You are only as good as your users’ experience. If the user cringes at the site of your advertisement–and that’s not the correct response–you may have a huge problem. FreeWheel employees Ying Wang and Geoff Wolinetz spoke about the not-so-sweet spots to avoid problematic results of advertising. Repetition (ad fatigue), ad clutter, latency, poor creative quality and reach out experience are the main drivers of poor user experience. Yet, there is a magic balance that always changes among the triad of persons to please: publisher goals, user experience and brand/buyer requirements. A company needs a balance for a site to work and a campaign to excel.
This magic spot depends on the product, placement and audience, as does all advertising. Wang explained the quantification of the user experience. Content has increased two fold from 2013 to 2015, but dropped back down in 2016. Too much content can be overwhelming and deteriorate the audience’s interest, but not enough information defeats the purpose of an advertisement. In a study, the results showed the most popular placement was one advertisement would show in a single episode’s time, rarely were three advertisements seen in this time span, but within 24 hours of watching (the typical binge style watching) the numbers for three advertisements in a viewing time increased from six percent to eleven percent and a single advertisement was popular, but less likely. Yes, these numbers seem tiny, but in retrospect it is a huge increase!
Alterations and adjustments have to be made when problems arise. From the publisher’s perspective, problems such as product team receiving complaints; finances increasing revenue targets; agencies require a third party tracking, which leads to latency; and finally distribution and marketing teams need to guarantee inventory shares. It is then have the agency and brand perspective that different problems emerge, frequency goals, but limiting the repetition so they do not ruin impression in the audience’s mind. On the check list for making close to perfect ads are content, platform and audience. The what, where and who really dictate benefits and company exposure.
Wolinetz spoke about speaking. His expertise in the matter, as he explained, the importance of talking is vital. Innovation is at a stand still when communication is not utilized. Understand, align and collaborate are all very important in informing. Communication creates connections. Connections are key to success in this industry! His other recommendations also included educator and employers evaluate their business, connections and checks and balances (knowing what needs help and what is stable).
The user experience is complex and cannot be summarized simply, but as an advertiser we are also consumers in this world. Wolinetz touched on his own experience of advertisers having a higher tolerance and patience when it comes to watching commercials, but we are human and we do get annoyed! Wang stated the market is growing so much, but we need to thing more about optimization. If we do not optimize we will improve the industry! A final note they left the audience with is the fact that advertising props up media consumption, we need to make sure that frame work gives the viewer a good experience or the whole structure will crumble.