New research has revealed that the average ‘tap rate’ on an ad served within a newsbrand’s tablet app is 0.79%, up to 40 times greater than the average online display click-through rate.
The findings, taken from a new study by Newsworks, the marketing body for the newspaper industry, also reveals that consumers spend an average of seven seconds with tablet ads.
The news will be welcomed by advertisers given that the average UK click through rate for online display is estimated to be between just 0.02% and 0.07%.
Although the study does not account for accidental clicks, the high dwell times recorded suggest that tablets are a better platform for engaging consumers with ads than other platforms.
Currently, tablet ownership stands at almost 18 million in the UK, with UK newsbrands reaching around 1.5 million via the platform.
“Tablets have a growing and engaged audience, particularly across newsbrands,” said Vanessa Clifford, deputy CEO at Newsworks.
“However, there has been a lack of data and understanding around tablet advertising – what makes an ad successful, what metrics should brands expect, what kind of ad types and language should we be using? These results will offer the advertising community first-stage industry norms, with some standard metrics, creative learnings and a common language for the first time.”
The study also found that for each advertising sector there are “distinct variations in key metrics”, which will enable planners to shape expectations and judge campaign delivery for clients.
For example, finance had an average tap rate of 0.87% and an average dwell time of 5.9 seconds, whilst entertainment had an average tap rate of 0.57% and dwell time of 10.1 seconds.
The ads were grouped into three core creative types – text link, video and interactive. The results show that each type has a different role to play: text links drive above average tap rates; video provides a “powerful combination” of tap rate and dwell time; and interactive ads hold attention with considerably higher dwell time.
“It’s sometimes difficult to sell in new things to clients,” said Jo Blake, head of outdoor, newsbrands and radio at Havas Media. “Will it work? Is it cost efficient? creative barriers and so on – which is why Newsworks’ tablet project was an excellent idea.
“The results will not only help us sell tablet formats to clients but the learnings also show the best way to use the medium creatively – that was why we wanted to be involved in the project.”
