In today’s world, advertising is everywhere – on TV, in magazines, on the streets, and especially across digital platforms.
With so much information vying for attention, how do we stand out from the noise? More importantly, how do we get customers to engage with our brand in a meaningful way?
Enter Google’s Engagement Ads. According to Google, users in 2014 are 10 times more likely to interact with these ads compared to standard GDN banners. Engagement Ads, also known as Rich Media ads, offer more interactivity than traditional display ads, giving users control over whether to engage.
Instead of simply seeing an ad, users can choose to open or expand it by hovering over the ad for two seconds. This reduces accidental clicks and significantly improves Click-Through Rates (CTR). Plus, advertisers only pay when the ad is expanded, saving money.
In this model, clicks become “engagements”, and CTR transforms into the engagement rate. Unlike Cost-Per-Click (CPC) pricing, Engagement Ads use a cost-per-engagement (CPE) model, making it more efficient for advertisers seeking deeper interactions.
Types of Engagement Ads
- Hover-To-Play: Appears as a standard banner but expands to show a rich media video with sound and motion. The creative expands to either 300×250 or 336×280.
- Lightbox Ads: These start as standard banners and expand to near-full-screen size. Lightbox ads come in three formats:
- Standard: Starts with Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) sizes and expands to 900×400.
- Masthead: Uses your YouTube masthead for greater reach in a Lightbox format.
- Catalog: Digital catalogs that use annotations to deep link directly to specific URLs on your website.
Case Study: Private Property
Private Property, one of the first South African companies to adopt Lightbox catalogs and Hover-To-Play ads, used these formats to build brand awareness for their “Where do you want to live?” competition.
Participants voted for their favorite city or the place they’d most like to live. The campaign was a resounding success, boasting high interaction rates and driving significant traffic increases to the Private Property website. Sessions rose by 9%, and the number of users grew by 7%.
So, should you include Engagement Ads in your display strategy? It depends on your objectives. While GDN banners remain key for reach and unique views, if driving user interaction is your goal, Google’s Engagement Ads are an excellent choice.
