Display advertising trends: The 2019 infographic
Display advertising is thriving in Europe.
But before you go any further, consider checking out our 2020 Display Advertising Trends infographic – available to download now!
Anyhow, back to 2019…
According to eMarketer’s latest figures, it is set to grow 14.7% across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK in 2019, hitting $17.3 billion in total ad spend.
Yet, surprisingly, engaging consumers via display advertising is still a challenge for today’s marketer.
To support you with this challenge, we have analysed Bannerflow platform data to provide you with useful insights for improved display ad conversion in 2019.
Read on to get started.
- How adding video to your display ads gets results
- Which industries are benefiting from personalisation
- Why building mobile first is now essential
- Which banner sizes are the most popular
- View 2019 display advertising trends infographic
1. How adding video to your display ads gets results
Use of video continues to grow across digital advertising and this is reflected in the rising use of in-banner video. What’s more, our data found strong evidence of increased consumer engagement via the use of video in display ads.
What is in-banner video?
In-banner video is a video clip that exists within a display ad. It uses the space provided for an HTML5 banner ad to deliver a video that is either part of the HTML5 animation or provides the viewer with the choice to view a full video.
Display ads with a video have 18.4% better CTR
When compared to all other types of banner produced by brands in our platform, display ads that contain a video outperform every other type of banner ad.
Three European industries lead the way when it comes to in-banner video
Telecom (27.2%) proved to be the biggest user of in-banner video, followed by iGaming (7.2%) and Travel (6.4%).
Telecom’s use of in-banner video is not surprising given that a number of leading telecom brands are pushing the boundaries of in-banner video. For example, Nordic brands Hallon and Nova have produced some of the best in-house display campaigns around – simply by using Bannerflow’s HTML5 video widgets.
Our take on video usage
Digital video is growing and a lot of budget is moving towards it — as confirmed by the stats.
Viewers are consuming more online video content, which makes certain premium formats more sought after – and therefore, expensive for advertisers. In-banner video offers marketers a cost-effective way of reaching a target audience.
2. Why you need to use dynamic creative for personalisation
These banner ads use live data feeds to offer personalisation and relevancy that few forms of digital advertising can match. However, in our opinion not enough industries are making use of dynamic display strategies.
What is dynamic creative?
Dynamic creative refers to display advertising that adapts to the viewer. These display ads are tailored in real-time to show specific messages and/or ad creative for different consumers. For example, geolocation data can be used to inform a data feed, which then shows a specific offer based on a consumer’s location.
Only 17.3% of the served display advertising used dynamic data
For today’s marketer, this seems extraordinarily low. Essentially, 82.7% of all display ads could benefit from personalisation and enriched performance through the use of dynamic content. This could either be through the use of live odds, the latest offers, or product feeds, etc.
Just a handful of industries regularly benefit from data-driven display campaigns
Specifically, we found that while a few industries lead the way when it comes to data usage, some data-rich industries, such as travel, have yet to combine their data and display advertising effectively.
These European countries have the greatest share of dynamic banner usage
Interestingly, marketers in Italy (20,5%), Germany (17.6%) and Norway (12.4%) are the greatest users of dynamic content in display advertising.
Why is this important to marketers? Well, dynamic strategies, such as dynamic creative optimisation (DCO) have the potential to transform display ad performance. In particular, DCO is a display tactic we expect more brands to use in 2019.
Our take on dynamic creative
iGaming is advanced in its display advertising practice, which is a reason for their high usage of dynamic creative. Plus, the industry often advertises in connection with live events – or is affected by live events. And in those circumstances the agility offered by dynamic creative is a necessity.
Based on our data other industries, such as travel, could learn a lot from the way iGaming uses data feeds – with only 6.3% of travel banners featuring the technology.
3. How leisure time is driving mobile display ad growth
Mobile advertising is growing across all formats of digital advertising, and display is no exception. Yet, there is now clear evidence of mobile as the preferred leisure time (non-working time) display format.
What are mobile display ads?
Mobile display ads are banners that are optimised for mobile devices. They are specific sizes of responsive HTML5 display ads that feature copy and creative elements tailored for mobile interactions with consumers.
The summer of 2018 saw a 10% jump in quarterly mobile ad volumes
Furthermore, Bannerflow’s data also recorded upward shifts of 5.6% for the period of the Winter Olympics and 6.4% for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Indicating that for both holidays and major events, paying extra attention to mobile formats is a display advertising tactic worth pursuing.
55.2% of weekend ad impressions are on mobile devices
Across European display advertising, mobile usage is rising. Yet, it is only at the weekends where mobile has become the preferred device. Therefore, the challenge for marketers is to schedule and control which sizes to publish and when.
Our take on mobile usage
Interestingly, (and perhaps obviously) the smartphone is now the primary tool to access the internet when outside the office.
Moreover, it suggests that marketers who run campaigns during weekends need to pay extra attention to mobile sizes, and if they haven’t already, create ad campaigns mobile-first.
4. Which banner sizes are the most popular?
Finally, our last piece of display advertising insight: Europe’s most popular sizes of ad.
And to marketers familiar with display advertising there are no surprises. Yet, this does not mean there isn’t a strategic advantage to be found.
Why are there so many different sizes of display ads?
Each display ad size or format is designed to fit a particular space on a webpage – known as ad inventory. Over time some sizes of ad inventory have become more popular and expensive to buy. There are also regional variations in size popularity.
The top five banner sizes by impression volume
There are very clearly five sizes that dominate European display advertising. However, by using sizes that are less popular, savvy marketers can reduce costs and still target the same consumers.
Our take on banner sizes
When using a creative management platform producing different ad sizes is no longer a limitation. Therefore, take the opportunity to consider less popular sizes, as this will:
- Make it easier to deliver your campaigns – leave buying impressions to your demand side platform (DSP).
- Cause your cost per mille (CPM) to drop since the competition is lower for less common sizes.
- Enable your DSP to perform better since it can learn from more sizes.
5. Bannerflow display trends: The 2019 Infographic
Featuring fresh statistics and expert analysis from Bannerflow, our infographic highlights the biggest trends affecting European display advertising in 2019.
Keep scrolling to uncover the full picture and find out how your brand can stay ahead of the competition:
Note: All statistics featured in this blog and infographic are based on aggregated and anonymised Bannerflow data for Europe, from January 1st 2018 to December 31st 2018.
Click below to watch our webinar on the future of Display Advertising, in partnership with MarTech!
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