Debates around user experience are increasingly becoming a pivotal part of the advertising industry, as advertisers continue to concentrate on ensuring their campaigns are viewable by the industry’s standards. However, asks Jason Trout (pictured below), UK managing director, Exponential, does this pursuit of viewability come at the cost of negatively impacting the user’s experience? Here, Trout explains to ExchangeWire how different creative techniques can improve audience engagement and simultaneously achieve viewable impressions.

With publishers also beginning to take note, there is a cause for concern that those who are focusing too much on viewability are negatively affecting the overall user experience. A handful of leading news publications' sites are already being re-thought out and designed to ensure 100% viewability. But what does a 100% viewable website mean for the user? Is their experience being compromised? Both publishers and advertisers should be ensuring their online ads are being presented in a visible format that isn’t obstructive or intrusive to their audiences.  

There are other ways the industry can tackle user experience and achieve 100% viewability, without the use of disruptive ads. Brands should be adjusting their stance from simply trying to grab the interest of their audience, to trying to engage with them and promote further interaction. Advertisers will know immediately if their ad is viewable if a user chooses to initiate it to load or expand, as they are actively engaging with its content. If a brand achieves a user’s initiation, it will deem the ad viewable whatever its location on a publisher’s page, leading to a more positive experience for the user.  

Jason Trout, UK MD, Exponential

As an industry, we should be thinking of new and creative ways to produce achievable viewable impressions that won’t compromise the user’s experience. A simple way to do this is through using programmatic advertising. With this, we can produce a series of creative ads that can be delivered to specifically targeted individuals across a range of devices. This programmatic technique allows ads to be delivered to a brand's specific audience, at their most receptive times. This will improve the user experience, be less intrusive and, ultimately, lead to more conversions.

Whilst delivering viewable ads is a fundamental goal, many would agree advertisers should be prioritising user engagement first. They should be shifting their focus more onto the overall user experience rather than simply delivering an opportunity for an ad to be seen. Advertisers need to make it their goal to serve fewer, more appropriate interactions that will produce higher quality user experiences.

The increase in online video and interactive ads has certainly helped to change the focus of the user experience. Many research studies have shown that there is a higher level of audience engagement with richer, more interactive content. With today’s audiences consuming information at a faster rate, users expect advertising to be engaging and more targeted to them.

Researchers have found that richer, more interactive content produces higher levels of engagement among audiences. Audiences today are tech savvy and consume information at faster rates than ever before. They expect the advertising content they see on a daily basis to be engaging and specifically targeted to them. If advertisers begin to increase their use of online videos and interactive ads to suit these tech savvy audiences, their campaigns will be more engaging, creating a more positive user experience and will remain visible all the while.