A creative specialization that blends design, empathy, and data, user experience (UX) is hardly a new discipline. However, it’s seen unprecedented attention in recent years, and with good reason. As its name implies, UX is centered around the idea of providing the best possible experience to all users, ideally creating easy and positive interactions across all channels that build brand confidence and trust, leading to higher levels of customer satisfaction, retention, and long-term loyalty.
Naturally, as overall ad tech advances, so has creative tech. More ads are placed across digital channels now than ever before, and the number of advertisers continues to rise. As demand has increased, the ubiquity of advertising on the internet has as well. With more placements being sold than ever, of course more creative is needed more quickly in all formats. Yet, it’s easy to overlook the importance of that creative. That’s where user experience can truly shine.
Creative Technology is Powerful, But Has Limits
We’ve seen creative technology advance swiftly, enabling new types of placements, faster creation and execution, and expanding possibilities for ideation. These are fantastic tools, and we’re proud to leverage this type of creative tech ourselves, but it’s important that they are applied with a strategic eye that will truly consider user experience. It’s easy enough to follow trends, but that also makes it easy to wind up with creative that looks the same as every other ad it will find itself sitting alongside, ultimately getting lost in the noise.
Enter true creative professionals, particularly those who can apply the empathy necessary to truly consider user experience and understand the simple truth that a great ad is always about the consumer. There are some facts that are readily evident; static ads are outperformed by animated ads, those are outperformed by rich media ads that employ video, and beyond that, interactivity and more immersive, high-impact experiences drive greater engagement still. But when you consider user experience, you can maximize the potential of every one of these formats.
An interactive ad that’s gamified may stand out, for instance, as an unexpected delight that a user stumbled across one day. Even a simple ad with a humorous message can stick, leading users to regard the brand positively just for being that much more personable. Prioritizing user experience means that you’re truly considering your consumers as people. Each of them has a point of view, a sense of humor, intellect, beliefs, and values. They’re individuals, and it makes sense to approach them as such, with respect and authenticity – and it impacts campaign performance to do so as well.
Don’t Overlook Creativity in Creative
The real takeaway is that human, creative professionals are instrumental in driving performance. Getting your ad in front of the right audience, on the right channel, at the right time is just the first step. Once it’s there, you have to ensure that your ad is delivering the right message and doing so effectively, in a way that will entice the audience to take the next step.
Technology is absolutely necessary to meet the heightened expectations of a savvy, omnichannel audience. It enables creative professionals to do so much more with placements, to build experiences, and to engage with users. It’s vital to understand each channel and platform, and to consider how creative will best live in each of them, and further, how creative on every channel can build a larger, unified experience that will engage your users across the omnichannel landscape, encouraging them further along their journey and building true relationships with your brand.
All of that requires the latest in creative technology, an intensive understanding of strategy, and a team of creative professionals that truly understand user experience. Professionals who apply these principles daily can command the latest in creative tech effectively, translating strategy to apply these tools and build impactful experiences that are truly representative of brand identity to engage consumers more deeply. They apply the latest technology not merely for the sake of applying it, but because it is the strategically correct choice to do so.
If you need help developing or refining your creative strategy, or with building upon your existing creative to craft custom, highly impactful and truly engaging experiences, reach out to AUDIENCEX. We would love to connect you with our team who can detail all the creative solutions available, and explore what options can work best to help you build a better user experience for your customers.