In today’s world, the look and feel, the overall appearance, is equally important to set up the first impression. Everybody is busy scrolling; within microseconds, viewers will move to the next if the ad is not captivating enough. Advertisers need to create ads that are eye-grabbing enough to get into viewers' minds, to make them pause scrolling and check out the brand ad, and in some way convince them to take action. So, I believe now you have the slightest idea of how critical the job is for the advertisers and what pressure they go through to create a successful ad campaign.
Here we are at 3Mads to guide you on this topic, so continue reading to understand “what” and “how” to choose the correct ad format for your brand.
What is an Ad Format?
Ad format is a way of presenting the ad to its viewers using specific layouts, structures, and different types of digital advertising formats like banners, videos, or native content. It defines how well the message of the brand ad is presented to its intended audiences. Every ad format is designed in a way to encourage the target audience to engage more in order to achieve the campaign goals. The main purpose of the ad format is to convey the brand message clearly and convincingly to its potential customers.
Why Is Ad Format Important?
The right format of advertisement can determine the success of your ad campaign.
Listing down the key factors of why ad format matters so much.
Maximizes Attention Span
Highly impactful ad format increases brand recall by capturing audience attention for a longer time span.
Enhanced Performance
A few specific formats, like creating engaging content aligned with the business goal, can convince customers to take purchase actions.
Better User Experience
When an appropriate ad format is chosen that suits the user interaction process and keeps the user focused, avoiding disruption, thus improving the overall user experience.
Optimizes Budget
A well-selected ad format model boosts ROI by reducing invalid impressions on uninterested customers.
Proper Targeting
Selecting an ad format that is suitable for the relevant platforms (social media, YouTube, websites) and for potential customers guarantees the ad is viewed with attention, not annoyance.
Types of Ad Format
Businesses can select from a variety of ad formats, each with unique benefits specific to their business goals:
Display Ads
This is more like the conventional banner that can be static or animated, ideal for reaching out to new customers and retargeting the existing ones. It is simple, effortless, and fast consumption for viewers.
Native Ads
They look quite aesthetic and are best suited for brand storytelling that needs no interruptions.
Video Ads
This format is considered to be the most effective way to engage potential customers. They mostly appear on social media channels, and if the content is compelling enough, it increases conversion rates.
Carousel Ads
They are highly interactive ad formats that allow advertisers to display up to 10 photos or videos to the audience at one go. Here, each template (photo or video) has its own link, description, price, feature, and offers mentioned. This helps the audience to view more products and info at one go and thus increases the click-through rate (CTR) by 80%.
Social Media Formats
Ads are structured and designed as per the social media platform norms with suitable sizes, formats, and engaging content to encourage audiences to take purchase action.
Search Ads
They are mostly the sponsored ads listed on top of the search engines, intended for those who are specifically looking for your brand, products, or information. It is best to pair this ad on the site’s landing page to make it a continuation of the user’s search query.
Rich Media Ads
They are the combination of video, animation, and clickable features that make the ad format very interactive. This type of ad format offers a far more engaging and immersive experience than regular formats due to its dynamic nature, which may draw viewers in and encourage action.
How to Choose the Right Ad Format?
Now that you know how important ad formats are, and you are ready to create one for your ad, make sure you select what aligns best with your business. Here are a few key points to follow to select which ad format will work for your campaign.
Define Your Ad Goal
Your Ad campaign goal will help to select the suitable ad format. First and foremost, define the advertising goal, whether it is about gaining new customers, generating leads, retargeting existing customers, or driving sales. A well-defined objective can give you a clear picture of the required ad format.
Know Your Target Audience
You need to analyse and understand your target customers' actions and choices. Their behavioural patterns and preferences determine the ad format. Study whether your target group is more focused on social media, search engines, or mobile apps, and choose Ad Format according to the platforms.
Consider What You’re Offering
Depending on what you are offering to the consumers, whether it is a product and what type of product, or whether you are offering any service and what type of service, all these determine the ad format. Let's say you are selling costumes, for which images and carousel ads are great. But if you are selling home cleaning services, you will need video ad formats.
Test and Optimize
Do not stick to a single ad format; keep on experimenting and testing which ad format is working best for your campaign. You may also use AI tools to automatically test ad formats in real time to check which ad format your audiences are responding to better.
Conclusion
You can definitely flash ads to your target audiences, but what’s important is that your ads are formatted properly to grab their attention and hold them to drive conversions. The format you choose for your ads has a big impact on how your ad campaign will perform. A format that is not appropriate may not be able to hold the audience's interest, which could lower engagement and conversions.
However, making sure your content is conveyed in a way that is most suitable for your target audience and presented in the proper format can improve the performance of your campaign. Better outcomes and increased relevance are guaranteed when the ad format is in line with your goals, target audience interests, and content.
We at 3Mads collaborate closely with businesses to produce advertisements that not only suit the platform but are also appealing and relevant to the target audience's interests.