These Easy Hacks Will Make Your Ad Engagement Surge
Brands often find that, in spite of spending a lot of time on crafting a marketing strategy that seems bulletproof in a brainstorming meeting in the boardroom, something goes wrong when it gets out to the public.
Usually, the problem is a lack of engagement in your beautifully rendered ad campaign.
Why does this happen? What are you doing wrong? How do you get your ad campaign moving with the times?
Why aren’t people engaging with your ads?
Actually, it’s more about recognizing what you do RIGHT, and doubling down on that.
If you treat marketing like a constant challenge to grab the attention of sleepy commuters on their mobiles, you’re likely to view the whole discussion about ad campaigns like a chore to be completed.
Positive reinforcement, rather than negative reinforcement, is the order of the day. Focus on what works, and keep the feel-good factor. If creativity isn’t fun for you, you won’t be creative.
Remember that even if your most recent campaign failed, that might not be a failure of the message. It might be a failure of presentation, or of decision-making on which platforms to focus on. You must keep trust in your brand’s effectiveness if you’re already popular with consumers. An ad campaign is not a measure of how popular a product is – it’s a measure of how well you are attracting new customers.
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Your basic ad concept might be sound, but you might have some elements that don’t chime with the public. Before you completely overhaul your campaign, try these easy hacks to get your advertising back on track.
1. Try Interactive Ads
You’ve got to ask your audience to take part in your campaign if you want them to be truly engaged. We’re all passive consumers from time to time – otherwise, why would Netflix be so popular? Still, though, everyone reacts best to being invited into the conversation.
Interactive ads are a great way of doing this.
Interactive ads are any ad where the end user is asked to perform an action by the ad they are viewing. This might be turning their smartphone to get a different view. It might be pressing a link to go through to a new page and take part in a contest or challenge. It might be a game.
Whatever you choose, you can almost guarantee increased engagement if it is linked to a call to action that users find useful or interesting, and if it has a verifiable purpose. Maybe try a Nexd ad…
2. Create Ads that Integrate into the Page
You might know the meme “Graphic Design is My Passion”. It shows a clipart frog on a totally unrelated background, using some thoroughly nineties fonts straight out of Microsoft Publisher.
Use an ad design and style that doesn’t stand out enough, and you might not get noticed. Use one that stands out too much, and it’ll have the jarring effect of that frog on that grey background.
What’s the Answer?
Make your ad integrate seamlessly into its environment. Classy not garish is a good motto – unless your brand identity IS garish, in which case, knock yourself out. The key is to be honest with yourself about the audience you want to reach.
A safe choice is an ad that uses a neutral color as its background, stays away from clashes, and doesn’t include too many moving elements. If you’re creating a rich media ad, of course moving elements are great within that – but too many different features, all battling for the attention of the ad’s audience, might be a bit much for any consumer.
3. Make Quick, Efficient Ads
Ads that are overstuffed with unnecessary data are annoying for consumers not using high-end devices. Remember, not everyone has the latest iPhone.
According to Meetrics in 2018 Q2, only 58% of UK ads had at least 50% of pixels in-view for a minimum of one second for static display ads, or two seconds for video ads.
We think this sucks.
What Can You Do About It?
One reason why your ads aren’t getting the engagement they deserve might be because they’re too big, so they take too much time to load. Having a creative management platform that uses high-quality compression to keep your ad looking the same, but for a fraction of the size, improves load speed dramatically, and keeps potential customers interested in what you have to offer.
Keep your ad streamlined with the latest technology in creative management, keep it mobile-first so that any user can view it anywhere with the same great experience, and keep it efficient. Remember that if your ad takes more than a fraction of a second to load, you’re already losing customers and losing money.
Find out why slow ads basically stink as much as ad fraud
4. Include a Relevant, Valuable CTA
The call to action is what turns viewers of your ad into users of your website, or customers of your product. Don’t trick your customers with your CTA – remember this is your one chance to win people’s trust. Bring people a clear way to buy, or use, what you’re promoting. They’ll love you for it.
More Than Anything, Remember…
Advertising should be fun, for the consumer, and for you. Make it fun.
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