Advertising and not having a goal for your format is a surefire way to spend tons of money on guesswork. When it comes to spending, with formats ranging from push notifications to banner displays, native placements and popunder ads, the chosen format makes all the difference in whether someone sees your message, clicks through, or scrolls on without a second thought.
Unfortunately, many people find their formats based on what’s familiar (which is often nothing more than the last ad agency they worked with or their own history of placements) instead of what’s appropriate for the goals. Different needs exist for brand awareness vs direct response offers, ecommerce flash sales versus B2B lead generation funnels.
Understanding the best means to achieve the end goal involves knowing what works best for each format, where they fall along the customer journey and how to align true intent with each possibility. This playbook will guide you through that process.
What Each Format Actually Does
Before matching goals to various formats it’s important to understand what’s available. Each ad format does something different, and trying to pretend they all do the same thing is a surefire way to waste budget.
Push notifications are more direct and appear on someone’s device while they’re not browsing. They’re instant. They’re personal. They can’t be ignored, although they also require someone to give prior permission so your target audience must already have some sort of interest.
Banners appear in-browser on target sites – static or motion picture – in addition to actual call-to-action screens that require someone to get past their impulse to be blind to them in order to get the full offer potential. They’re visible everywhere – people have learned to ignore them unless they’re appealing. Yet, as an ad network, they lend themselves nicely to brand awareness potentials across similar niche sites.
Native ads attempt to masquerade as useful content. They don’t look as much like ads as they do articles, recommendations or sponsored suggestions, so people interact with them differently (they don’t have the “this is an ad” cognitive response built into their view).
Finally, popunder ads exist in the background – behind the open tab – and become visible only when someone closes their browser. They won’t immediately hijack a person’s experience but over time they will be seen. Those who are interested in getting an offer that requires second glance should look into how a dependable popunder network can deliver results.
Brand Awareness Goals
The goal of brand awareness is simply getting your name out there for as many appropriate people as possible which means turning toward formats that are about reach and visibility rather than clicks.
Banner ads work here – not for clicks but appeal – as they can be placed across multiple niche sites so that by chance someone who’s in need of your services will see your brand enough times to become familiar. This is frequency over conversion rate.
Similarly, natives work well for awareness as they don’t look like ads. If someone sees a sponsored article or suggested content that actually provides value, they’re more inclined to remember it. Yet if it’s masquerading as good content without useful information, people might still feel tricked and negatively associate with the brand.
Push notifications can work for awareness efforts as well, provided you already have an engaged audience that’s given consent. It’s not about awareness, it’s about providing resources for those who already know and love you so they’re less likely to forget.
Direct Response/Conversion Goals
If the goal is sales, sign-ups or downloads – immediate action – then the format should create urgency and feasibility for doing so immediately.
Push notifications get people’s attention right away. If someone has an app downloaded and gets a notification about a flash sale on leggings they’re browsing that very day at 70% off within a 10-minute period, they can respond before supplies run out.
Similarly, popunder ads work for direct response purposes as well – especially if the offer needs further assistance. If someone is deep in their browsing thinking they’re done with their search before they close out that window, it makes sense to encourage them with one more offer since they now have sufficient attention in a focused state. Generally popunder ads work best for slightly more complex offers because they get complete attention for a moment.
Natives can drive conversions as well if they’ve been set up as educational first. For example, “how-tos” that demonstrate value before they ask for something help craft a longer acquisition process – but usually help yield higher qualified leads.
Lead Gen/Acquisition
Acquisition efforts require a different mindset of telling why someone should give their email out before it’s truly obvious why they should. When it comes to lead gen you need interest.
Banners can work if your offer is good enough but website bleed (people trained against seeing them without truly appealing graphics) can work against your favor as people need to see something attractive enough to want to share their information and get them to your landing page.
Natives shine as more context is provided – in writing – for someone to feel comfortable sharing their information. A well written native ad explaining what’s in it for them will outstrip any generic banner any day.
Push notifications can work well here if you’ve created some rapport before sharing contact information. Download this free resource! Sign up for this webinar! If they’ve opted in once, one more time ask isn’t a big leap.
Retargeting Goals
Getting people back after they’ve already left your site requires consistently staying top of mind (but not being annoying) so choosing a format is essential.
Banners are the classic retargeting format. Someone visits your site and then leaves but sees your ads across other sites in which they happen upon. They create familiarity through frequency of they’re done respectfully yet it’s also at risk of annoying someone who’s seen the same thing fifteen times unless solid creative provides intrigue without feeling patronized.
Push notifications work quite well if you have been granted access – “Hey! We noticed you were looking at those red shoes yesterday! You still interested? We saved them with that 10% discount we offered you.” This closes the deal.
Popunder ads can bring people back in after they’ve exited if they’ve been sitting idle in the background waiting to reveal themselves. Ideally popunders that come way too fast feel patronizing but if enough time passes it can allow someone reflective thinking time.
Format Testing
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to any campaign which is why testing everything is crucial! The best way forward before using serious budgets is starting small across different formats first.
Use what makes logical sense based on goal intention but never assume that’s what’s best because sometimes it’s tested when it’s not meant to be tested and comes out trumps regardless. Popunders might convert better than expected for brand awareness when they’re not intended to; natives might drive direct sales more than expected when they’re not “supposed” to?
Track performance by each format – for example expected click-through rates but pay attention to conversions, cost per acquisition and return on ad spend as well; sometimes a format might have a worse CTR with higher conversion quality that’s a better fit overall.
Multi-Format Opportunities
Sophisticated advertisers don’t just stop at one – but use several, either in succession or simultaneously where each adds its own value along the way.
For example, achieving brand awareness through banners or natives first, push notifications third and popunders second for those who took the offer but didn’t convert creates the perfect progression. Each serves at different times for different initiatives where it makes sense.
While this requires more planning and coordination, it also creates the opportunity for better timing and better suited messages if each format isn’t saying the same thing everywhere all the time.
Read More: Retargeting Ads Explained: How to Bring Lost Customers Back
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, choosing ad formats isn’t about what’s “best” but what’s best out of what’s available based on what’s being attempted right now.
Brand awareness? Go wide with banners/natives; direct sales? Push/popunder deliver; lead generation? Native/targeted push work well; retargeting? Use any format you’ve got access to that won’t annoy people.
Don’t pick formats arbitrarily or because you’re comfortable; match them to goals, test accordingly, adjust based on data and allow average campaigns become tremendously profitable ones.