Research from full-funnel programmatic partner Tangoo reveals that social media and streaming TV are the most effective advertising channels for driving brand awareness, with 52 per cent and 47 per cent of UK consumers recalling ads on these, respectively.

Tangoo’s Awareness to Conversion: Mapping the Power of Programmatic Channels in the UK study also found that video is the most effective ad format for driving purchase consideration, with 39 per cent of consumers who acted on an ad in the last week citing a video ad as the inspiration. But despite video being highly effective for mid-funnel engagement, digital billboard ads were credited with driving the most immediate purchases of high-value items.

Conducted by Censuswide, the nationally representative study of 2,000 UK consumers (16+) maps how different channels and ad formats perform across the marketing funnel, from awareness and consideration to conversion, providing advertisers with valuable insights for use in their omnichannel programmatic strategies.

Awareness: Social media and streaming TV dominate

At the top of the funnel, in the awareness stage, social media was found to be the channel with the highest ad recall overall, particularly in younger audiences, with 66 per cent of 25–34-year-olds remembering ads on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Both social media and streaming TV captured older demographics, with more than 40 per cent of over-55-year-olds recalling ads on both platforms.

Other digital channels also play a role: 37 per cent of respondents recalled seeing ads on websites, 23 per cent on mobile apps, 23 per cent on digital billboards, and 19 per cent on audio platforms. However, while visibility is high, more than 1 in 6 consumers didn’t recall seeing any ads in the last week.

Consideration: Video and banner ads drive deeper engagement

When examining the role of ad formats in the consideration stage, video (39 per cent) and digital banner ads (28 per cent) were found to drive the best engagement from those consumers who acted on seeing an ad in the last week. These formats came out on top in helping consumers consider both high and low value purchases.

The study identified that short and to the point content (22 per cent) and eye-catching visuals (21 per cent) are the top features that help to drive engagement mid-funnel on video ads.

Conversion: Digital billboards drive fastest sales for high-value items

Despite their value in the awareness and consideration phases, video ads were found to be less effective when it comes to conversion for the purchase of high-value items, with digital billboards driving the most immediate purchases of all the ad formats. For low-value items, sponsored articles and banner ads were found to drive the most immediate purchases out of the different ad formats surveyed.

When expanding the timeframe to a month, audio (88 per cent) was the ad format identified as the most effective for driving high-value purchases, and video (84 per cent) was most successful in converting low-value items.

Relevance, personalisation, and frequency control make the difference

When asked about relevance and personalisation, slightly over 3 in 5 (61 per cent) of consumers cited no improvement in the ads they see online, and nearly a third (29 per cent) said that ads rarely or never match their interests or needs.

Furthermore, more than 80 per cent of consumers reported seeing the same ad on multiple platforms regularly or occasionally, and 44 per cent said that they would begin to ignore or feel frustrated by ads after seeing them just three times or less on mobile apps.

“Consumers are sending brands a clear message: just being seen doesn’t drive results –  balancing personalisation, relevance, frequency, and creativity is key to avoiding ad fatigue or pushing consumers out of the funnel,” commented Riccardo Morabito, International Partnership Lead at Tangoo.

These insights also highlight that brands need to understand how to leverage the right channels and ad formats according to the value of the product and the demographic they are targeting. This is not a static picture, though – how consumers use technology and platforms is constantly evolving, making it vital for advertisers to continually test their full-funnel programmatic strategies and adapt accordingly to ensure their campaigns are effective.”

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Categories: Advertising, Articles, Broadcast, Consumer Behaviour, Research, Social Media

Tags: advertising, social media, streaming, tangoo, tiktok