Eye-catching Display Ads Increase Brand Visibility and Engagement
What is Display Advertising?
Display advertising is online advertising that uses static or animated images &/or audio and video to communicate the message.
The advertiser pays either by the click (as with pay-per-click ads), or by the number of “impressions” or views their ads receive. The impression model was inherited from traditional print and television advertising.
About Ad Display
- Websites use standardized ad sizes, which were developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).
- Ads can be placed directly on individual websites (a “direct buy”), or using a network (like PulsePoint, Yahooinc.com, Google AdSense) that has relationships with thousands of sites.
- Display ad networks use a real-time bidding (RTB) system for their pricing. RTB prices go up and down based on complex algorithms. For the most part, these prices are based on supply and demand: how many people view the pages and how much competition there is for your type of ad, but there are other factors.
- When a buyer makes a direct buy, the payment is a fixed-fee over a given time period.
- The fastest growing segment of display advertising is on mobile devices.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Display ads have had a poor reputation since they were introduced, because clickthrough rates are typically low, and studies have shown that people don’t read them and often think they are irrelevant. Even so, many organizations use them for brand and product awareness. While consumers typically say they’re immune to advertising, most of us pay more attention than we’d like to admit. Try asking a non-beer drinker how many brands of beer they can think of! In sum, many of our customers have been very happy with the results of their traditional display ad campaigns, low clickthrough rates or not.
Moreover, display advertising is becoming a more viable option for advertisers looking for measurable ROI. This is because it’s now possible to serve up more contextual and targeted ads that are more relevant, and therefore better-received by viewers. Ad exchanges and real-time bidding let advertisers bid just on the ad space that’s relevant to them, based on how they want to target their audience. Advertising techniques like native advertising and various types of retargeting are proving to be much more effective than traditional banner ads. Native advertising matches the form and function of the website where it appears.
Tips for Success
To make your display ad campaigns more successful:
- Clearly define the campaign goals and set benchmarks
- Educate colleagues about the strengths of display advertising
- Be willing to change or modify the campaign creative, copy or budgets based on your results
- Select ad formats (sizes) with the best performance history
- Use custom campaign landing pages
Contact Us to discuss your digital marketing program.
