Everything You Need To Know About Display Advertisement
You have been in digital marketing long enough to have heard about display ads. Yet, the substantially low cost might have you dumbfounded for some time. In the spotlight of this article, you will learn everything there is to know about display advertisements. What they are and how they work are just the basics. I will get into depth about display advertisement strategies and help you build a firm understanding of this subject. Consider this blog as your first and last guide to display advertisements because you won’t need to search elsewhere about “what are display ads” and “how do display ads work?”
For many years Google has been dominating the digital marketing world. After all, Google is the founder of digital marketing, and all SEO and paid advertisement tricks have roots from Google. In general, display advertisements are a way for websites to boost their sales and brands to promote their new products. However, display ads have been used in various ways, and we are going to explore them together. So if you enjoy all things digital and want to strengthen your grip around display ads, keep reading below to learn more.
What Are Display Ads?
Display advertisements are a way for brands to attract their audience to their website. These are text-based images or videos that have landing pages on their back. When a user clicks on a display ad, they are navigated to the company’s landing page behind it. While all of this might seem easy, it’s only fair to tell you that it’s not. Display advertisements have been a matter of debate among digital marketers as some render them “useless with low-conversions.” In contrast, others have figured out their secrets and know how to make millions.
Digital marketers who have uncovered the secrets of display advertisement rely on its pricing model. As of 2021, Google charges on a CPC basis for display advertisement. CPC stands for cost-per-click, which means that the company behind a display ad will be charged only when customers click on the display ad. Some marketers are confused over this idea because the name implies otherwise. However, as per Google, their pricing model for “display” ads is based on “clicks.”
Display ads are used in several ways, including retargeting campaigns and product launches. The true benefits of display advertisement rely on their ability to generate brand awareness, and digital marketers are using it to its fullest. After all, a small banner on the side is not efficient to be used as a lead generation tool rather than being utilized for brand awareness. However, there are pro digital marketers who have generated leads through display ads. In a nutshell, display advertisement is limited to the creativity and knowledge of the company behind it. These ads can do everything if their content is according to business goals.
Types of Display Ads
Many beginner marketers wonder, “Are there different types of display ads?” a short answer to this question is yes! Display ads can be of different dimensions and can be placed in various locations on a website. Below are four types of display ads you will encounter as a web surfer and use as a digital marketer.
1. Banner Ads
One of the oldest and traditional forms of display ads is the banner ad. This style of display advertisement goes on the banner of a website, and it can vary in dimensions. These ads are mainly used to create brand awareness. However, banner ads are not limited to brand awareness only. This form of display ads on top of a website can generate leads, boost sales and even increase YouTube views.
Qualities of a great display ad include bright and attractive colors with fewer texts. It’s basically an invitation for the user to click and see what’s being advertised. However, banner ads with poor targeting strategies can be disastrous as brands gain clicks yet no conversions.
2. Interstitial Ads
Aside from conventional display ads, the interstitial ads are more immersive, and they deliver a better experience to the user. This is because these ads consume the entire screen. Interstitial ads are basically mobile ads placed between content or games. Every interstitial ad has a different run time. Image-based interstitial ads have an immediate close option. Still, video ads can take up the screen for at least 5 seconds.
While interstitial ads might seem interruptive to users, they have a pretty good conversion rate. The intruding factor of interstitial ads doesn’t affect brands because a single ad is not displayed multiple times unless the budget is insanely high or there is a lack of competition in your niche. However, continuously showing any advertisement can backfire for brands as customers might start reporting them.
3. Rich Media Ads
As the world of display ads becomes stagnant and innovation reaching its peak, digital marketers combined with graphic designers have come up with “rich media ads.” These ads are dynamic, and they can scale according to your display size. In short, rich media ads are a one-size-fits-all approach to display advertisements. These are immersive, engaging, captivating, and deliver an overall robust user experience.
Since marketers have diagnosed that creativity and user experience play a critical role in ad conversions, services like ad content writing and graphics designing have seen their boom over the years. This is because the quest to deliver a memorable ad experience requires more than just a sales mind. Rich media ads can fit on a website’s banner with a static background yet a dynamic foreground moves with your mobile screen. These ads can achieve any marketing or sales objective while being creative, attractive, and appealing all at the same time.
4. Video Ads
Video ads have been a part of display advertisements as long as banner ads. These ads can consume the user’s entire screen or their display. The most popular domain for video ads is Youtube, followed by Facebook and other social media channels. However, this display ad can be costly for a business that is operated solely online.
On the other hand, brands that follow an omnichannel approach truly realize the benefits of video display ads. This is because omnichannel brands use a blend of digital and conventional marketing. Therefore, they need a video advertisement for their TVC campaigns. Video display ads have only opened a new door for such brands to promote their video. However, complete online businesses don’t make high-paid videos for TVC; therefore, these companies have to bear additional expense to promote their offerings on the digital platform.
Pro’s and Con’s of Display Ads
Like any other marketing strategy, display ads have their own set of pros and cons that need to be evaluated before embarking on their journey. Before we get into actionable display campaign strategies, let’s examine the pros and cons of display advertisement.
Pro’s of Display Ads
1. Customizability
Display advertisements come in different dimensions, colors, designs, and themes. All of the creativity involved in display advertisements depend on the company behind them. This means brands can choose their unique style, message, and feel of their advertising.
2. Reach
Thanks to the Google display network, brands can now share their story, content, video, or messages across borders at minimum cost. Global brands are die-hard fans of display ads, and you will find the same ad in two different countries. The enhanced reach of display ads has created a competitive marketplace for conventional advertisement agencies, and brands fuel this feed by moving to the digital domain.
3. Targeting
Display advertisements have a huge audience network meaning these cater to customers on a global level. Targeting becomes relatively easier with display ads because brands can find their potential buyer even from the corner of the world.
4. Measurable
Display ads are entirely transparent like all Google ads, and they can be measured to see progress. Clicks, conversions, impressions, and even reach are all displayed on Google’s dashboard to make key decisions that can influence your sales.
Cons of Display Ads
1. Banner Blindness
Due to the prolific nature of display ads, users ignore them, which results in low click-through rates. However, there are ways to curb this adverse effect, but most marketers cannot work around this problem.
2. Ad Blockers
Ad blockers are slowly gaining popularity, and their usage is preventing display advertisements from generating leads. Many brands have tried to work around this obstacle by allowing users to purchase a subscription.
Strategies For Display Advertisement
Now that we are past the introduction to display advertisement and their types, it’s time to uncover some of the best strategies that curb the cons of display ads. These strategies will open doors to new leads at a cheap cost and allow your brand to grow beyond your expectations.
1. Display Ads and Sales Funnel
Like all marketing strategies, display advertisements start with goal setting. Once you have a clear goal in mind, achieving desired results will be easy through display advertisements. A key factor to remember is that display advertisement goals are often different from digital marketing goals. Some common types of goals used by top brands are:
- Brand awareness
- Lead generation through lea magnets
- Cart abandonment campaigns
- Cultivating leads through the buying process
As per Techwyse, display ads are more powerful when they have a specific goal. Therefore, it’s important to clearly understand what you want to achieve from display ads throughout your team.
2. Get Your Targeting Right
This is the part that can make or break your display advertising campaigns. If you are targeting the wrong customer segment, your ads will be shown to people who don’t care about what you are offering. Although the mechanism for selecting the target audience is the same as search ads, display ads have further options to help brands achieve their goals. Let’s explore some targeting options you can choose from in display advertisements.
Keyword Targeting: Try to choose keywords that resemble your services. Your keyword selection will help Google shortlist people who have searched your terms and show your ad to them. Most businesses only target keywords that are directly linked to their business. However, the best strategy is to choose TOFU-level keywords as well.
Demographic Targeting: here, you can select the area you believe your customers live in. This segmentation helps brands that serve in a specific location or sell products that are only purchased in chosen areas, states, cities, countries, and even localities.
Placement Targeting: Placement targeting allows you to choose the category of websites you want your display ads to be shown on. For example, if you sell shoes, you might want your ads to be shown on sports, apparel, and other websites that are widely related to your product.
The Bottom Line
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