Interaction increases advertising recall, even with short visibility

The debate about the visibility of advertising media (viewability) laid the foundation for the new view of online advertising in 2018. The Media Rating Council's 50:1 standard for display ads (50 percent of the ad in the visible area for at least one second) continues to be offered in Germany. However, the call for standards for the visibility of ads falls short. Even if an ad stays in the user's visible area for a long time, the recall of the advertising message can be very low. For example, in Teads' research, a sticky skyscraper that remains visible when scrolled along the right edge had a viewability duration of 98.6 seconds. However, the proportion of users who viewed the ad was only 34 percent and the average viewing time was only 0.5 seconds.
 
"Online users usually have a very short attention span. They focus on the content of a website," says Björn Radau, Marketing Director DACH at Teads. "While classic banners sometimes remain in the visible area for quite a long time, the attention and thus the recall is comparatively low. This is different with advertising media that address the user directly in the editorial content and entice him to interact. This is because users themselves become actors and control the content of the advertising material."

Interactive advertising formats that are located directly in the editorial content of a website significantly increase recall among users. In the eye-tracking study, subjects were shown the viewable display format inRead Flow from Teads. Although these ads were only in the viewable area for an average of 3.3 seconds, they were viewed almost the entire time (95 percent conversion from viewability to viewing time). This format, in which the ad is constantly changing as it scrolls, automatically attracts eyeballs. The reason: movements strongly attract our visual attention for evolutionary reasons. 60 percent of the study participants were able to recall these interactive ads. Other formats such as billboard (53 percent), skyscraper (50 percent) and medium rectangle (33 percent) achieved significantly lower recall values.

These 10 tips will help increase user interaction with the ad: 
 

1. Involve media planners and conversion experts right at the start of the creative process. Only then can an interactive component be developed according to the medium.
2. Test all advertising content before and after playout. Use digital channel analytics options such as dwell time or view-through rate and avoid burning budget on ineffective campaigns.
3. Make sure your ad content is optimized for smartphones. This is important both in terms of format, image detail, importance of sound or spot length, but also for the actual message. The car brand Jeep, for example, has had very good experience with this.
4. Adapt the advertising medium to the usage situation. During the day, many users do not turn off the sound, but they are usually in a usage environment where sound is distracting.
5. Especially short-content formats of only six seconds playing time should offer users interactive elements so that they stay engaged with the ad for longer.
6. Use data strategically to increase the relevance of your message. For example, device type, location, date and time of day, and topic of the ad environment should be included in the call-to-action to emphasize relevance to the user. The spot from "E Like Simple" was only played out within the opening hours of the call center, which could be called directly from the advertising material.
7. Add interactivity to display ads as well. For example, an ad can change with just a slight movement of the mobile device, immediately grabbing the user's attention. McDonald's, for example, has used this feature to great effect. (Here you can try it yourself by means of smartphone)
8. Show users what happens next. For example, those who see a short video spot could be offered the sequel, making-of, or other related content right away. KIKO has done this for makeup vividly implemented.
9. Benefit from the growing chatbot trend. Direct dialog with the user is now possible in advertising media, as Teads and Tommy Hilfiger have shown. Users can talk directly to the brand and, for example, browse through the product range immediately and without a media break.
10. Try Augmented Reality. Smartphones are getting better and better technically at projecting elements into the real world. Virtually "putting" a pair of glasses on your face or testing the color of your lipstick can now happen right in the mobile ad and immediately engage the user on a very personal level. (Here you can try it out for yourself using a smartphone).

 
The study "What's the truth about the myth of banner blindness?" by Teads can be ordered free of charge in exchange for contact data.  downloaded be

About the study

Between October 10 and 16, 2018, the market research company Eyesquare conducted a survey among 538 participants in Germany on behalf of the media platformTeads. Participants were recruited online and took part from their personal PC at home. Eye tracking and emotion analysis, as well as subsequent recognition questions, were used to record how different display ads affect users.