While dropping off my boys up from summer camp in New England, I felt an unusual sense of peace combined with that uneasy tug of absence. Of course, saying goodbye to our teens for a couple of weeks was part of it, but that was not the real reason. The reason for my paradoxical feelings????? There are no roadside billboards in Vermont! This ban maintained for more than 50 years in the Green Mountain State provides refuge from the visual clutter that has taken over our landscapes—and our digital experiences. As a marketer, I am not in favor of banning all advertising, but I do know that ad clutter can negatively impact your brand. A study conducted by the Journal of Advertising Research found that “Clutter was a significant and large-scale determinant of sales’ rate of decay. At high levels of clutter, almost no level of advertising affected market share.” When there is too much clutter, your message is just noise, with no resonance. In the programmatic world, how do you ensure your message breaks through and is in the right context adjacent to the right content? Here are recommendations on how to “Marie Kondo” your brand and your messages:
1) Use Native ads - with GREAT content and placement.
Useful information breaks through whether it has a "sponsor" slug or not. At mediate.ly, we don't recommend the native ads that are clustered at the bottom of the page where your content is right next to a foot fungus native ad. Or those that all have the same dimensions and style. Instead, the best performers are nestled within the native form and function of the web site, organic to the rest of the content. Such as those provided by TripleLift.
2) Include Connected TV in your plan, if you have video creative assets.
You won't be competing on a web page with multiple ad units running concurrently. Your message will have the space to breathe, and to connect emotionally with the viewer. Plus, you can retarget on that spot with a clickable banner to drive actions and measure ROI, in addition to attributing campaign conversions directly back to the TV ad itself.
3) When using Pre-roll videos, be sure to buy premium sizes.
Videos with a 16:9 aspect ratio (1920x1080 for 1080p or 1280x720 for 720p) offers more flexibility across many player sizes, or your ad could be a thumbnail pop-up on a page – essentially the equivalent to a gnat buzzing in your ear.
4) Spend the time to get your context right – before launching the campaign.
Mediate.ly has found keyword-targeted campaigns to be highly effective. Ads target sites/content based on relevant keywords or target users based on search engine activity. Building highly curated Private Marketplace (PMP) buys is also highly effective, benefiting from the programmatic delivery, while maintaining control over the environment.