What are best practices for testing and iterating on ad creatives to improve view-through conversions?

Testing and iterating on ad creatives is essential for improving view-through conversions in platforms like Bing Ads and other advertising networks. Since view-through conversions often involve brand awareness and long-term customer engagement, optimizing your ad creatives to drive interest and influence behavior is key. Here are some best practices for testing and iterating on your ad creatives to improve view-through conversions:

1. Set Clear Objectives for Testing
Define Goals: Before testing, establish specific goals, such as improving brand awareness, increasing engagement, or driving more view-through conversions. This will help you align your creatives with the desired outcomes.

Establish KPIs: Track key performance indicators (KPIs) like view-through conversion rate, engagement rate, ad recall, and brand lift to assess creative performance.

2. A/B Testing of Ad Creatives
Test Variations: Create multiple variations of your ads and test them against each other. You can test differences in elements such as:

Headlines

Ad copy

Call-to-action (CTA)

Visuals (images, videos, colors)

Tone and messaging

Test Formats: Test different creative formats (e.g., static images, video ads, carousel ads, dynamic ads) to see which type resonates best with your target audience.

Optimize for View-Through Conversions: Ensure that you're testing creatives with the objective of building brand recognition or engaging users, even if they don't click right away. Ads should be visually appealing and intriguing enough to encourage viewers to remember them and convert later.

3. Test Different Audience Segments
Audience Targeting: Test your creatives on different audience segments based on demographics, behaviors, interests, or past interactions with your brand. For instance:

Remarketing Audiences: Test how your ads perform with users who have previously visited your website or interacted with your brand.

In-Market Audiences: Test ads aimed at users actively searching for products or services similar to yours.

Personalized Messaging: Tailor ad creatives to specific segments based on their interests and preferences, and monitor how well different creatives perform with various segments.

4. Leverage Engaging Visuals
Use High-Quality Imagery or Video: High-quality, captivating visuals (whether still images or videos) are essential for creating memorable ads. Invest in professional-quality creative assets to enhance brand recall.

Showcase Products or Experiences: Use visuals that highlight your product or service in a relatable and engaging way, focusing on how they can benefit the viewer or solve their problems.

Focus on Emotion: Use visuals and messaging that evoke positive emotions and connect with the viewer on a personal level, making them more likely to remember your brand and convert later.

5. Experiment with Messaging and Tone
Highlight Value Propositions: Ensure that your messaging clearly communicates your unique value propositions and what differentiates your brand from competitors.

Test Emotional vs. Informational Messaging: Experiment with both emotional (e.g., focusing on connection, inspiration, or humor) and informational messaging (e.g., focusing on product features or benefits) to see which approach better drives view-through conversions.

Clear Call-to-Action: While view-through conversions don't require immediate clicks, a strong call-to-action (CTA) that encourages engagement with your brand (like "Learn More" or "Discover Now") can increase brand recall and the likelihood of later conversion.

6. Leverage Video Ads
Short-Form vs. Long-Form Video: Experiment with both short-form (5-15 seconds) and long-form (30-60 seconds) video ads to see which length works better for your target audience. Short videos may work better for quick engagement, while longer videos can provide more context and help build a stronger connection with the audience.

Silent Auto-Play: Many video ads auto-play on platforms, so ensure your video has captions and visual storytelling to convey the message even when the sound is off. This can increase the chances of the viewer engaging with the content later.

Sequential Storytelling: Use a series of video ads to tell a story over time. This creates a deeper connection with the audience, leading them to return later for conversions.

7. Use Dynamic and Interactive Creatives
Dynamic Creatives: Test dynamic ads that automatically tailor content based on the user's interests, behaviors, and previous interactions. This approach can drive more personalized engagement and improve view-through conversions by showing users relevant ads.

Interactive Elements: Incorporate interactive elements, such as quizzes, polls, or clickable content, to engage viewers and encourage them to learn more, even if they don't click immediately.

8. Optimize for Mobile
Mobile-Friendly Ads: Ensure your ads are optimized for mobile, as many users view ads on mobile devices. Ads should load quickly, look great on smaller screens, and provide a smooth user experience.

Test Mobile-Specific Creatives: Create variations of your ads specifically for mobile users, taking into account the different ways users interact with mobile versus desktop content.

9. Monitor Ad Frequency and Saturation
Ad Frequency: Monitor the frequency with which users are exposed to your ads. Too high a frequency can lead to ad fatigue, where users become desensitized and are less likely to remember your brand. If this happens, test new creative variations.

Creative Refresh: Refresh your creatives periodically to maintain user engagement and prevent ad fatigue. Continuously evolving your ad creatives ensures that your content remains relevant and impactful.

10. Leverage Advanced Attribution Models
Attribution Insights: Use advanced attribution models (such as linear attribution or time decay attribution) to assess how different creatives contribute to view-through conversions across multiple touchpoints. This can help you identify which creative elements work best at different stages of the buyer journey.

Cross-Device Performance: Consider the performance of your creatives across devices (e.g., mobile, desktop, tablet). View-through conversions often happen across devices, so ensure your creatives are optimized for a consistent experience across platforms.

11. Use A/B Testing Automation
Automated Testing: Use automation tools provided by advertising platforms to run A/B tests on your ad creatives continuously. This will save time and provide real-time insights into which creatives are performing best for driving view-through conversions.

Data-Driven Iteration: Leverage the data collected from A/B testing to make iterative adjustments to your ad creatives. Focus on the best-performing elements and tweak underperforming aspects to improve your overall performance.

12. Use Audience Feedback and Engagement Data
Engagement Metrics: Look at user engagement metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and view rates to gauge how your audience is reacting to your creatives. Ads that generate higher engagement are likely to lead to higher view-through conversion rates.

Direct Feedback: Use feedback from focus groups, surveys, or social media listening to understand how your audience perceives your creatives. This can provide valuable insights to refine your messaging and visual approach.

Conclusion
By testing and iterating on your ad creatives, you can continuously improve their performance and increase view-through conversions. Experiment with different ad formats, audience segments, messaging, and visuals, and use data-driven insights to optimize your campaigns. Regularly refreshing your creative assets and adapting based on feedback will help you keep your ads engaging and effective in driving long-term brand awareness and conversions.