There is no best, one-size-fits-all online ad format

Posted By Vidar

Monday at 3:03PM EDT

8 Comments

Tags:

banner ad format, display ads, Forrester, Linkstorm, measurement, report

Categories:

Ad Analytics, Ad Measurement & ROI, Best Practices, Display Advertising, Online Marketing, Reporting & Reconciliation, Rich Media Banners

It’s hard to be a marketer today with so many new, exciting technologies to pick from, each one casting itself as the holy grail of campaign performance. Video, widgets, search advertising, social apps, in-game ads, virtual worlds, expanding banners, behavioral targeting, location based mobile ads, digital out of home advertising, even radio via Google!

I can’t tell if it’s a media planner’s dream or nightmare, but a fair share of us probably feel more confused than enlightened.

What I am pretty sure about, however, is that they all have some merit, but none of them is a one-size-fits all solution. What’s good for branding might not be a recipe for lead generation success. Choice of format, targeting, message and measurement all need to align with campaign goals.

In a recent report from Forrester research called “Getting more out of online ads” advertisers are encouraged to take a more holistic approach to planning and executing online advertising programs.To paraphrase, they recommend advertisers to:
- first determine their business goals
- then identify desired customer action and how they can entice this action
- and finally how to track and measure actual customers’ actions vis-à-vis the campaign goals

Pretty common sense when put this way, isn’t it?

Get the report; it’s well worth the read. It also features a section showcasing Linkstorm as an example of a format that “help move consumers from awareness to purchase without ever clicking away from the ad.“ I thought I should mention that while I had the mic…

- vidar