Until recently, the LINE News space has been the primary ad location for LINE Ads. But now that contents are always displayed at the top of the talk list screen (commonly known as the “talk list ad space”), the amount of ads distributed to it is about to take over its place. With nearly 55 million users visiting the talk list per day, it is a place where extreme results can be expected. In this post, we will explain the details and case studies of Small Image Ads, ads crucial for running LINE Ads in the talk list, to prevent opportunity loss.
1. What is talk list ad space?
The talk list ad space is located at the top of the LINE talk list screen. It is a space that appears to huge number of users within LINE, having over 88 million active users (about 70% of the Japanese population) as of March 2021.
The talk list ad space is also used for displaying content such as weather, fortune-telling, and news, but we will focus on LINE Ads in this post.
Source: LINE for Business, “LINE Business Guide July-December 2021”, p176
- Talk list ad space as LINE Ads
The strength of the talk list ad space is its reachability to all ages. Even users who do not usually use social networking services use LINE for texting. We define the talk list ad space as the prime location for LINE because it can reach such users. - Ad formats available in talk list ad space
The talk list ad space supports three formats: (1) Card, (2) Square, and (3) Small Image Ads. (1) Card is a horizontal still image of 1200 x 628. (2) Square is a square still image of 1080 x 1080.
Source: LINE for Business, “LINE Business Guide July-December 2021”, p136
Card and Square images are displayed fully on the timeline screen but are too large to be on the talk list screen. As you can see below, doing such will significantly reduce the visibility of the image.
Source: LINE for Business, “LINE Business Guide July-December 2021”, p135
That’s where the third option, Small Image Ads, comes in. With its size of 600 x 400, much smaller than Card and Square, it is the key to winning successful results with the talk list ad space.
In fact, for the accounts we are running, the click-through rate (CTR) for the Square ads is 0.45%, for the Card ads is 0.57%, while the Small Image Ads are delivering 1.00%.
2. Update of the Talk List Ad Space
Since the May 2021 update, the talk list ad space is always visible on the talk list screen. Before the update, in February, the impression percentage of the talk list ad space within the all LINE Ads was 40%. But its delivery increased with this update and became over 50% in June.
Source: Materials provided by LINE Corp.
With this increase in distribution share, creative strategy incorporating the talk list ad space has a significant impact on improving overall results.
3. Utilizing Small Image Ads
As I mentioned above, Small Image Ads are the key to winning successful results with the talk list ad space. As you can see below, about 70% of all still image ads delivered on the talk list ad space are Small Image Ads, as of June.
Source: Materials provided by LINE Corp
Likewise, about 77% of Small Image Ads are distributed on the talk list ad space as of June.
From the above relationship between the talk list ad apace and Small Image Ads, it is clear that you cannot ignore Small Image Ads to make the most out of the talk list ad space.
4. What are Small Image Ads?
Small Image Ads are ads structured with a 600 x 400 still image and texts. Compared to other supported formats with LINE Ads, another strength of the Small Images Ads is that it can have more text.
Normally, the text length for LINE Ads is limited to 20 characters. But with Small Image Ads, you can use up to 34 characters in a 2-lines x 17-characters format to deliver more information.
Source: Materials provided by LINE Corp
5. Effectiveness of the Small Image Ads on the talk list ad space
The talk list ad space has a minimal size to show ads, and that’s why you need to devise ways to ensure the visibility of creatives.
If a Card or Square sized ad is displayed on the talk list screen, it will be shrunk to the size with extremely lower visibility of text and product photos. It is needless to say that CTR will decrease. With Small Image Ads, on the other hand, you will create a banner small enough to be displayed on the talk list screen so that you can ensure its visibility compared to Card or Square.
Also, with Card and Square, the advertiser’s name is displayed on the second line of the text area. But with Small Image Ads, you can set any text up to 17 characters on the second line to convey more information. From the above, we can say that the Small Image Ads are the best for the talk list ad space.
6. Tips on the Creatives
Here are some tips on the creatives taking advantage of the Small Image Ads.
- Long texts
Take advantage of more extended text availability to convey more information to users.
With longer texts, you can mention your service, feedback, and incentives.
You can also use brackets to emphasize the target audience or use colloquialisms to make the texts stand out. Unlike other ad formats, Small Image Ads have smaller space for images and are hard to include information. But by effectively using longer texts, you can cover that disadvantage.
Source: Materials provided by LINE Corp
Source: Materials provided by LINE Corp
- Banners with visuals
The visibility of the banner is of utmost importance in utilizing the small space of the talk list ad space. You can expect better results with simple and eye-catching banners than banners packed with product visuals, celebrities, and texts.
7. Summary
With the update of the talk list ad space being always displayed, ad distribution to it within LINE Ads is increasing. And Small Image Ads format maximizes the effect of its small area. Let’s use the extended text capability and visual banners with Small Image Ads to improve the results.
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Irep Inc. is an award-winning global digital marketing agency based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our headquarters are in Tokyo and our network spans more than 20 countries. In Japan, we are ranked No. 1 for performance-based marketing. We also offer highly specialized market entry, as well as integrated marketing and localization services. Since 1997, our data-driven solutions have effectively led our diverse international clientele to continuous success in Japan, Asia, and beyond.
Irep Inc.
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