Animating Online Ads
Animating online ads in this day and age can be seen everywhere. They can be seen on TV, on billboards, in magazines, and online. The type of advertising we are going to be focused on is online advertising. What is an online advertisement’s purpose though? An online advertisement’s purpose is to convey a message to an audience. Whether it be trying to persuade a potential customer to buy a product or to spread awareness of a current day issue. Online advertising is becoming more and more popular, even surpassing the number of advertisements on broadcast TV. This is because of people spending more time online and on their phones than ever before.
How does all of this relate to animation? This relates to animation because a lot of online advertisements these days are actually animated. But something that online advertisements also have to do that many people seem to overlook is that online advertisements need to be able to grab an audience’s attention, and having animation in an online advertisement is a great way to do that. Online animated advertisements also have a greater rhetorical appeal. Adding animation to an online can also make advertisements intractable, and even give them stories. For these reasons, it can be seen that animating an online ad will make it a lot more successful as compared to just a regular still image ad.
Grab the audience’s attention with animating online ads
One very important thing that online advertisements need to be able to do is to grab the audience’s attention. Adding animation to an online ad is a great way to do just that. This is because we are naturally attracted to motion. If we are looking at an article online, none of the text is moving around or anything, it is just a still image with text that you are reading. It would still be that way if a regular still image online ad was on that page, not really grabbing at the audience’s attention. Add animation to it though however, and that online ad may even be the first thing the audience looks at when opening the online webpage. This is because the online ad is actually moving as compared to the rest of the webpage.
An animation in the advertisement will automatically grab the audience’s attention towards it, if even for a second. But the thing is, with animation, most people will keep their attention towards the online animated ad because they want to see the whole animation. This is a huge advantage that animated online ads have over still image online ads. Animated online ads keep going until the animation is finished, which can greatly help keep the audience more entertained throughout as compared to a single static image. This is very similar to how some people prefer to just watch the movie version of a novel instead of reading the novel itself. Some people just don’t want to take the time to read a long advertisement; they would rather have a message conveyed to them in a more visual manner, which is where the animation comes in. Animation in an ad can make ads much more intriguing, as with animation, you can make things pop in and out, scroll by, and in general just convey messages in a much more “fun” way.
Persuade the audience with animating online ads
In order for an online advertisement to be effective, it must be able to persuade the audience. This is why rhetorical effectiveness is key in the animation of online advertisements. A successful animation of an online advertisement has the ability to connect to the audience’s emotions, sense of logic, and emphasizes the advertiser’s credibility. Through the use of vivid imagery, keywords, or stories, an online advertisement can create an emotional response in the viewer that further persuades them of the advertiser’s goal. In one specific online advertisement by Itau, an auto insurance company, it shows a vivid image of a car crash with the phrase “Use your keyboard to call for assistance.” The audience is then instructed to press a set of keys on their keyboard, and as they do, the crashed car is slowly repaired. The emotional response in the viewer as a badly crashed car is fixed through their actions allows the advertiser to persuade the viewer through the use of animation. Another way the animation of online advertisements persuades viewers is through credibility. If a viewer is impressed by the quality of the advertisement they are more likely to be persuaded to buy a product.
Well executed animating online ads
An example of a well-executed animation adding to the credibility of an advertiser is found in the online advertisement for IBM — Smart Roads. In this advertisement, it shows a car racing through busy streets and allows the viewer of the advertisement to drive the car. This amount of creativity and advanced animation gives the audience reasoning as to why they should be persuaded by the advertisement. The final way the animation of online advertisements persuades viewers is through the use of logic. This can be achieved through the use of comparisons, structure, or references. An example of a successful animation using the logic of the viewer was found in an Ikea advertisement titled “Resize a Room”. Through the use of animation, this ad asks the viewers to resize the ad banner in order to fit different pieces of furniture. This activity done by viewers of the ad appeals to their sense of reasoning and persuades them to reorganize and redecorate their own living space. It is through these three uses of rhetoric that animation of online advertisements is able to effectively persuade their viewers and achieve their goal.
Online Ads need to evolve and animating online ads do this
With online animating online ads on the rise with people nowadays spending more time on the web and on their mobile phones, it only makes sense that the online ads themselves evolve. Adding animation to an online ad can make the ad a lot more successful as compared to just a regular still image online ad. This is because adding animation to an online ad makes the ad grab the attention of the audience a lot better, as we are naturally attracted toward motion on a still webpage. The animation also has a high chance of being watched all the way through, which causes the audience to spend more time paying attention to the ad.
Summary
Animated online advertising is a great way to keep ads more interesting as cool tricks can be done with animation, such as text that pops out at you many other cool things. Adding animation to an online ad can make the ad interactive which can be a very fun experience for the audience, further engaging them in the advertisement. Adding animation to an online advertisement does nothing but adding more to the advertisement itself. Whether it makes it pop out more, or make it generally more interesting to view, animation has really revolutionized how online advertising works today, as online animated ads can be seen almost anywhere on the web, especially on the biggest sites such as youtube. The animation just makes things so much more interesting than just a still image, and in a way is a lot more powerful than just a still image, and for this reason, it can be seen that animated online ads are the way of the future.
First appeared on Visualwebz.com — A Seattle Web Design & Online Marketing Agency
