As I continue to develop ClickThrough, I’m always enticed to see the engaging ad experiences that brands create. ClickThrough is set to be a community-based platform that allows Digital Marketers to showcase the beautiful campaigns they bring to life.

Currently existing as a Facebook group, ClickThrough encourages Digital Marketers to share screenshots of the unique marketing experiences they engaged with or create.

As the group approaches 200 total members, I wanted to take the time to reflect on the most engaging ad experiences collectively shared amongst the community. If you’re a Digital Marketer, these ads can be a fantastic source of inspiration for your future campaigns.

Without access to the creator ad accounts, I unfortunately can’t present any performance data from these ads. I would however, like to uncover why these ad experiences are so engaging, and how you can implement similar features into your own campaigns.

Hootsuite Facebook Offer

If you’re a Digital Marketer, you’re more than likely familiar with Hootsuite. The platform is renowned for developing tools that streamline social media management. It’s no surprise then, that the ad experiences Hootsuite develops are best-of-class.

I was recently targeted with this particular video ad, which at first glance stood out from the rest of my news feed. The video asset was optimised for a portrait format, allowing it to span across more of the in-feed real estate. As brands continue to use video assets in a horizontal format, they’re truly missing out on the opportunity to drive additional engagement at no extra cost.

Beyond the engaging creative, the ad also utilises a native offer as the CTA. This again is a feature that most brands don’t take advantage of. Not only does the offer add immediate value to users, but it also creates a great sense of social proof by displaying how many users have previously claimed the incentive.

As the ad was delivered under what I assume is a retargeting audience, it does a fantastic job of creating a sense of urgency through its clear message and offer CTA.

Web Profits Chatbot Experience

Also a digital marketing service provider, Web Profits have delivered yet another engaging B2B experience providing so much genuine value for end-users.

As Facebook and Messenger ad integrations come into fruition, it’s often rare to discover an ad experience that works seamlessly across the two platforms. 

From my experience as a user, it’s common to see brands develop ads with a Messenger CTA that simply leads into an open-ended conversation. Web Profits however, have developed a unique ad experience that functions on a tailored workflow to deliver real value.

Before I dive deeper into the functionality of the Messenger experience, I’d love to cover some other key features of the Facebook ad itself.

To begin with, I personally found the ad creative engaging. The artwork is bold and the image copy clearly summarised the ad text. This made the CTA transparent from the beginning.

I also love the use of the emoji at the beginning of the headline field. It almost creates the illusion that the Messenger checklist is a native feature within Facebook itself. It’s also notable that each word throughout the headline began with a capital letter. I personally find this tidier and easy to read.

So did I click-through? Oh I most certainly did! 

The chatbot workflow was a seamless experience that provided me with genuine value.

This ad was a fantastic way to engage top-of-funnel users, whilst also storing the newly acquired user data within a Messenger CRM for later targeting.

LinkedIn Content Carousel

As LinkedIn continues to develop its self-serving ad platform, it’s exciting to see new ad formats emerge to help drive user engagement. If you’re using LinkedIn as a paid medium within your digital strategy, you’ll know that the platform has recently added some exciting new formats, including; video ads, ads with CTA buttons, and carousel ads. 

It’s no surprise that LinkedIn themselves are paving the way for brands as they showcase how these exciting new ad features can be utilised.

I was recently targeted with this carousel ad from LinkedIn that was structured in a unique format I hadn’t yet experienced. The ad was promoting an eBook download – which in most cases would simply leverage a single image ad with a photo of the eBook itself. 

This carousel however, used each card to reveal a sample of the valuable content within the eBook. The ad also used the last card to create an effective CTA, similar to a Facebook carousel.

As LinkedIn continues to develop the capabilities of its ad platform, I’d love to see them follow Facebook by adding CTA buttons under each carousel card. 

Breaking The Feed

This video ad experience was shared in the ClickThrough Facebook group by active member, Ashleigh Theaker. The ad from Travel Radar completely revolutionises the way in which users perceive and engage with an ad format.

The framework of the ad is a video that recreates an artificial news feed, leading the users to believe they’re still engaging with organic content. As the ad promotes travel services, the synthetic posts within the feed are status updates relating to travel experiences. By leveraging a portrait video format, it allowed the brand to harness more news feed real estate to create a consistent experience.

As the user continues to scroll through this news feed, a giraffe emerges from the side of the screen and takes over the experience. The video then breaks the feed by opening a portal with the ads CTA.

The end result is an ad experience that is not only unique, but truly immersive for end-users. 

Native Story Features

As the growth of Instagram Stories continues to scale, users are becoming more immune to the interstitial ad format. In a bid to drive user engagement, brands are continually having to develop more creative ad experiences.

I was recently targeted with an ad by SlideShow, which was one of the most engaging paid story experiences I’d yet encountered.

The ads video creative was engaging – its fast-paced editing was optimised for the shorter story format. Throughout the video, the ad also featured a hybrid version of the slide-bar story sticker. By integrating this sticker into the content, it made the ad experience feel more organic and engaging. The swipe up CTA was also clear throughout the guided animation in the video.

These are only just a few examples of the enticing ad experiences I’ve recently come across. With digital platforms becoming more transparent about the paid experiences brands create, it’s now easier than ever to discover unique campaigns.

As a user yourself, have you recently found any branded ad experiences engaging? If so, I’d love to know! I’d encourage any passionate Digital Marketers to join the community and share a screenshot or screen recording within the ClickThrough Facebook group.