grab attention, the more the better.
But even taking simple, small steps to make your ad creative platform appropriate, optimised to the audience and as informative as possible, it can give you the edge - at a time when brands need it more than ever.
