Why Rich Media is on the Minds of Marketers Everywhere

In our fast-paced world, marketers continuously innovate to attract customers to their brand. Rich media provides a dynamic method of advertising that draws people in.

Consumers see so much advertising in their day that they often develop “banner blindness”. Easily ignored traditional marketing methods let people simply scroll past. Rich media ads grab attention as something unusual.

What is Rich Media?

Rich media refers to advertising with an interactive aspect. Adverts can include multimedia like video or audio and standard features like text and images.

This form of marketing puts audience involvement at the core of its design. Engagement with ads like this increases brand awareness, and they can outperform standard ads by 267%! (Adform, 2014).

The Benefits of Rich Media

Traditional adverts are less expensive, quicker, and easier to create than rich media. However, the benefits far outweigh the extra cost, time, and effort required.

1. Higher clickthrough rates – rich media entices users to click on ads more. Research done by Blue Nile Research in 2015 found that clickthroughs increased by a whopping 13% when using rich media.
2. Versatility – rich media gives your campaign diversity which helps determine your target audience’s preferences.
3. Insight – videos and other aspects allow you more metrics to track ad success, such as video watch times.

Types of Rich Media

Due to the diversity of the content used in rich media, there are different ad types. Unlike classic static adverts, these ad formats engage consumers and present to them throughout their web experience. Knowing the various ad forms gives you the tools to pick the right option for your target audience.

Banner Ads

Banner ads come in two forms, in-banner and expandable banner ads.

Like traditional banners, in-banner ads show up the same way. The difference is their interactive elements. They can contain video, audio, animation and even have slide or scroll options. In-banner ads do not move, and consumers can scroll past them easily.

Expandable ads do just what they say. When a consumer clicks on them, they expand.

Interstitial Ads

These ads are commonly used on mobile apps to make use of transitional points. Interstitial ads are full screen and cover the interface beneath them. They are subject to strict guidelines set by Google to prevent user experience disruption.

Lightbox

Lightbox ads often start as a small square on a site’s sidebar. They expand when users click on them and use multimedia to grab attention. They usually have scroll or slide options or other features that prompt consumer interaction.

Pushdown Ads

These seem similar to expandable banner ads. If a user hovers over or clicks on aspects of the ad which interest them, these expand. While they present like expandable ads, they do not change in size. They simply push down webpage content.

Slider Ads

These are the ads that sit in your bottom right corner and move with you as you scroll. As they align with the text that a consumer is reading, these ads often garner better engagement. Slider ads are persistent without being disruptive.

How to Incorporate Rich Media

Any decision on incorporating rich media will depend on your campaign goals. These will dictate which ad form you use and which features will best suit your target audience.

Famous Digital Media Tips for Using Rich Media

Here are our top tips for creating a rich media ad if you are new to the game.

1. Assess Your Competition – Looking at your competitors’ ads can give you an idea of what your target audience responds to.
2. Pick a Strategy – Assess your campaign goals and look back at your previous campaigns to remind yourself what gets engagement.
3. Decide on Your Creative Features – Pick the multimedia types you want to use and decide whether to create them in-house or outsource.
4. No Graphic Designer? No Problem – To save on costs, several online tools can help you create a rich media ad. An example is Google’s Rich Media Gallery.
5. Preview is Crucial – You must preview your ad before submitting it to ensure all features work and meet your platform’s guidelines.

If all this seems a bit overwhelming, there’s no need to worry. At Famous Digital Media, we are fully equipped to provide you with a rich media strategy perfectly suited to your brand goals.