The Seven Principles of Effective Online Ads

As online media garners more attention from advertisers, and as online media budgets continue to grow, so should the respect for great online creative. As the medium evolves so do the questions from advertisers regarding strategy and results -- which is a good thing. It's why I love interactive media: it is intelligent media.

In this atmosphere of growth, so too is the pressure for ad campaigns to be ever more accountable -- even more than they already are!

Back in the day of banners and buttons, there was not much room or technology to allow for complex messages. But as the industry advances with new ad units, new technologies and new media strategies that stand out, it's important to understand how consumers are reacting to our ad messages -- especially as we continue to push for larger creative budgets.

From a media perspective; great strategy, contextually-relevant placements and low CPMs are not enough. A great media strategy is only half the battle. Understanding how different online creative units directly affect the consumer, and how they react to the exposure, is just as important.

Could it be that standing out is as simple as using the right ad unit for the right message?

For this reason, Ignited Minds, CNET/GameSpot and Roper Starch teamed up in December 2004 for the first-ever online ad effectiveness study. The specific purpose of the study was to give advertisers some guidelines to help maximize the effectiveness of their online creative.

Shortly thereafter, CNET conducted a second study that focused on the consumer electronic and computer component industry, thus marking the second study conducted by Roper Starch.

The GameSpot survey-based study tested the effectiveness of 100 videogame ads in various sizes and executions, including IAB standard ad units -- Leaderboards, Skyscrapers and MPUs (also known as large rectangles), as well as two GameSpot specific ad units -- Big Screens and Widescreens.

On the CNET side, 33 online ads were included in the test with just the three IAB standard units.

Across both studies, an average of 469 interviews per ad was completed for a total of 8,592 respondents.

Creative directors take heed. While the results of the study showed clear patterns in responses to different creative techniques, they are not meant to be absolutes, only guidelines. There are any number of reasons why an ad will get noticed (popularity of a product can be one of them). All this study suggests is that if you take these guidelines into consideration, the probability of your ads getting noticed is likely to increase.

These patterns can be pared down into several distinct principles for online ad creative.