Every successful ad campaign starts with questions: what do you want to achieve?
Do you want more people to hear about your brand? Drive traffic to your website? Or maybe boost engagement with your product? Once you know your goal, the next crucial step is choosing the right ad format to make it happen.
On adQuery, you can easily create campaigns using different ad formats — such as Interstitials, Banners, and Story Ads. Each format works best for different campaign objectives. In this article, we’ll help you understand which format to use depending on whether your focus is awareness, traffic, or engagement.
Why the right ad format matters?
Imagine you have a brilliant creative but show it in a format that doesn’t fit your goal. A full-screen, immersive ad might irritate users if your goal is subtle awareness. A small banner might get lost if your goal is to make a bold first impression.
By matching the right format to your goal, your campaigns become smarter, more effective, and user-friendly.
Define your campaign goal
Before selecting a format, clearly define what you want your campaign to achieve. While most advertising goals typically focus on brand awareness, traffic generation, or engagement, your objective might also include lead generation, app installs, or conversions — depending on your marketing funnel and strategy.
Ask yourself these questions before launching your campaign:
- Who is my target audience?
- What actions do I want users to take after seeing my ad?
- Which KPIs will define success for this campaign?
Learn more ➡️ How to choose the right ad format?
Choose the right ad format
Story ad – two approaches
A Story Ad is a full-screen, vertical ad format inspired by the “stories” experience on social media platforms. It’s designed to capture user attention through a visually engaging, mobile-first narrative. We offer two variations of Story Ads.
Story Ad Video
A short, vertical video format that mirrors social media stories. Perfect for showing your product in action, delivering a quick, emotional hook, or highlighting a promotion through motion and sound.
Think of it as a mini-commercial that plays seamlessly within mobile environments. Ideal for brands that want to tell a story through dynamic visuals.
Story Ad (Tiles)
A creative sequence of three static 9:16 tiles, displayed one after another to form a cohesive story. Each tile can contain a unique image or message, leading users step-by-step toward a clear call to action (CTA). It’s a simple yet powerful way to build narrative flow and guide users through a structured visual journey, especially when you don’t have video assets.
When to use Story Ads?
👉 Best for: Brand Awareness & Engagement Campaigns
Story Ads are a top-performing format for upper-funnel marketing goals, particularly when you want to:
- Encourage user engagement, such as watching the full story or swiping up to learn more.
- Build brand recognition through immersive visuals,
- Launch new products in a fresh, mobile-optimized way,
- Highlight new products, features, or seasonal campaigns.
- Run campaigns targeting audiences who may not know your brand yet.
- Create short, sequential experiences that feel like native content.
Example:
Promoting a mobile game? A 10-second Story Ad showing gameplay highlights with a “Play Now” swipe-up can create awareness and drive engagement simultaneously.
Why Story Ads work?
- Full-screen focus – no competing content, full attention on your ad.
- Mobile-first experience – designed for vertical viewing, matching natural user behavior.
- High engagement potential – interactive and short-form nature keeps users involved.
- Emotional storytelling – perfect for brands that rely on visuals and lifestyle appeal.
- Encourages interaction – swipes, taps, and replays increase engagement.
Interstitial ads
Interstitial ads are full-screen ads displayed at natural transition points — between app screens or webpage views. They appear when user attention is already shifting, which makes them highly noticeable and effective at driving action.
Because they temporarily take over the screen, Interstitials often achieve high CTRs and are a great fit for performance-oriented campaigns.
When to use Interstitials?
👉 Best for: Traffic & Awareness campaigns.
Use Interstitials when you want to:
- Drive users directly to your website or app,
- Boost click-throughs and immediate engagement,
- Promote product launches, special offers, or retargeting campaigns.
Example:
Launching a new app? Use an interstitial to showcase the main feature with a clear CTA. This format ensures your message is seen before the user continues.
Why Interstitials works?
- Full-screen visibility ensures user attention.
- Perfect for short, high-impact messages.
- Can drive both traffic and awareness, depending on CTA and creative.
Banner Ads
Banner Ads are one of the most established formats in digital advertising — and for good reason. They are small, rectangular or square ads that appear embedded within the app or website interface. They are designed to be non-intrusive yet consistently visible, providing a steady reminder of your brand or promotion. You can run static or animated banners for maximum creative flexibility.
When to use Banners?
👉 Best for: Awareness and Traffic
Banners are a reliable choice when you want to:
- build long-term brand awareness through repeated exposure,
- run retargeting campaigns to bring users back to your site,
- reach broad audiences efficiently and cost-effectively.
Even in the era of video and interactive ads, banners remain a foundational format that complements other campaign types.
Why banners work?
- Persistent placement ensures continuous exposure without interrupting the user experience.
- Ideal for campaigns focused on driving traffic or reinforcing brand recognition.
- Easy to test different creatives and measure performance.
Example:
Running an awareness campaign for a new product line? A banner highlighting your key visual and tagline across multiple sites keeps your brand top of mind.
Conclusion
There’s no single “best” ad format — the key is to align your creative choice with your campaign objectives and continuously test variations. Professional campaign planning is about matching formats to goals:
- Video Story Ads: Engage and build awareness with compelling visuals.
- Story Ads: Drive active engagement and conversions.
- Interstitial Ads: High impact, full-screen messages for awareness and traffic.
- Banner Ads: Subtle, persistent ads for steady traffic and awareness.
Ready to launch your next campaign? Contact us and our team will help you choose the best format for your goals.
