Rich Media Specifics: Part 1

By: Neil Greer

We open part one with breaking news:

Advertisers have driven a 200 percent spending growth in rich media over the past five years, during the economic meltdown.

According to eMarketer.com, dollars spent on rich media in the United States have nearly tripled from 2007 to present — $1.76 billion in 2007 to $5.48 billion in 2011.

comScore puts a finer point on the trend. “We’ve witnessed a strong resurgence in the display ad market … with average CPMs continuing to rise,” said Jeff Hackett, senior vice president of comScore, in July 2010. One of the core drivers in this market has been … larger and more creative ad formats.”

A 25 percent growth in annual spending by any industry measure is great news these days. When it’s happening outside your front door and you’re the one responsible for revenue growth, it’s time to pour a second cup of coffee and capture some of that growth for yourself.

While large advertisers and agencies spend a great deal of capital to make sure the ads in their rich media campaigns capture attention, the broader marketplace of online advertisers is also interested in ways to do the same — just on a different-size media budget.

Midsize advertisers in your market are spending money in the rich media ballgame. They want to be updated on a regular basis about new opportunities to capture new clients using rich media. With regular updates, they will spend more money on rich media campaigns and will enjoy more clicks and brand exposure because of it.

The following data from Eyeblaster Analytics tells the story:

• Rich media display advertising delivers click-through rates up to three times higher than standard banners.
• Rich media expandable ads are kept open by readers for an average of 60 seconds — equal to the brand exposure from premium TV advertising.

Rich media is a trend that has beaten a brutal recession. Take hold of the opportunity to be the online expert needed in your marketplace by keeping an open dialogue about the trends in rich media. Use rich media to create your own growing economy today, for your company and yourself, while delivering a product your advertisers have slated in the budgets right now.

Next month in this column, “Rich Media Specifics: Part 2” will cover select stories from publishers who are succeeding in the rich media business with directly sold ads from advertisers in the local marketplace. 

Neil Greer is CEO and co-founder of ImpactEngine.com, a provider of rich media solutions to more than 450 publishers.

His column, Go Digital, focuses on sharing experiences that aid in solving key strategic and operational issues facing publishers as they invest in the growth of their digital operations.