Let’s talk ad formats. A vital part of your ad strategy that can completely change your odds in the programmatic advertising game. Don’t worry, we’re not here to scare you, it’s not Halloween yet 😋
Quite the contrary, we want you to get as much profit as possible. So that’s why today we are all about explaining ad formats as best as we can. We are here to help you increase your ad revenue while keeping your users engaged. Are you up for it?
Ready, set, GO!
Let’s start with the basics. What are Ad Formats and why are they important?
Ad Formats are the different types and sizes of ads you can find on a website or an App. They are used to display an ad from an advertiser when a user visits a page. Ad formats determine the way the ads will behave and look on your web or app, and they can vary in size, type of creativity displayed (video, image, sound, etc…), and level of interaction.
Ads not only bring revenue to your pockets, but they can also generate engagement. To get more engagement, and therefore higher CPMs, your website needs to always deliver a positive user experience. This is why it’s highly important for you to choose the perfect ads formats for your site. Stick around and we’ll tell you everything about them.
What are the most common Ad formats?
Banners
Flexible, easy to implement, and visually appealing. Banners ads are your everyday graphic that sit on a rectangular space in a website. They are usually at the top, bottom or at the sides of the page. If these are are placed horizontally they are known as Leaderboard or Billboards, and if the are put vertically they are called Skyscrapers or Halfpage ads (HPA). When banner ads are strategically placed, they can bring home a high viewability rate: An extremely important metric that indicates whether ads are viewable enough to have an impact.
Nativi
Native ads are a type of ad format that’s meant to blend in with your website as if they are part of the content. They are formed by an image, a text, and a Call To Action (CTA). You can usually find them in between paragraphs or next to other type of super engaging content like a video or image. This in return commands high CPMs and CTRs.
Rich Media
Rich Media are interactive ads that feature elements like sounds, videos, animations or other types of engaging content. These are a fan-favorite for advertisers since they are stunning and highly engaging. If you are not using any type of rich media ads yet, you should add them to your wish list cause they’ll for sure help you boost your earnings.
Video
As the name indicates, these are a type of rich media ads that are displayed as a video. They can be shown within a banner or within another video. Video ads are attention grabbers for sure and help increase CPMs.
What are the best Ad Formats for Publisher?
The best ad formats for publishers are the ones that can bring the most revenue without disturbing user’s experience. Rich media ads can come very handy in this case They are attractive and engaging, which is exactly what advertisers are looking for. Interested in learning more? Check out this article about the high value ad formats that advertisers are willing to spend more money on.
What to do and what to avoid with Ad Formats?
Do’s
- Use different ad formats: It’s good to have a fair variety of ad formats going on throughout your content to keep your website dynamic and impact users in different ways. You don’t need to use every ad format on the face the earth. Just pick the right ones that will work the best with your users.
- Place your ads mindfully: You want your ads to be visible and to not disturb your user experience. Place them in strategical, eye-catching zones in your website to make sure you get that high viewability rate.
Don’ts
- Don’t flood your web with ads: We get it, you want to get as much revenue as possible. But driving your users nuts by blasting ads from all fronts is not the solution. You must protect the user experience at all costs. Instead, place a few ads making sure they are in the highly viewable spots around your site.
- Don’t add too many videos: Videos are great for driving that engagement rate up, but unfortunately they are very heavy content and can slow down the loading speed of your website.
How to choose the best ads for your web
The first thing you need do to before anything is think about your user. Always keep in mind how to guarantee the best user experience for them. Then you can strategically choose the perfect ad formats that are going to impact them the most and increase your earnings.
We can help here! Reach out to us at Refinery89 and we’ll tell you all about the best ad formats for your website and how to implement them nice and easy. Let’s maximize that ad revenue!
