Research from DoubleClick’s Creative Insights on Rich Media report analyzed advertisers using DoubleClick Rich Media ads from January 2008 – July 2008. It suggested that larger creative sizes yield higher click-through rates.
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While the type of ad format and ad creative will depend on the goals of your specific campaign measuring your campaign performance against industry benchmarks will give you a sense of the effectiveness of your campaign and if adjustments need to be made. Click-through rates (CTR) varied by industry, ranging from 0.06% for the Financial Services industry up to 0.17% for the Media/Entertainment industry.
DoubleClick’s research indicates a strong positive correlation between the ad creative size and click-through rate.
Although a larger creative size will tend to produce higher CTRs, ad placement is also a factor in determining campaign performance. Consider the lower rates a Leaderboard (728×90) receives compared to a large rectangle (336×280). This is likely the result of banner blindness with users automatically skipping these ads because of their routine positioning and the higher number of impressions they receive, making them less effective. Whereas the placement of a large rectangle is usually found within the content (In-Page) giving the user more opportunity to click on the ad. It’s also a top performer when it comes to interaction and expansion rates.
Video ads present users with further options to engage with your content. These interactions may not lead to a click-through but will typically yield a higher interaction rate. In-Page Video had an interaction rate of 2.45% compared to In-Page Non-Video’s 1.79% according to the report. Measuring CTRs and Interaction rates against different creative sizes and formatswill help you identify top performers so you can come back and refine your approach when planning the goals of your next interactive marketing campaign.
While bigger is better, their performance may not always measure up.
