Static Ads Are Becoming Obsolete In Today's Video-Dominated Era

We're approaching a staticless future

It’s time to move on from static ads. Their time as an effective ad format is quickly coming to an end, with video and other forms of rich media now being less of an option and more of a necessity.  

The digital landscape has become dominated by video in recent years—essentially causing image-based creatives to become an outdated medium, unbefitting of today’s online consumption patterns. In the U.S for instance, the average citizen in 2021 is watching 2h 19m of digital video daily, increasing over 50% in the short time since 2018.  

This increase in digital video consumption can be attributed to a number of factors. First, we have seen the unprecedented rise of the exclusively short-form video sharing platform TikTok. TikTok has now amassed 1.1 billion active users, and in the U.S, these audiences are watching over 24 hours of content per month on the app. TikTok’s sudden popularity has made waves throughout digital. Instagram, for example, have accelerated their shift away from their photo-sharing beginnings, becoming more heavily invested in video with the arrival of features such as Instagram Reels. 

We are also seeing people turn to digital for mid-to-long form video content that once existed primarily in the realm of linear TV. In March of 2020, YouTube saw an 80% year-on-year increase in viewership via connected-TV (CTV) devices. Whilst Facebook’s streaming platform, Watch, now draws an audience of 1.25 billion each month. 

Essentially, wherever you look across the digital landscape, you can see the rise of video content. Running static ads in these areas simply doesn’t make sense anymore—they are incompatible. 

Digital creative can't stand still, it needs to move 

Static ads are a remnant of print media, so why place them on digital? On digital, your creative needs to move. 

By having your ads take the form of video and other rich media formats advertisers are able to integrate within digital platforms and speak their language. This is especially pertinent on social platforms such as TikTok where the best ads embrace the style of videos that are playing out organically.

Static ads served in placements such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Facebook Watch are simply going to be scrolled past or skipped by audiences. This can be seen as a form of “Banner Blindness” being caused by the fact that static ads disrupt the flow of video that audiences are consuming, causing them to automatically avoid the ad in order to return to regular programming. So, to effectively engage audiences and communicate your message, your creatives should strive to enhance viewing experiences, rather than disrupting them—this requires creative that moves. 

The argument for using video and rich media creatives as opposed to static ads isn’t something novel. This has been something that has been discussed at length over the past few years, with many citing the performance benefits that are enabled due to higher engagement and the ability to deliver stronger messages. However, as mentioned at the beginning of the article, we have now reached a moment where these formats are no longer an option, they are a necessity. Advertisers who don’t move on from static ads are at risk of falling behind the times, and inevitably having to play catch up at a later date. 

Don't have video assets? Don't worry it's not as scary as it may seem

Some of you may be reading this and worrying about the fact that you don’t have video assets in your creative arsenal. You may also be saying to yourself that video takes too long to produce, and that the costs often outweigh the performance benefits. 

And under the traditional way of doing things, you would probably be right. 

At Shuttlerock however, we approach digital creative production differently. Instead of starting from scratch, we enable advertisers to leverage their existing static assets, transforming them into video and other rich media creatives via our unique production magic. 

You can see some examples of this in action below… 

By taking this approach approach to digital asset creation, brands are able to: 

• Build high-quality creatives quickly and at a low-cost
• Easily create multi-placement assets for a channel plan
• Test and learn with a variety of creative treatments without breaking the bank

With this in mind, you may like to learn more about our Creative-as-a-Service (CaaS) solution. Or, if you would like to see things in action, please feel free to book a free demo.