Simplifying Creative Activation- Learning From Our Research

A compelling creative is a critical part of campaign performance. A study last year by Yahoo and Magna Global/IPG found that creative quality drives up to 56% of purchase intent.¹ Despite its importance, 63% of advertisers say that it is often neglected in the programmatic ad buying process.² And, it’s no wonder advertisers feel this way with 95% saying they face challenges when building and managing creatives for ad campaigns.²

‍Personalization
‍In partnership with Yahoo, Advertiser Perceptions surveyed 305 advertisers to best understand the challenges faced with creating and managing creatives. 46 percent of advertisers cited personalization as a top challenge.²

‍

‍

For some advertisers, a strategy based on weather or location will suffice. For example, a restaurant brand may want to offer a discount when it’s raining, and show a picture of the beautiful patio when it’s sunny. Other advertisers want to add CRM and product feed data to incorporate remarketing elements and regional interests. Both types of personalizations require the right creative tech partner that has the ability to manage and use the data to build scalable creative templates.

Access to unique and accurate data is key to a successful personalization strategy. Yahoo Creative, through a unique integration with Yahoo DSP,  offers future-proof personalization and seamless access to diverse data, including Yahoo audiences, your first party data, and feeds, including product feeds. 

‍Resourcing
‍45 percent of advertisers also said that creative resources were one of their top challenges with creative. Nearly one-third also admitted that they had limitations on the number of ads they can build and test.²

Artificial intelligence is a promising option for many advertisers that struggle with resourcing. 68 percent of advertisers believe generative AI will help their team expedite ad creation³. The integration of AI into the creative process has accelerated rapidly. A May 2024 survey by Advertiser Perceptions and Yahoo found 54% of advertisers are already using AI to develop or refine ad creative.³

‍

‍

Utilizing AI  is an opportunity to let creativity thrive. By allowing AI to remove the burden of menial tasks, design teams can focus more on high level strategy and complex creative needs. Yahoo Creative balances human creativity and responsible AI usage.  We take advantage of AI tools to remove repetitive workflows and optimize creative versions.  These tools allow us to quickly produce and scale high-quality creative. From design to development, our in-house teams help bring beautifully effective creative to life. 

Measurement
‍Nearly half of advertisers say measuring the effectiveness of creative is a challenge.³ Brand studies, clicks and sales lift are the most frequently used tools for measuring creative.  Similar to resourcing, many advertisers believe artificial intelligence has potential to benefit measurement of creative effectiveness. 44 percent of those who have experience using AI in creative development believe it would be helpful in generating meaningful analytics and insights.

‍

Many of our advertisers have adopted Yahoo Blueprint Performance to improve their campaign effectiveness. Yahoo Creative extends campaign effectiveness by enabling real-time creative optimization & insights to deliver optimal outcomes through high-quality creative variations throughout a campaign.

Learn more about how Yahoo Creative can help in the Yahoo Learning Academy. 

‍Sources‍
^{1 - PG/Magna Global, Creative, The Performance Powerhouse, 2023
2 - Advertiser Perceptions Omnibus, April 2024
3 - Advertiser Perceptions Omnibus, May 2024}