Advertising creatives for targeting on myTarget. Formats and technical requirements

Please keep in mind that PRO VKontakte stopped working at 31 July 2023. MyTarget continues to operate, but there are no app promotion features within the platform. Now you can use VK Ads to launch targered ads. Check the VK Ads Advertising Campaign Launch Tutorial and VK Ads Formats and Technical Requirements Overview.

Now let’s take a closer look at the advertising formats for the MyTarget manager.

MyTarget formats

From the technical side of the question, creatives for myTarget can be divided by the type of visual element in a publication: image, video, post and audio.

Image

If the campaign uses advertising materials with an image, then they can be:

Teaser – which is a short ad with an image, a text description and a mandatory link to an external resource. It is placed on the desktop to the right or left of the main content. It is usually used for the purposes of “Traffic” and “Reach”, that is, it works to attract the attention of users.

The image size is from 90x75 pixels in JPG or PNG formats, up to 25 characters in the title and up to 90 characters in the short description (with spaces and punctuation marks) are allowed in the text description.

A banner is a graphic ad with a text. It can contain not only an image, but also a video or HTML5. Like a teaser, a banner is used for the goals “Traffic” and “Reach”, plus “Social games engagement”. Due to the fact that it is necessary to specify the details in a publication, the format is available for legal entities or individual entrepreneurs. 

The banner size is 240x400 pixels for any creative, up to 60 KB with an image, up to 30 seconds and 2 MB with a video, up to 150 KB of a ZIP archive with HTML. Additional requirements for an image are no transparent background, no blurred borders or frames, mandatory link to a website or a game (on Odnoklassniki) and 21 pixels at the top of the banner to indicate the location if the campaign is aimed at regions.

Multi-format is a universal option for desktop and mobile devices. The publication is displayed on all myTarget networks, adapting to a specific site and placements. A multi-format can be aimed at achieving various goals. For example, “Traffic”, “App Installs”, “Reach”, “App Engagement”, “Store Visits”, etc. Besides, there is a function for the format to attract a premium audience network, which allows you to select sites with accuracy to a domain. 

The image sizes are 256x256 and 600x600 pixels for mobile units, 1080x607 pixels for horizontal units, 300x600 pixels for vertical unit, 600x60. In the text description, as in the teaser, the title is limited to 25 characters and the body text should be up to 90 characters (with spaces and punctuation marks).

Carousel is a format consisting of several images. Such ads are used for mobile and desktop versions. As a rule, this format is used to advertise online stores, services or events. The aim of the carousel is to show the advantages of a product or assortment as extensively as possible.

The size of images is 600x600 pixels with an acceptable number of slides 3-6. There is a limit for the text part: the entire publication should not exceed 25 characters in the title and 50 characters in the main description; for each slide - 25 characters in the title and 32 characters in the description of the card are allowed (with spaces and punctuation marks).
 

Example of teaser and multi-format

Video

In addition to graphic images, myTarget offers various video formats.

Supervideo is a universal format that combines all types of myTarget video advertising and adapts the size to a specific site for placement (Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, myTarget network, etc.). To create an ad, a video is uploaded to the platform and a native block is added with a description, title, logo, and CTA. 

Algorithms optimize the publication for InStream (insertion into a video clip), InPage (insertion into the main content on the site or native placement in ad blocks) or InBanner (to the right or left of the main content in the banner). 

Video features – no longer than 30 seconds with a resolution 640×360 /1280×720 / 1920×1080 pixels.
Title is up to 25 characters with spaces, body text is up to 40 characters with spaces.

Square and horizontal videos for applications – are displayed in the desktop and mobile versions, as well as in applications. The video starts playing automatically when a user scrolls through the newsfeed to the advertisement. 

Сall-to-action button in the publication can lead to the AppStore or Google Play application page. This format is available for the goals “Video Views” and “App installs”, where there can be 2 types. 

The first is Rewarded, a full-screen video inside the application, for viewing which the user receives a bonus (paid content, in-game currency, etc.).

The second is Interstitial, a video before the main content in the application is uploaded, which can be skipped after 5 seconds of viewing.

Video characteristics – no more than 30 seconds and with file size up to 90 MB with a resolution of 600x600 pixels (square video) / 640x360 pixels (horizontal video).

Title is up to 25 characters with spaces, body text is up to 90 characters with spaces.

Pre-roll a video up to 30 seconds with automatic start before watching the main video. The advantage of the format is that you can set up detailed targeting for it and post it in all possible ways for myTarget placement.

Video characteristics – no more than 30 seconds and with size up to 90 MB with a resolution of 640x360 / 1280x720 / 1920 x 1080 pixels.
 

 An example of the pre-roll format

Shoppable Ads is a format with possibility to display up to 20 products in a video with links to site pages with product cards. The video is displayed in InStream mode and can be uploaded either on Odnoklassniki or VKontakte. Shoppable Ads is available for the goal “VK products”. Also, when posting, you need to upload products and links.

Video characteristics – 15 to 30 seconds. 

Requirements for product cards: 600x600 pixel images with a title up to 25 characters and text up to 32 characters.
The maximum number of products in the video is 20.
Link requirements – An XML file with product names, photos, prices and links.

OutStream videos for Native Roll and Bamper Ads networks are short videos inside the main content of myTarget partner sites (more than 100 sites) and the Native Roll video network. Publications are played automatically and shown in the native block when the player gets into the user's visibility zone.

All ad elements are clickable (logo, title, description, CTA and video player).
Video characteristics – up to 30 seconds for Native Roll, up to 6 seconds of Bumper Ads with resolution 640×360 / 1280×720 / 1920×1080 pixels and up to 90 MB in size.

Additional requirements – a description of up to 40 characters with spaces, a logo of 256x256 pixels.
 

An example of the OutStream format for Native Roll networks

Post

This format can include a text, an image, surveys and audio posts. Basically, posts are used to increase user activity in groups and networks. There are three types of them:

Lead Ads in Odnoklassniki is convenient for collecting applications from customers within the social network. Since it does not require any additional actions from either an advertiser or a user when filling out the form: it is generated automatically from a profile on Odnoklassniki. In addition, the Lead can be integrated with a call tracking system or CRM to continue working with a client. The format is available for desktops and mobile versions.

Canvas on Odnoklassniki – works on the principle of Lead Ads, but only for a mobile feed. This is a post that goes to a full-screen page when clicked by a user. There can be an autoplay video, a slider with images, active buttons to go to a website or an application page in the app store.

Cross-platform video post on Odnoklassniki and VKontakte – is a publication in the feed of both social networks. The format allows you to use Odnoklassniki and VKontakte as a single platform for posting. The video post is available for desktop and mobile versions with the main goal "Social Engagement".

You can set a one-time video display to post it.  If a user sees an ad on one of the websites, then it will no longer be displayed to him on another one.

The basic requirements for posts are reduced to minimum conditions. The post must be placed in an open community, it can contain one video, but not from third-party resources, and uploaded to a social network. Separately note, that moderators will not allow reposts of posts from other groups.
 

An example of the cross-platform video post on VKontakte and Odnoklassniki

Audio

Audio advertising is probably one of the most popular advertising formats of myTarget. It is broadcast to users before listening to the sound tracks on Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, in the My World platform in desktop and mobile versions. The main advantage of this format is large reach, over 60 million myTarget listeners.

Advertisers have several types of targeting available: from socio-demographic characteristics to interests with the possibility of retargeting. But there is a disadvantage. Such advertising is intrusive. There are only two audio requirements: length of the video is from 15 to 30 seconds (multiple of 5) and size is up to 10 MB.
 

An example of the audio ad placement

MyTarget is a field for various experiments due to the wide choice of formats and objectives for placing advertising publications. However, they may not be as successful as planned without a clear marketing strategy. There is a need in assistance of specialists and experts here.

Instead of a conclusion

As of today, contextual and targeted advertising are proved to be the effective digital marketing tools. The effectiveness of advertising campaigns increases many times with a well-developed strategy that includes high-quality work with creatives.

Competitor analysis, brand positioning, creative approach, selection of  the right formats for different platforms, setting goals, testing publications, work with analytics, etc. – all this must be taken into account to achieve the best result of your advertising campaign, as well as dealing with new services that appear on the Russian market.

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