Rich media ads are a huge part of making the internet more fun, interesting, and worth a while. They have been around for some time, but recently these ads reached new heights with the HTML5 technology. HTML5 help create unique interactive ads that enlarge, float, play videos, or roll out games as soon as they touch the mouse.
What is rich media advertising?
Rich media ads include interactive elements such as text and images, audio and video. These ads allow you to engage with your audience and increase brand awareness.
Most likely, you’ve seen a banner hovering around a webpage or expanding as soon as your mouse was over it at least once during your life. These banners are not like regular banners, as you may have noticed. These are called rich media ads, and their wide category includes more than just expanding and floating.
Rich media ads take a lot more effort and capital to make. Why? A static ad usually only has three elements: an image, a CTA, and content. Rich media ads can include multiple multimedia elements that allow users to interact in many ways.
So why does a brand use rich media ads for its advertising? Rich media ads are dynamic and engaging in a way other ad types are not. Rich media ads are more interactive and have higher conversions and clickthrough rates.
Rich Media Types
Banner ads
Two types of banner ads are available for rich media: expanding and in-banner. In-banner ads appear as regular banners but have interactive features such as slide/scroll options. You can include audio and animation, as well as videos.
Expanding ads, on the other side, expand after the user takes a specific action (usually a click). Expanding ads can be animated across the page for several seconds with pushdown ads, multidirectional and floating ads.
A floating ad can be a great way for users to pay attention without interrupting their experience.
Interstitial Ads
Interstitial ads – also known as pop-ups or modals – are full-page ads that cover the publisher’s interface. This is often used in mobile apps during transitions in the user flow.
It might appear on a game app if you click “Play again.” Sometimes, an ad might not display an exit button for a few seconds after its initial appearance. This type of ad can be tricky as Google has strict guidelines for how to use it.
Lightbox
Lightbox ads are interactive ads that expand and use a combination of media (images/video, illustrations, etc.) to grab the viewers’ attention.
They work in a similar way to floating ads. They appear small on the sidebar and then expand when a user clicks them. You can then take several actions to interact with the advertisement. This creates a richer ad-viewing experience, but it can take a little more effort to make.
6 Steps To Create Rich Media Ads
Get inspired
It can be useful to look at rich media ads created by other brands and even your competitors if you have never done so before. What kind of rich media ads do they use? Are they using video or text with animation? How does their copy look?
Ask yourself: “How does this particular ad experience work?” This is important because you want to create an experience that resonates with your audience.
As you browse websites, pay more attention to the ads that you see. Start putting together your favorites in a document. This will help you get ideas for your own.
Choose the strategy
Once you have a clear idea of the things you want, it is time to start strategizing. What are your campaign goals? This will help you choose the right creative assets and rich media ads. This will help you to find the best way for your audience to engage.
Take a look at your past ads during this step. What trends are you seeing in your most- and least-performing ads? A good place to start is to review past performance.
Plan your creative assets
Now that you have a better understanding of your strategy, you can start to identify the creative assets needed to execute it. There are three parts to an ad, whether you’re creating interstitial or rich media banner ads.
- Visuals: animations, videos, images, illustrations.
- Content
- Call to Action (CTA).
Don’t forget to include the assets needed for your landing page. Your landing page is the place where users will convert. Keep these things in mind and you will be able to start large, then scale back.
If you decide to use video as your rich media type, will it take place in-house or with an agency outside? Will you use stock footage? Each scenario will require a different set of steps. Before you create an ad, it’s important that you discuss and plan all of these aspects.
Make use of ad creation tools.
You’ll now have all your assets and strategy in place. How do you build an ad? Online tools can be used to create rich media ads if you don’t have an in-house graphic designer.
For example, Google’s Rich Media Gallery. This site allows you to create rich media ads. There are templates that you can use, but you can also modify them with your creative assets.
If you are working with a graphic designer, it is a good idea to meet them in the beginning of the process. They will be able to help you decide if it is possible.
View your ad
Once you’ve created your ad and it’s live, make sure everything runs smoothly. First, ensure that your ad conforms to the guidelines of your advertising platform, like Google Ads.
A majority of ad platforms require approval before you can place your ad on a publisher’s website. You may be able to make any changes and submit it again for approval if your ad gets rejected.
Next, preview your ad and make sure it performs as you expected. Depending on the platform, you may be able to share your preview with others for feedback.
You can track and measure your success.
Once your ad has been created, it is time to run it. Rich media ads can be used on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook.
After you have started running your ads, make sure to keep an eye on their performance and make any necessary adjustments. It’s a good idea to compare static display ads with other types so you can see which one offers the best return on your investment.
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