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How are rich media ads different from other ad formats?

By Jenny Stanley | Managing director

Appetite Creative

|

The Drum Network article

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January 19, 2021 | 5 min read

For those looking to shake things up and elevate their ad game, consider different ad formats or creating rich media ads.

William Randolph Hearst

Given that these are our areas of expertise, we've decided to share our knowledge to help you understand what rich media ads are; what types exist that might befit your needs; and the difference compared to other ad formats; as well as some real examples of rich media ads that we've created.

What are rich media ads?

Rich media ads refer to a type of digital advertisement that includes engaging interactive features such as video or audio.

Text ads may sell using words alone but display ads and elements can sell through their use of pictures and other engaging formats. Basically put, rich media ads are more complex but they allow for greater creative freedom - and provide a medium for you to capitvate audiences beyond text and simple display ads.

Types of rich media ads

  • Banner (the most basic rich media ad format)

  • Dynamic creatives (can change creative content spontaneously, either manually or based on content rules)

  • Expanding (creative that expands beyond its original dimensions over the top of other page or app content)

  • Interstitial (floats on top of a page's content or appears as a full-screen ad during natural transition points in mobile apps)

  • Lightbox (expanding creative works on desktop computers with a two-second mouseover and on mobile devices by tapping)

  • Multi-directional expanding (MDE) (expands in multiple directions, depending on where the ad appears in the page)

  • Push-down (expanding creative that pushes down the content of a webpage when it expands, moving the web page out of the way to display the ad)

  • Video (can be included in all other formats)

  • VPAID (Video Player-Ad Interface Definition; creative displayed in an in-stream video player and typically includes video content)

The differences to other ad formats

By using rich media ads instead of just sticking to regular ad formats, you can experiment with innovative and creative ways to send your message.

If you've never used rich media ads before, have a go at exploring these formats to advertise your brand in a way that can lead to a more engaged user experience, which could translate to a higher interaction rate. Rich media ads can also result in increased conversions, click-throughs, view rates and better metrics than traditional ads.

While rich media ads come in a range of diverse formats, regular ads only come in a single .html, .gif, .png, or .jpg file format, sized at 200K or less and without the capability to expand the file or add a video. Furthermore, regular ads can usually only track a single click-through link.

Rich media ads we’ve created

At Appetite, we've developed a variety of rich media ads using up-to-date technology to create ad formats that go beyond the standard banner. Custom ad units, like our liquid skins, allow rich formats to be served as programmatic or direct advertising - which is guaranteed to drive better results.

Rich media ads inevitably help clients showcase their products in a fresh and appealing way.

For example, we worked with jewellery brand, Pandora, to implement a WhatsApp element into an ad with a mobile interscroller product placement. We've also created a shimmer mobile ad for adidas which succeeded at catching consumers' attention when they were scrolling on their phones. Given the high interaction rate through rich media ads, it's worth trying them out.

Give us a call if you need ahand

It can be intimidating stepping into the unknown rich media ad territory, so if you need a hand making your ad stand out using rich media ads, feel free to get in touch.

Jenny Stanley, managing director at Appetite Creative.

Marketing

Content by The Drum Network member:

Appetite Creative

The Connected Experiences Studio - We connect your Brand with Today's Audiences!

We are a multi-award-winning creative technology studio with a passion to bring advertising to life, inspire others through creativity and innovation and deliver results.

Visit our website on https://appetitecreative.com/

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