There are some simple steps you can take to ensure your online ads are hitting the mark!
Are you running Google Ads, or Yahoo! ads, or any online ads for that matter, then you know how competitive it is to not only find your target audience, but to get them to respond to your advertisments. By following these simple tips you can create a much better online “experience” for your target audience, and therefore enhance the performance of your ads.
With new display formats appearing on more and more sites, consumers are interacting with brands and their messages in more immersive ways than ever. As a result, it is imperative that Internet marketers and advertisers understand the intricacies of these formats and how they can optimize the experience for those who consume advertising on the Web. – Website Magazine
Yahoo! and Innerscope teamed up to do some of the most comprehensive and amazing biometric and eyetracking research on online ads. Here are the top 5 best practices based on this research, in no particular order:
Center ads around the action on the page
Yahoo! found that aligning the advertisement around the key action on the page will result in the most viual attention and generate the strongest emotional response. Put this in prractice by right-justifying text, images and logos to the key action on the page.
Bigger does not always equal better
One of the study’s most actionable applications for designers was that consumers fixate on key images at a higher rate if there are not competing images or too much text. Audiences will only be attentive as long as it takes to complete their intended task.
Ads that blend don’t get noticed
The best performing ads were those that had backgrounds that contrasted with the white login area and drove both higher fixation levels for the ads and higher emotional response for the background itself.
Big canvasses work for direct-response ads
Another valuable piece of actionable advice from the study was that creating emotion near wher you want consumers to take an action drives brand attributes and click-through rates. Big canvasses provide the best opportunities in this case.
Faces get noticed, but can also be distracting
People are drawn to faces and they fixate more on ads that include them, but these ads are not always the most successful. Faces can distract consumers from key messaging. The best practice is to either use a single facial image to minimize distractions, or ensure that faces are closely linked to product messages.
[Thank you to Website Magazine's Editor-in-Cheif, Peter Prestipino for excerpts of his article published in the September 2011 edition of Website Magazine.]
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