Do Consumers See Digital Display Ads?
No one seems to question if the eyes drift to an ad in the newspaper or in a magazine. However, in the digital space there are so many theories about the new media.
Why all the fuss? Because we can really measure and the numbers are smaller than the total audience. We’ve all known that some people don’t see all the ads in print and some people go to the bathroom during the commercial break on TV. But now that we actually can measure, there seem to be more philosophies on effectiveness and whether you can actually brand online.
Amperage has been using eye-tracking studies for more than two years to determine eye flow and user experience on webpages, but a new eye-tracking study by Meditative has been completed on digital display ads. And the answer to the question, do people really see digital display ads is, YES!
Here are the highlights:
- Leaderboard ads are the most effective (by 25%) over box ads in various locations. Leaderboard ads are the horizontal ads across the top of a page.
- Skyscraper ads were viewed longer than leaderboard ads (by 80%). Skyscraper ads are the long, vertical ads usually on the right-hand side of the page.
- Above the fold still matters. There is a “fold” just like in a newspaper (I suppose there is one even in TV newscasts at the halfway point). 50% more ads were viewed above the fold than below the fold.
- Relevancy also matters: If people are interested in your message, they are 80% more likely to see the ad. Above the fold ads were also viewed 82% longer than below the fold.
That last point may see like an obvious statement, but if you don’t have small children or grandchildren, you don’t see the diaper ads—no matter what medium you use.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.