When you visit the homepage for Aol’s Project Devil, there’s a catchphrase across the top that immediately grabs you: “There’s no reason webpages should look the same as they did 15 years ago.” I’ve never met a publisher who would disagree, but it wasn’t until recently that we saw any kind of effort to redesign one of the most old-fashioned pieces in online publishing: the ad unit.
New efforts to build engaging units that drive better interaction might be a sign that Project Devil – Aol’s initiative to rethink standard IAB ad units – is working. Or perhaps publishers finally see the potential revenue windfall that comes with working hand-in-hand with an advertiser on a unique campaign. Regardless, we’re entering the age of the custom ad unit, and like any other format, there are a few things to keep in mind when building your units if you want them to drive real results.
To begin with, the key to any custom unit is to make it stand out. Customs units are on the top of everyone’s mind because standard IAB units aren’t getting the job done. Consumers tune them out, without fail. Think back to the advertising that really worked for you, the campaigns you still remember, whether they were print, billboards, TV, or online. For me, the advertising that really resonated was bold and dramatic. Good advertising makes you pause to think about a brand, and if it’s really effective, you envision yourself using the product.
Build your custom units around this idea. Online interaction lets consumers investigate a product and brand further than other media, and that’s a good thing. Banner blindness leads to low brand recall and product awareness. If you make an interactive unit where the advertising functions almost like a piece of content, then you’re going to drive those two key metrics a lot higher than a standard unit ever could.
For publishers developing custom units, remember that you are the marketer’s partner. Marketers may want to control the message, but publishers have the opportunity to present the best vehicle to create an interaction between brand and consumer. Think about how consumers behave on your site, and use that knowledge to develop a unit that appeals to your audience’s interests.
We’re already seeing publishers present interesting ways for brands to reach their audience. Automakers in particular are working with several publishers on ad units that show their cars, the safety features, the economical aspects and some form of social reviews. When consumers engage with multiple components, it gives the marketer useful information on what the consumers find important. At the same time, publishers building the units are helping the marketer interact with their audience.
That ties into the third piece, and that’s measurement. Custom units work because they’re outside the norms of traditional of IAB units, so you need to think outside the box when it comes to measurement as well. Leave metrics like click-through rate to boring formats like text ads and paid-search. Measure which components consumers interact with the most, and use that knowledge to build your next customized campaign.
That’s the beautiful thing about custom units – you’re not building one format for the rest of your life. Instead, you’re developing campaign specific units that adapt overtime, driving better results for advertisers while showing a versatility that has been largely absent in online publishing.
At the same time, don’t limit your measurement simply to the “what.” Think about the “who” and “when,” and monitor the specific audiences that engage with the ads, as well as the times that drive the highest engagement. If you can identify trends based on time of day or audience interaction, you’re taking a step toward predicting ad performance and turning the great art of ad serving into a bit of a science.
The age of custom ad units is going to teach us a lot about our consumers, and that’s going to lead to better performing ads in the very near future. It’s also going to show brand marketers that online advertising isn’t limited to paid search and overly ignored display, which will bring more brand dollars online. Customization and adaptation are the main draws of online advertising, and we’re only beginning to experiment with them. Think about what the future holds.
Chris Hanburger is VP of Global Sales for aiMatch.
When you visit the homepage for Aol’s Project Devil, there’s a catchphrase across the top that immediately grabs you: “There’s no reason webpages should look the same as they did 15 years ago.” I’ve never met a publisher who would disagree, but it wasn’t until recently that we saw any kind of effort to redesign one of the most old-fashioned pieces in online publishing: the ad unit.
New efforts to build engaging units that drive better interaction might be a sign that Project Devil – Aol’s initiative to rethink standard IAB ad units – is working.