Break Through The Noise With Your Ad Creative

Ad Creative

The creative component of an advertisement has traditionally been a key part – if not “the” key part – of ensuring a campaign message achieves cut through in print, TV and radio. This however has not always been the case in digital adverting, with the artwork sometimes being secondary to achieving reach, frequency, targeting and – the all-important – lead generation.

As time goes on however, and we move beyond static banner ads and repurposed 30-second TV spots into more sophisticated digital advertising techniques, we are seeing a fundamental shift in focus, with creative and messaging needing to be tailored to the individual customer.

Digital capabilities have pushed advertising into new and exciting areas and we are finally arriving at the marketing industry’s long-time goal: advertising that is highly engaging and incredibly relevant to the consumer. Right message, right person, right time.

Welcome to the age of dynamic creative

Research from Nielsen Catalina Solutions based on nearly 500 studies from 2016 to 2017, shows that on average 47 percent of a sale can be attributed to the advertising creative, across both TV and digital.

In addition to this, consumers today demand tailor-made content. They expect it to be personal in ways that were unachievable in the past, but are now being unlocked with advances in technology, the proliferation of mobile devices and advancements in data utilisation.

Dynamic Creative is advertising that is developed in real time using customer data, combining and aligning to a myriad of external factors – such as location, the weather at that location, the time of day – to create relevant and personal messages that speak directly to that individual.

The message in our dynamic creative is key. Advertising can reach consumers at the right time and right moment but if the messaging is off then we fall on deaf ears. For example, running a promotion or retail message to someone just entering their buying journey will have less of an impact than a product awareness advert – that is, selling the features and benefits. Similarly, pushing entry level small vehicles to new families looking to upgrade is the right audience (we know they are potentially in market), the right moment, but wrong message.

Having an effective creative strategy in place that targets all consumers with exactly the right message takes time, planning and a detailed level of execution, however it is an investment that can deliver some excellent results.

So, how can dealers get dynamic creative right?

We start small. Focus on the immediate: the customers visiting your website, engaging with you already. Move away from simply retargeting a set of generic sales messages to everyone who has visited your site. If they take the time to view your stock then aim to put that specific vehicle (or similar) in front of them again, across the channels we know they will visit: Facebook, news sites and video platforms. By doing that we start to see that right message, right person, right time approach take hold.

Our top tips for Digital Creative

  • Data & Personalisation
    Take advantage of data and personalisation. Retarget to consumers the specific vehicle they have looked at on your site or a third-party site like Trade Me.
  • Platform-Specific Campaigns
    Make sure your campaigns are customised to the platform you are running on. Want to run the manufacturer produced TVC across social & programmatic? Then keep the central theme (retail offer, message) but tailor the ad to fit the platforms specs.
  • Put Your Best Foot Forward
    Make your creative sing. Consumers are much more responsive to digital messaging. You want your creative to be representative of the expertise, experience and professionalism they can expect when they walk onto your showroom floor.

It is fair to say that when aligned with data and technology, the better and more tailored the creative, the more effective the ad. Great creative with a good message targeted at the right customer will showcase your product, dealership, and retail offer in the best light, and deliver you the strongest campaign performance in an age where consumers are being faced with advertising messages everywhere they turn.