How to Bring Your Brand Experience to the Next Level on the Open Web
At Outbrain, we have been on the forefront of the native advertising revolution: From text links in the first years of the company over the standard text and image combinations to innovative video formats and large scale branding placements, presented in a highly engaging feed customers know from social media. Marketers now have a broad range of solutions to fit their marketing purposes – from Awareness to Performance.
For the development of our newest format, we listened to the needs of our clients: They wanted an opportunity to tell a brand story and to showcase multiple products in our native feed. With our new Carousel format, advertisers can now choose up to 10 images and take consumers through every step of the buyer journey within one cohesive ad experience.
This is suitable both for awareness campaigns to tell a story with different images and headlines or present different parts of a full campaign. In our most recent case study Red Bull presented the episodes of a newly launched web series in each of the Carousel elements, accelerating interest for multiple audiences. We also saw many performance marketers adopting the format. For example, E-Commerce brands use the format to show multiple products of a certain line or the different parts of a style. They benefit from the extended exposure and the engagement users already show by scrolling through the different elements. The integrated CTA button makes sure to achieve the desired outcome.
How top Advertisers use Carousel
In the successful Beta phase, we could see marketers from various verticals using the format very creatively.
Fortune 500 Companies use our carousel format to either tell a brand story or to show multiple related products. For example, we saw a few Automotive companies already leveraging the awareness and the performance capabilities by either taking the customer on an emotional discovery of the new model or by highlighting a special offer or range to achieve test drive registrations.
Large retailers or fashion brands mainly have the performance part in mind. Carousel is ideally suited to showcase multiple products or promote discounted items and special offers.
Travel brands spotlight multiple travel and hotel offers or use Carousel to promote seasonal or special offers and discounts. Multiple pictures can show all facets of a destination: beaches, nightlife, sport activities or cultural highlights all promoted by a single ad.
Lifestyle brands put focus on both the story aspect and the performance part. We saw some electronic companies going purely for Sales by showing multiple products while others focused on all innovations available in a single smartphone.
With Outbrains interest based targeting, brands can reach their target consumers in the most contextually relevant organic environment. Ad money is spent in the most efficient way. What was only available on the Walled Gardens of Social Networks, is now a viable option for brands on the open web - with a massive reach and in a brand-safe environment.