Nowadays, there are countless online advertising formats. Have a digital advertising campaign is a basic necessity for any marketing team, and a fundamental building block for an effective marketing strategy. strategy for Inboud Marketing.
Although all marketing professionals are very familiar with the digital advertisingRemember that there is a wide range of creative options, formats and platforms to choose from.
In this guide, we will take a look at all of the major online advertising formats Let's get started!
Formats available in Digital Advertising
When you understand the amount of advertising formats that exist, it is when you begin to be able to master the wide world of the digital advertising.
But bear in mind that new formats emerge every two years, so it is virtually impossible to master them all.
Although marketers and channels are constantly evolving, some of the most popular options are still the video advertisements and the display ads. Both formats can be purchased on the basis of cost per click (CPC) or by digital prints.
Video Ad Formats
There is no denying that we are in the age of video. Given the rise of the video content on all digital platforms (especially on social media), the online advertising formats have evolved in the same direction, making video more relevant.
The digital video advertising has positioned itself as an integral part of any strategy of performance marketing. Recent studies confirm that 54% of users want to watch audiovisual content from their favourite brands or companies. With this in mind, the question is not whether to use the video advertisementsbut where to start.
A good starting point could be Youtube. As the second most visited website in the world, Youtube is the favourite meeting point for viewers and advertisers. This platform significantly helped to revolutionise the video era, and to this day it remains one of the most popular platforms for all experts in performance marketing.
These are some of the main formats offered by Youtube:
- Skippable and non-skippable in-stream advertisementsThis type of video advertisement is played before, during or after any YouTube video or all other video content. Google's partners. I'm sure you've seen it on more than one occasion.
- Video advertisements for DiscoveryFor this type of videos, YouTube offers advertisements of discovery to promote videos in search results or on the YouTube homepage next to another related video. They are also very common.
- Bumper ads: This type of video ad is characterised by a maximum length of 6 seconds. They are designed to reach a wide range of viewers on YouTube and other Google partner websites with a short and memorable message.
- Out-stream announcements: This type of ad is the only one that does not appear on YouTube, but does appear on Google's partner websites and video apps. Moreover, they are mobile-only ads that start playing with the sound turned off, allowing the user to remove the mute if you so wish.
- Headline ads: Used by brands to raise awareness. Featured header ads play automatically without sound for up to 30 seconds at the top of the YouTube home feed.
In addition to YoutubeThere are other platforms that also allow video advertisements, such as Facebook e Instagram. After all, social media users watch more than 100 million hours of video on the platforms every day, making it one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. increased advertising channels existing.
These are some of the main digital advertising formats which enables the Facebook and Instagram ads (Meta Ads):
- Slide presentation: This ad format allows you to convert static images and text into a quick and easy video.
- Story Format: This format is one of the most popular for digital video advertising. It has more than 1.5 million viewers across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. Its popularity is due to its mobile-friendly vertical orientation.
- Carousel advertisements: This is one of my favourite formats. It allows advertisers to show up to 10 images or videos within a single ad. This makes it possible to increase user engagement and tell a story.
- Collection: This ad format uses a main video to engage users. It has four smaller images in a grid that provide a quick loading experience after clicking. This allows the advertiser to combine the power of video advertising with the instant gratification that consumers crave.
- Playable AnnouncementsThese interactive ads allow users to try out an application experience, usually a mobile game, within the ad itself. They often use video to engage viewers and encourage them to interact.
- Instant experience adsThese mobile-optimised ads load instantly and can combine videos, photos, carousels and tilted images.
- In-Stream Reservation: These ads are used to show videos in exclusive content, such as Facebook Watch. This format is ideal for reaching younger audiences in a brand-safe environment.
Display Ad Formats
You can't spend 10 minutes on the Internet without coming across the display ads. Primarily used for brand awareness and customer acquisition, these popular advertising formats can be found on websites, apps and social media.
These advertisements are presented in various different formats and sizes. They generally use a mix of visual creativity - static images, GIFs or video - and concise text to get the message across.
Most of the display ads are placed in the Google Display Networkthe Facebook Audience Network and the Twitter Audience Platform. Although display ads can take many forms, these are the most popular formats:
- Static imageA single, still image, usually accompanied by text.
- AnimationThis type of ad uses between 5 and 10 seconds of looped video or GIFs.
- Interactive formatThis display ad format requires viewer participation. For example, answering a survey, playing a small game or entering personal information.
- Video: Unlike animated display ads, which are only a few seconds long, video ads are longer, but usually no longer than 30 seconds.
- Expansive advertisementsThis display format appears small at first and becomes larger when the user performs a certain interaction, such as clicking or moving the mouse cursor over them.
There are many ways to make display ads. You don't need a professional photographer to take a fantastic photo to make a good advertisement. In fact, you may not even need to use a camera.
Sometimes something as simple as a graphic, along with your logo and brand name, can be enough to make an image ad effective. Overloading a small image ad with tons of information can also be detrimental to the effectiveness of your ad. Remember that sometimes, less is more.
Make sure you convey all the information you want to convey with as little clutter as possible. If you find it difficult to communicate everything in a single image, you may need to choose another ad formatas the video.
Other Ad Formats Available
In this world of digital advertisingAs a result, marketing creatives are constantly innovating with new formats, making the options more and more plentiful. Here are some of the online advertising formats most commonly used:
- Banner ads: Banner ads are the oldest and still one of the most popular and cost-effective options. Typically appearing at the top or bottom of the screen, banners are static images that are often used to raise brand awareness or take users to an external website.
- Native Ads: I'm sure at some point you've been browsing your favourite app and seen a branded post that looks exactly like the content surrounding it. These ads are designed to take on the form and function of the platform. Often, the only clue to their true nature is a little 'sponsored' tag.
- Announcements Rich Media: Defined by variety and personalisation, the advertisements rich media mobile applications can incorporate video, animation, interactive elements, GPS functionality and other mobile-specific features.
- Interstitial advertisements: These types of ads take up the entire mobile screen, covering the interface of your Apps. These ads are most effective when used in a place where it makes sense to pause, such as between levels in mobile games.
As you have seen, the different types of ad formats are not mutually exclusive. You can use a combination of many of them and thus enrich your digital advertising strategy. The important thing is to find the formats that best suit your brand and serve your needs. marketing objectives.
Even with a good understanding of the different digital advertising formats, platforms and creative practices, it's perfectly natural that you will still have questions about what type of advertising content works best for your brand.
Fortunately, you don't have to discover all the formats on your own. At DDigitals Agency we are experts in bringing the digital advertising campaigns to the next level using a combination of cutting-edge analytical technologies and years of industry experience.
The truth is that in order to find the most effective advertising strategy to reach your target audience, you need to marketing objectivesIf you do this, you will need to study the data on what works and what doesn't work. The best way to do this is to use the machine learning to test and analyse a wider range of different ad types.
If you want to find out more about types of Google Ads CampaignsYou can check out one of our latest posts: How to choose the best Google Ads campaign type
