I came across a figure the other day published by eMarketer that gave me pause. According to the digital research firm, global digital ad spend is expected to surpass $333 billion this year. Allow that to sink in for a moment. That’s a third of a trillion dollars being spent on digital ads!

And while at first you might be blown away by this big figure, when you take into consideration the amount of content that is consumed daily on the internet it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise. We live in a world where content of any kind is at our fingertips. Whether you want to know what baby number is Kim Kardashian pregnant with (it’s baby # 4!), the sex of Meghan Markle’s unborn child (it’s a GIRL), how many polar bears are left on earth (too sad to mention) or what in the world are “ASMR” videos (Google “pickle eating” videos, I was shocked when my teens showed me!); the internet is bound to provide an endless number of results.

But whether you’re on the mobile web, enjoying your favorite app or watching your favorite YouTubers, you’re consuming content. However, what so many of us seem to forget is that all this content has a cost associated with it. It cost someone somewhere something to produce the content we all consume. As such, it seems justified that these people and organizations be compensated for their content creation. That’s where advertising come in.

So, unless you want to pay a subscription fee to binge watch shows on Netflix or Hulu or consume content on news sites like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, or Bloomberg, you’ll have to “pay the price” to consume your desired content by way of being served ads. But don’t you think it could be done better? I do, and I’m not alone. That’s why I decidedly chose to make a career change and enter the ad space professionally more than four years ago.

When it comes right down to it, it’s quite simple. Advertising is content. And just like anything else it can be done well or poorly. The Super Bowl ads are a great example of ads done well. Millions of people tune into the big game or search YouTube to watch the ads simply because of the fact that they’re entertaining. But that’s only one day. And because of the high price tag, it’s an opportunity only available to a minuscule number of brands. What about the rest of the year? What about all the other products and services out there that are deserving of consumer attention? There has to be a better way.

That’s where immersive ads (aka, immersive 360 banner ads) come in. They provide brands and products of all shapes and sizes with the opportunity to break through and actively engage the consumer. They’re typically less expensive to produce than a video, and because they can be bought across display ad inventory, they’re a more economical media buy as well. As for the consumer, unlike a pre-roll or mid-roll ad where I’m forced to watch something for a specific period of time, immersive ads hand control of the ad experience over to the individual and they’re fun to engage with.

If an immersive banner ad catches my attention, and chances are it will because when done right they respond to device motion, natural human curiosity takes over. I want to take another look. Better yet, if the ad is relevant to me or appears to be an interesting piece of content, I engage with it even further. Take a look at the immersive ad below and you’ll understand what I mean. (Check it out on mobile and you’ll really get what I’m saying.)

Now imagine you’re scrolling through a webpage or using one of your favorite apps. You come across an immersive banner ad just as you would a typical display ad. If you’re on your smartphone, you’ll notice it responds to you and your movements. You become curious. You see the brand, you see some of the message, and if you want to see more of this engaging content, you have the option to do so…on your terms. You can look up, down, left right. You can move your device, use your finger or mouse to explore the ad. You can see more without having to unnecessarily “click out” unless you choose to. Before you know it, you’re voluntarily engaging with branded content.

It seems a win all around. Once the ad is in view the advertiser gets that valuable impression they paid for and the content creator is likewise compensated for their cost to create the content you or I were enjoying free of charge. But perhaps even better for a brand, we as consumers have engaged with a brand on our own terms (we’re already feeling the warm cozies towards the advertiser), we now associate the brand with something positive, we’re more likely to recall the brand, more likely to recall the ad and guess what else? We’re also more likely to purchase from this brand.

So as ad spend steadily flows into the digital space and soars into the hundreds of billions of dollars, it marks an opportunity for advertisers and brands of all shapes and sizes to simply do ads better. And if I may quote Dr. Brand of Level Mpls, “Advertising is like fire, you can use it to warm your house or burn it down.” I vote that we use it to warm the fire, we build a bonfire in fact. We owe it to ourselves; we owe it to all consumers and we owe it to the millions across the globe who create the voluminous amount content we all so voraciously consume!

What are your thoughts? I’d like to know. Comment below or write me at lbarton@advrtas.com.

Want to see more examples of killer immersive 360 banner ads? Check out this Immersive Ad Gallery.

Isn’t It Time Mobile Ads Got Better — Written by, Laura Barton, CMO & Co-Founder of Advrtas