5 Ways to Add Value to Your Banner Ads
Your banner ads comply with your brand’s style guide. They’re consistent with your other marketing materials. They feature a strong call to action and functionality that’s intuitive to the consumer.
So why aren’t people clicking?
Online banners – regardless of their size, shape, or format – are held to a high standard by Internet users. Consumers know what they like, and what they loathe. In fact, they’re experts on the subject (a massive daily dose of just about anything will do that to a person).
This attitude compels digital marketers to keep their creative fresh, but it isn’t always fresh enough. It doesn’t always leave site users nodding their heads in appreciation or thinking, “Now that’s a useful ad.” What follows are five ways to enhance your existing and upcoming banner ads to stimulate clicks, shares, and buys.
1. Track mouse movements. Internet users may feel that they’ve seen it all in rich media advertising, but several jaw-dropping technologies are still relatively underutilized. One such technology is mouse tracking. Some brands allow mouse movements to alter the look of their banners (a concept so hip even Google is using it). Others take the more traditional route by inviting users to hover over in-banner hot spots.
One ad for Royal Caribbean created by MediaMind (formerly Eyeblaster) combined mouse tracking technology with an expandable banner in an IAB Sidekick format. In it, the user could hover over hot spots throughout an image of one of the company’s cruise ships to reveal information about special services and features, and click to get even more detail…all without leaving the site page.
With Help From Facebook Timeline, Viddy Becomes Top Free iPhone App
With the skyrocketing popularity and billion-dollar sale of Instagram, there’s an ongoing race to apply Instagram’s wildly successful photo sharing model to mobile video. There are a number of startups vying to claim the “Instagram for Video” title, with Socialcam, Viddy, Klip, Mobli, and even the infamous Color all in the running. Yet, today brings evidence that Viddy may now be the one to beat, as the social video sharing app became the top free iPhone app on the App Store — with much of that growth emanating from its new Facebook Timeline app.
Viddy, which celebrated its first birthday on April 11th, enables users to shoot, customize, and share 15-second video clips directly from their mobile devices. Its video creation platform allows users to choose from custom video overlays and audio effects from their favorite musicians, movies, and celebrities, and share their short video clips across across social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTubes.
The startup closed a $6 million Series A round back in February from investors like Battery Ventures, Greycroft Ventures, Qualcomm, and Bessemer Ventures, bringing its total funding to $8.2 million. Viddy saw over 40 million app views in January, thanks to the effort the startup has put into recruiting celebrities and influencers custom premium Video FX layers, giving artists, movie studios, etc. a way to promote their brand through mobile video.
Cross-Screen Video Campaign Solution Provider Mixpo Partners With FreeWheel to Power In-App Advertising for Online Publishers and Content Providers
SEATTLE, WA–(Marketwire – Mar 30, 2012) – With the aim of helping content owners to further scale monetization of their apps and second screen experiences, “smart” cross-screen video ad campaign enabler Mixpo announced today that it has completed MRAID (Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions) certification with FreeWheel, the video technology company serving enterprise-class entertainment companies. The certification enables Mixpo to serve personalized, interactive video ads to the vast array of mobile apps supported by FreeWheel.
MRAID is the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence’s project to define a common API (Application Programming Interface) for mobile rich media ads that will run in mobile apps.
The announcement comes in a timely manner for marketers and app developers. On March 12, e-Marketer announced that 65% of the marketers they surveyed plan to increase their mobile advertising spend in 2012. MRAID is helping to open up a vast new frontier of mobile inventory for advertisers, particularly now that 55 million Americans own tablets and another 101.3 million own smartphones, 40% of which use them while watching television.
“Mixpo enables content owners to run personalized, interactive video ads on any screen while delivering comprehensive, easy to consume cross-screen performance analytics and monitoring,” said Walter Harp, vice president of product management at Mixpo. “FreeWheel is a market leader in providing content owners what they need to manage the economics of their content across a multiplicity of devices. Plugging into their platform enables Mixpo to deliver greater value to our shared customers — the content owners.”
5 reasons why the banner will outlive us all
The smug little banner
Pity the poor banner. Maligned by millions and attacked by the very people whose paychecks they (largely) make possible, the banner is perhaps the most criticized little workhorse in our culture.
But do banners let our harsh words affect their self esteem? No. Banners proudly hold their ground — shrinking for no one. They know that other people’s opinions of them are none of their business. They know that, like the periplaneta americana, they will be here long after their detractors have returned to ashes and dust. Perhaps with little smirks on their faces as their last attackers return to the earth.
Why can the little banner rest easy knowing that it will get the last eight-second (max) laugh? Because no matter how much we poseurs pretend to despise them, they serve a critical purpose in the internet environment — and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Why can these quietly smug little messages be so certain that their future is bright? Let’s take a look at five reasons.
Google’s AdMeld Deal to Clear U.S. Antitrust
Google Inc. (GOOG)’s $400 million acquisition of AdMeld Inc. has been recommended for antitrust approval by U.S. Justice Department staff attorneys, two people familiar with the matter said.
The staff urged approval after a detailed analysis found that AdMeld’s competitors in online display advertising were strong enough to offer companies alternative ways to advertise, one of the people said. The recommendation still must be approved by senior department officials, said both of the people, who didn’t want to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak about the matter publicly.
The recommendation contrasts with the department’s reservations about Google’s purchase of ITA Software Inc. In that case, the department required oversight of Google’s actions before giving approval because government attorneys determined online travel agencies that used ITA’s software, which aggregates flight information, didn’t have many alternatives.
AdMeld offers technology services to Internet publishers that help them boost revenue by managing display ads from hundreds of sources, including ad networks. Customers of the New York-based company, founded in 2007, include News Corp. (NWSA)’s Fox News and the Weather Channel.
Read More: Bloomberg
Collective Introduces Ensemble
Full Integration of Tumri and Oggifinogi Products and Operations Gives Way to Comprehensive Audience Platform for Brand Marketers
NEW YORK, Nov 30, 2011 — Collective, a full service provider of media and technology solutions for display and video advertising today released Ensemble(TM), its new technology platform designed to service brand advertisers seeking a complete buy-side audience platform and services solution. The full integration of recently acquired Tumri and Oggifinogi products and operations into a single business unit allows advertisers to leverage rich media and dynamic creative optimization, powered by Collective’s AMP(R) audience data and media platform.
“The integration of Tumri and Oggifinogi into the Ensemble platform coupled with key leadership appointments makes it possible for Collective to help advertisers deliver rich, video-enabled and optimized creative to audiences at scale,” said Joe Apprendi, CEO, Collective. “We’re enabling brands to intelligently connect with consumers across the entire spectrum of online display advertising with a truly integrated technology suite versus reliance on multiple third party vendors.”
Collective’s new solution eliminates the need for multiple service providers, presenting advertisers with the opportunity to leverage dynamic creative, engaging ad formats and Collective’s industry leading audience data all from one place. Ensemble works across their entire media buy, including real-time bidding (RTB) on leading ad exchanges. Collective is also offering comprehensive creative and production services with Ensemble, ranging from full to self-serve options.
Read More: Collective
