Banner Ads are one of the most dominant forms of online advertising. In simple terms, it is the embedding of an advertisement onto a web page to promote a brand.
They are designed to drive potential customers to a website by linking to the advertiser’s website and demonstrating their products, services or other key messaging. You simply click the image you can see on the web page and you are transferred to the advertiser’s website.
Banner advertising can also be referred to as Display Advertising and they both share the same meaning. They consist of rectangular based images which are either static or animated and don’t have any text. They are carefully positioned on a web page to ensure full visibility on websites with high traffic rates.
Banner Ads are attractive to brands and customers for several reasons. They are great for brand awareness; they can generate further leads for business growth, and they can also re-target an audience to persuade them to click.
Imagine a banner outside a shop that is promoting its latest special offer on a particular product that might be popular. This is placed directly outside for full visibility to customers, drawing them in to buy. Banner Ads work in exactly the same way, just online.
The purpose of the Banner Ad is to increase customer traffic to a website. It encourages people to click to be part of the special offer. Through this clicking method, there are several other important things that come into play such as how long a customer spends on a web page, CTR’s, impressions and more.
You also have the ability to track and monitor the progress of your Banner Ad with regular updates and reports to see how many people are actually clicking. Monitoring progress is a great way to adjust your campaigns if you notice a decrease in clicks.
Banner Advertisements encourage people to buy certain products online. The measure of success for each campaign will depend on the context of the ad and the physical placement of it on a web page; the ad needs to be relevant to the web page that it’s shown on. You have the capability to to target specific demographics and audiences with your ads for the best chance of success. Banner Ads are there to give the audience the answer they need, to provide a solution to their problem.
When designing your banner ad, choose colours that will complement the website that your ad is being displayed on. If your ad reflects the website itself in some way, this will increase trust within the ad and encourage more people to click. Whilst you want your ad to stand out and do its job, you don’t want it to contrast too far away from the website it is displayed on as this can remind the audience, they are just trying to be sold something.
Your banner ad could easily fall by the wayside if it doesn’t catch the eye of the customer. With an ever-expanding world of endless information, people are likely to lose interest very quickly if they don’t have an instant answer. It can be tricky to design a quirky banner ad that will stand out from the crowd, but it certainly isn’t impossible with some planning in place.
Having a strong call to action is also really important for your banner ad display campaigns. It should be clear to the audience what they need to do and what they will get if they click your ad. Frequently ads get lost and do register in people’s minds because the reason for the ad is unclear, so the audience doesn’t click. Make sure your call to action is visually engaging with its size, shape and colour.
Use your creativity and individuality to design a standout banner ad from scratch. Consider your target market’s needs and then tailor your campaign according to what you think they want.
Does your target market identify as bright and bouncy with some animation? Or are they more suited to sophisticated and neat with a simple font?
Throwing too much information at an audience could confuse them and ultimately, they might miss your ad all together. If you have multiple products on offer, it might be suitable to run more than one ad for each product with their own individual campaign. It is advisable to refrain from multiple offers on one ad simply because sometimes it can look overwhelming and be a turn off for a potential new customer.
The smaller the ad, the quicker it will load up on to a web page. Once you begin adding colours, animations and images, your banner ad file size can quickly increase. The quicker your ad loads, the more time you have to grab the attention of the user.
To generate more revenue for your business, consider creating banner ads with a theme. Depending on the product you are selling, you could potentially drive more traffic to your site with a banner ad all about the brilliant discounts you have on your products.
Here is a roundup of the key things to remember when considering your ad campaign:
Audiences are exposed to thousands of ads on the internet and often, they will lean towards what they are interested in and brands they can trust. This is why it is so important to concentrate on the individuality of your brand and ensure that is echoed into your advertising campaigns.
Banner Ads are a really powerful online tool and they have the potential to drive your business revenue up to the next level.