Creative Best Practices: Native Ads
Transcript of Creative Best Practices: Native Ads
Source: Data is from the May 2016 BI Intelligence report titled "The Native Ad Report: Revenue Forecasts, Top Drivers, and the Rise of Sponsored
Content and Programmatic Native"
The Rise of Native
56%
61%65%
68%72%
74%
44%
39%35%
32%28%
26%
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
% of Total Digital Display Ad Spending
Native
Traditional
Native Video is becoming more pervasive and effective
Source: Mixpo, Native Advertising Survey, September 30, 2014
Source: Jan 2016 Teads Study from Research Now
76%
24%Includes NativeVideo
Does not includeNative Video
US Publishers whose Native Advertising
Offering
includes Video
Types of Video Ads that are most intrusive
to
US Ad-Blocking users
25%
23%
53%
52%
Desktop
Mobile
Pre-Roll Native Video
Objectives & Methodology
METHODOLOGY
Native Ad Test In-lab Pre/Post Survey
A18-54 N=800
Native Video Ad Test Pre/Post Online Survey
A18-54 N=8,000
In-lab Eye-tracking Design
N=40
Delivers a precision measure of fixation
Fixations: are momentary pauses of the eye
within an area of Interest long enough for
cognitive processing to take place
OBJECTIVE
With the advent of a more cross-
channel, cross-device world, it’s
only fitting that advertising has
become more amorphous.
Enter native into the mix as the
advertising industry’s breakout star
this year.
We partnered with Nielsen to use the
insights collected in this study to
determine creative best practices
for this critical new advertising
format.
BEST PRACTICES
People-Based Ads
People-based images deliver fixation on PC
and deep engagement & lower-funnel metrics
on mobile. Consider leveraging these types
of images in your native ads, especially
on mobile.
#1
LOW HIGH
ENGAGEMENT METRICS - MOBILE PERSON OBJECT
Fixation Percentage 71% 57%
Total Fixation (Seconds) 4.01 3.19
ENGAGEMENT METRICS - PC PERSON OBJECT
Fixation Percentage 70% 64%
BEST PRACTICES
People-Based Ads
CONT’D#1
+31%
+23%
+10%
+13%
BRAND FAMILIARITY
BRAND AFFINITY
PURCHASE INCREASE
RECOMMENDATION INCREASE
PERCENT DIFFERENCE: PERSON IMAGE VS. OBJECT IMAGE
BEST PRACTICES
Logo Presence
Don’t shy away from letting your logo shine in your native
advertising. Logo presence is very important, and larger
logos deliver recall, action, and longer fixation for your
ad on multiple platforms.
#2
Increase in Fixation Logo vs. No Logo
PC +10%
Mobile +25%
LOW HIGH
LOGO NO LOGO
BEST PRACTICES
Logo Presence
CONT’D#2
BIG
SMALL
PERCENT DIFFERENCE: BIG VS SMALL LOGO
Aided Recall +10%
Purchase Increase +22%
Click Intent +19%
Share Intent +13%
LOW HIGH
BEST PRACTICES
MOBILE
PC
+16%
AIDED RECALL, +6%
+27%
+44%
Logo Presence – Native Video
When considering what image to use in the opening frame of your native video ad, brand logos
are more effective than images of people or products.
% INCREASE: LOGO vs. IMAGE
ENJOYMENT
MESSAGE RECALL
MESSAGE RECALL
LOGO
IMAGE
CONT’D#2
BEST PRACTICES #3
Brand Mentions
LOW HIGH
Brand mentions do not have the same impact as logos, but
are still important to include in the headline of your
native ad, especially with static image ads.
BEST PRACTICES
Brand Mentions
CONT’D#3
Percent Difference on Static Image Ads: Brand in Headline vs. No Brand in Headline
Aided Recall +24%
Purchase Increase +11%
Recommendation Increase +14%
TIP
In Native advertising, brand
mentions in the body of the
text do not provide
significant changes to brand
metrics.
NO NEED FOR BRAND MENTIONS
IN BODY OF TEXT
BEST PRACTICES
Pay Attention to Labels
#4
Use a “$” as a label of transparency for
native mobile ads with a direct call to action
like an app install ad.
LO
WH
IGH
BEST PRACTICES
Pay Attention to Labels
CONT’D#4
+16%
+33%
+12%
AFFINITY
INCREASE
CLICK
INTENT
SHARE
INTENT
PERCENT DIFFERENCE: $ VS. SPONSORED
TOTAL FIXATION DURATION (SECONDS)
SECONDS
6.45SECONDS
3.15
BEST PRACTICES
Pay Attention to Labels
Being new to market, native video units benefit from a clearer
label. In this case the word “sponsored” leads to increased
recall, familiarity, and interaction on all platforms.
CONT’D#4
BEST PRACTICES
Pay Attention to Labels
23%
15%
65%
47%
AIDED RECALL
FAMILIARITY INCREASE
SPONSORED
$
SPONSORED
$
TIP
Users are more likely to interact* with native video
units with a clear “sponsored” label.
*interactions include un-muting video and expanding
the video
CONT’D#4
BEST PRACTICES
15 Second Native Video Ads
#5
:15 native video ads drive greater recall and purchase
intent than longer video units, following the trend seen in
general video advertising.
VS:15 :30
BEST PRACTICES
15 Second Native Video Ads
:15 ads are just right when it comes to ad length in native video units. 15’s are still
perceived to be the “correct” ad length, while 60 seconds felt too long and 10 seconds felt
too short to consumers.
AD LENGTH
10 second ads “too short” 14%
15 second ads “just right” in length
86%
60 second ads “too long” 33%
:10 :15 :60
CONT’D#5
BEST PRACTICES
15 Second Native Video Ads
CONT’D#5
+11%
+28%
+25%
AIDED
RECALL
PURCHASE
INCREASE
RECOMMENDATION
INCREASE
PERCENT DIFFERENCE: :15 VS. :30
TIP
Consumers were more likely to fixate on :15
ads on both PC and mobile.
FIXATION PERCENTAGE PC MOBILE
15 Seconds 65% 90%
30 Seconds 59% 67%
BEST PRACTICES
10 Second Ads Drive Traffic
However, message recall was significantly lower for :10 ads, indicating that 10 seconds is
not enough time to absorb an ad’s messaging, but is sufficient enough to drive a user to
click-thru to an advertiser’s site.
% INCREASE: CTR FOR :10 vs. OTHER LENGTHS
:15 :30 :60
4%17%
56%
CONT’D#6
BEST PRACTICES
Don't be afraid to leverage auto-start ads when it comes to
native, as it drives increases in brand affinity and
outperforms user-initiated ads in recall and fixation.
Auto Start Video
#7
AUTOPLAY 3 Seconds
7 Seconds
USER INITIATED 3 Seconds
7 Seconds
BEST PRACTICES
Auto Start Video
LOW HIGH
Percent difference: Auto-start vs. User-initiated
Aided Recall +51%
Brand Familiarity +10%
Brand Affinity +4%
CONT’D#7
BEST PRACTICES
Professional Video Ads
Produce professional video ads as they outperform Amateur videos across all generations and
devices.
#8
AMATEURPROFESSIONAL
% INCREASE:
PROFESSIONAL vs.
AMATEUR
PC MOBILE
Brand Familiarity Increase +45% +36%
Brand Recommendation Increase +8% +19%
Message Recall +450% +120%
BEST PRACTICES
Professional Video Ads
Produce professional video ads as they outperform Amateur videos across all generations and
devices.
% INCREASE:
PROFESSIONAL vs.
AMATEUR
MILLENNIALS GEN-X
Brand Familiarity Increase +28% +42%
Brand Recommendation Increase +10% +15%
Message Recall +10% +12%
AMATEURPROFESSIONAL
CONT’D #8
BEST PRACTICES
Closed Captioning
Encourage users to activate Closed Captioning in order to achieve maximum recall of your
ad’s messaging, either via
#9
CC
Message Recall was
60% higher for those exposed
to closed captioning.
TIP
One way to encourage the user is by
including it as a CTA in the copy of the
native ad.
BEST PRACTICES
Closed Captioning
Encourage users to activate Closed Captioning in order to achieve maximum recall of your
ad’s messaging.
CONT’D #9
Closed Captions are even more
critical on Mobile as
consumers are not as likely
to un-mute videos as on PC.
PC
MOBILE
% INCREASE:
LIKELIHOOD TO UNMUTE:
CC vs. NO CC
+6%
+15%
BEST PRACTICES
“More” On Mobile
Ensure that you have a seamless mobile experience in place
for the consumer post-click, as users tend to fixate on the
“more” button.
#10
LOW HIGH
THE LIST
BEST PRACTICE #1
Leverage people-based images in your native ads,
especially on mobile.
BEST PRACTICE #6
To drive traffic to your site, use 10-second
native video ads as there is a bias towards
action for shorter ads.
BEST PRACTICE #2
Don’t shy away from letting your logo shine in
your native advertising, and the larger the logo
the better.
BEST PRACTICE #7
Don’t be afraid to leverage auto-start ads when
it comes to native, as it drives a slight
increase in brand affinity and outperforms user-
initiated ads in recall and fixation.
BEST PRACTICE #3
Brand mentions do not have the same impact as logos, but are still
important to include in the headline of your native ad.
BEST PRACTICE #8
Produce professional video ads as they
outperform Amateur videos across all generations
and devices.
BEST PRACTICE #4
When it comes to labels, its better safe than
sorry. Include clear labels of transparency,
but its clear that as native units become more
pervasive, consumers are becoming more
permissive.
BEST PRACTICE #9
Encourage users to activate Closed Captioning in
order to achieve maximum recall of your ad’s
messaging.
BEST PRACTICE #5
No need to create too many ad lengths, :15
native video ads are the preferred ad length for
native video units.
BEST PRACTICE #10
Ensure that you have a seamless mobile
experience in place for the consumer post-click,
as users tend to fixate on the “more” button.
Thank you!
For more information go to:advertising.yahoo.com
or contact me at: [email protected]@diudica on Twitter