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| Sure, why not |
The use of dynamic elements in advertising creative, either at the banner or email level, isn't exactly a new trick. Retargeting has been a commodity-level service for over 5 years, and just about everyone who shops online has been stalked with abandoned cart items by now, either at the publisher level or in their inbox.
The reason why these banners and emails exist is that they generally work better than ads that don't have those elements. The art has obvious graphical relevance to the prospect, and can almost act as a reminder, rather than an ad. In the parlance, they pop.
But from a branding, design or creative strategist perspective, the inclusion of these elements can point to a future where ads seem more of a function of machine intelligence, with a finished product that can feel like Frankensteins, especially in comparison to a carefully crafted branding piece. How do you protect your image, and on a very real level, your professional livelihood, while still taking advantage of an automated personalization benefit?
1) Make sure you are thinking about the size of your dynamic images.
This is category and catalog dependent, but in general, your site and product photography should be your guide. Keep in mind that in the world of banners, you'll need to keep in mind different aspect ratios. It can be quite challenging to get a dynamic element to render in a meaningful fashion in, say, a 728x90 or 160x600 banner. Do not make the mistake of thinking that just because the image is automated, it's also set and forget. You should have some flexibility here.
2) Push for oversized and expandable placements.
Larger units will allow for easier inclusion of all elements, and if you can manage a zoom on your image on hover, that's good for the prospect and your brand. Keep in mind that this generally involves a cost premium for a private publisher placement, rather than remnant inventory through exchanges, but the end result is far more satisfying at a portfolio and brand level. It's also far more challenging to create and implement, but that should be seen as an opportunity, not a drawback.
3) Think strategically around the buying cycle.
The faster you are reaching a prospect in the buying cycle, the more likely that they will be interested in the last item viewed or abandoned. So design accordingly, and push for different art for different points in the cycle. Say, a large single product piece for the 0 to 7 day window, then multiple products in 7 to 15, and maybe a strong "reactivation" offer in 15 to 30. This is, of course, entirely dependent on your consumer category and value proposition. Many executions make for a busier creative team, and optimally, more bang for the campaign's buck in terms of effectiveness.
4) Produce platform and daypart alternatives.
As creatives, it's easy to get platform blindness over how a piece might look on our preferred surface, or forget that the prospects might be entirely on smartphones at a certain hour of the day. Creating additional pieces that take better use of varying space can impact the work all the way to text and offer changes, and help creative pros add value.
5) Embrace the biggest four-letter word in online advertising: test.
Ideally, creative tests shouldn't just give you a win against a control, or more faith in your control... they should also give you an action plan for the future around newly discovered optimal practices.
So think more about offer, functionality, size, daypart, format, etc., rather than Design A vs. Design B, or Blonde Model vs. Brunette. You'll also need to make sure that you get statistical significance on your results, and that your delivery avoids viewability and fraud issues... but if you do, you'll work out a path towards greater profitability on placements. And that's professional security, not just for the individual provider, but also for companies as a whole.
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