Ad Types Explained

Nikki Gloudeman

6sense supports five different ad types:

• Banner ads
• Animated HTML5 ads
• Dynamic HTML5 ads
• Native ads
• Video ads

Which ad(s) you should run depends on campaign objective, creative bandwidth, and other factors. You can find more on each ad type -- including examples -- here or by clicking any of the links above.

mdesousa

Hi @Nikki Gloudeman

Is it possible to run banner and native ads in 1 campaign within 6sense or does it have to be 2 different campaigns?

Thanks in advance!

Nikki Gloudeman

Hi @mdesousa, great question! Our platform does not allow for different ad types (eg banner and native) in a single campaign, so those would need to be in separate campaigns. Let me know if you have any other questions.

David Ahn

With the number of ad sizes available for both Static (8) and HTML5 ads (20), are there best practices around which ad sizes are best to create for both if limited by design bandwidth?

ie: I read that on Google Display Network, "while they offer support for 20 different sizes, 95% of [display ad] inventory can be captured with just 5 display banner sizes: 300×250, 728×90, 160×600, 320×50, 300×600."

Assuming that statement is correct and our team stuck to creating only those 5 ad sizes for both Static and HTML5 ads, then that would still cover 95% of ad inventory for each campaign type and reduce the number of graphics that are being created (3 less for Static, 15 less for HTML5) with only a 5% hit on overall ad coverage?

Nikki Gloudeman

Hey David, excellent question. You definitely don't need to build all the ad sizes supported by 6sense. We recommend the same as GDN, with the exception that we generally advise against building the 160x600 (skyscraper) size as it tends to perform poorly in terms of engagement. And if you're really strapped for bandwidth, you can typically get away with excluding the 300x600 as well (unless you have a relatively small segment and need more sizes for delivery). So our recommended sizes are: 300x250, 728x90, 320x50, optional 300x600 for additional reach.

Let us know if you have any other questions!

David Ahn

@Nikki Gloudeman thank you so much for the recs! this should drastically help with the turnaround time on our graphics requests now :)

Lyndal Newman

With Dynamic HTML5 ads do you only recommend to dynamically ad the account name, or can we dynamically add a relevant keyword they used as well?

Nikki Gloudeman

https://revcity.6sense.com/home/discussion/comment/834#Comment_834

Hi @Lyndal Newman If you let us know which keywords you want to use for which specific accounts in a segment, yes--this level of copy personalization is possible! We can get account details in the company details API that can be used in code to personalize text on ad, images, color, etc. You can learn more in this Help Center article.

As for which option would be better (personalizing with the account name, keyword in the copy, or something else), that really depends on your objective and the messaging itself. Happy to help if you're ever developing a specific ad set and wondering what would be optimal.

Marine Picard

Hi @Nikki Gloudeman, we are about to launch our first campaign with 5sense, what it is the ad type that gets more coverage and visibility? What would be the first ad type you would recommend? Thanks for your help!

Nikki Gloudeman

Hi @Marine Picard, great question! We generally recommend starting with banner ads. They actually show higher benchmark CTR than animated HTML5 or dynamic HTML5 ads—not because those other ad types can't work well, but because they're more challenging to get right. Plus banner ads are easier to build. A win-win for your first 6sense campaigns!

Taylor Matysik

@Marine Picard Tagging on to what Nikki said, banner ads are a great place to start. They are the easiest to create and get a campaign going quickly with. Native ads can also be a good starting point and are similar to banner ads but are served a bit differently.

From my personal experience, I've had the best luck on engagement and conversions with HTML5 ads. They are more versatile and generally do a better job capturing attention. That being said they are more difficult to build and to nail in terms of effect. Well worth the extra effort in terms of results.

Marine Picard

@Taylor Matysik Thank you for sharing these valuable insights !

iiQDavid

Hello - me again 😅

We are working with several graphic designers/freelancers and they all seem to run into issues with 6sense requiring HTML5 Ads be uploaded as .zip files with certain assets separated out.

Is there any kind of guide for the best way to build and export HTML5 ad sets as a .zip file, other than recommending using "Creatopy or Google Web Designer"?

Nikki Gloudeman

Hi @iiQDavid tagging in our senior designer @ashleefinch to help here! She has a few questions that should help us figure out how best to support you.

ashleefinch

Hi @iiQDavid! Do you know which programs your designers are using to create the HTML5 ads? And do you have specifics on the issues they're running into? Google Web Designer and Creatopy should both package everything upon saving/exporting so there should be very little for them to do in terms of packaging assets, but I'm happy to help troubleshoot if you can give us more details!

iiQDavid

@ashleefinch thank you! She is using Adobe Animate. Her feedback: "I've been searching and I don't see a way to export a css file like in the example you show. I can get the image, the js, and the html file but even through Animate's help and forums, there is no css export. I’m wondering if I can use Google Web Designer to import my current files and hack the package, or if the blank css file attachment will work. I’ll give it a shot and send a couple test files over."

CodeMan8118

Would love to bump this thread. We are on banner right now, but not seeing very good engagement/conversions and are interested in dynamic (or probably start with animated) HTML5, but the way to design, export, zip it up, add a click piece of code seems unintuitive. I'd love a walk through on how best to do this. We have in house designers, but also want non designers to dynamically alter ad copy, etc. when needed.

Kimberly Conklin

@CodeMan8118 Hi! Please feel free to reach out to creativeservices@6sense.com.

federica

Hi, let's try to bump the thread. We're currently working on banners right now, but we have some questions:
1) How many banners do you suggest uploading for a single campaign? I mean different banners (visual and copy)
2)Will the system rotate the banner we will add in equal portions?
3)The same banner should always be updated in every size suggested on the top performing?
4)And, as there are other formats suggested by the system, what happens if we only add the top-performing size and not all?

Waiting for your precious suggestions :)

Kimberly Conklin

@federica Tagging @lgallardo & @nealmcclure!

lgallardo

Hi @federica, all great questions! I'll reply with my answers by tomorrow!

lgallardo

• Hi @federica, Happy Friday! Please see below for my answers:
  1. We recommend running the top-performing ad sizes, which are 300x250, 728x90, 320x50, and 300x600 as optional. We also recommend A/B testing. To do so effectively, launch campaigns with at least two distinct ad groups to start, featuring one isolated creative variable each (for example, the same visual, different copy). So basically, we're looking at 6-8 ads—3-4 per ad group.

• Once the ad groups have reached >50K impressions, turn off the lowest-CTR ad group and iterate on the highest-CTR ad group—by, for example, taking the winning copy and pairing it with a new visual, creating a new ad group containing 3-4 ads. Continue doing this to learn what works and what doesn't.

• 2. The platform will evenly distribute impressions, regardless of how many ads are uploaded.
  3. Correct! This should happen organically if you're A/B testing ad creative.
  4. The other acceptable ad sizes generally have limited reach and don't perform as well as the aforementioned ad sizes, which is why we recommended focusing on the higher-reach, higher-performing ad sizes.

Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you!