Mastering Rich Media Advertising: The Ultimate 101 Guide

It seems that no matter what you do, there’s always someone standing in the wings ready to yell their opinions at you which, obviously, you’re supposed to take as gospel truth.

We promise not to yell at you. But we also promise to maybe gently persuade you in a certain direction with your online marketing. And that direction is utilizing rich media in your digital advertising.

If you’re new to the advertising industry, you’ll know (possibly from painful experience) just how many crazy terms there are in our world. In this post, we’ll be exploring the buzz-worthy term: rich media advertising.

If you’re asking yourself “… what even is rich media and why do I need to include it in my digital assets?” You’re in the right place!

Let’s start at the beginning with a look at all rich media entails.

What is Rich Media?

Rich media advertising is basically an ad format that includes features like audio, video ad content or streaming, games, or any element in an ad that allows and allows the user to interact instantly with the content in an ad on a web page. Often times, rich media banners offer better audience metrics and can support advanced functions like expandable ads that act upon hover or rollover. Of course, to house all this activity, a rich media creative’s file size generally exceeds 200K. And if you’re thinking that a file size like that is going to slow the page load time down and ruin the experience of the user, well – you’d be wrong!

Thanks to some advanced technology in digital advertising called polite download technology, running these ads on any page is a snap. Polite load sees a small initial file loaded to its area on the site and then once the site is completely loaded – your ad hits the page in all its glory!

That’s all nice and good but . . .

What benefits does it offer when used in my ads?

LOTS.

For example, standard display ads usually track the click-through rate of a banner ad. Which, in case you’re late to the banner game, aren’t a great way of measuring their efficacy. Rich media offers metrics such as audience behaviour, number of interactions, exits, video completions, and others. Rich media allows you to get a much fuller and more in-depth understanding of what your ad did once it was published in the real world.

Not only that, your customers are actually more likely – some say up to three times more – to click on a rich media ad than a standard banner as they attract and capture attention with its options for interactivity.

Clicks are one thing. But are rich media ads reaching the people you’d want? YES! Not only are they reaching the intended audience in a more engaging way, online advertisers have also reported that they obtain 297% more views than traditional banner ads alone because rich media isn’t ‘just another ad’ – it’s further proof of the ever-evolving abilities of the internet to surprise us.

These ads don’t rip users away from away from the site they’re on. They simply pose as an intriguing rest-stop in their digital travels that creates a positive impression as the expression of the ad often adds value to the user experience.

In the ultra-saturated world of online advertising, utilizing rich media in your ads gives your brand an invaluable edge that translates into one important thing: increased brand awareness. And an increase of amazed entertained viewers.

Aren’t you glad you took our advice?!

PS – Rich media is a big part of creating dynamic campaigns. Another plus!