Whether you’re new to this, or whether you’re looking for some quick tips on how you could make improvements, here is Fluid Ads’ A-Z guide to digital display advertising

A for Active Audience – Digital display advertising helps you to reach an audience that is already actively looking for what you’re selling. Use advertising to let them know you exist, and push them in the right direction to buy from you.

B for Build – You need to build adverts that grab attention. In a media heavy world, it’s important to find a way to stand out, and we urge you to think carefully about your call to actions. Getting the design right can make a massive difference to how the campaign works.

C for Contextual – More and more advertisers are opting for contextual ads. This is where you place an advert on a website that has relevant content. The power of this is that you can engage with a user at a time when they’re interested and in the right mindset.

D for Dynamic – Don’t be afraid to be dynamic with your advertising. Make your content personalised and consider more about who you’re targeting. From factoring in the time of day your advert reaches your audience, to the weather, or even fluctuations in the stock market, you can change what adverts your audience sees and when. This is alongside tailoring your advertising to online behaviour and other demographics. Being dynamic allows you to deliver messaging in a more effective and relevant way.

E for Entice – Did you know that 96% of visitors that come to a B2B website aren’t yet ready to buy or sign up to services? They’re still doing research. That means you need to ensure your adverts entice and encourage. Make sure they play the right role in your marketing plan.

F for Focus – Don’t be generic with your advertising. The better targeted your adverts are, the better results you’ll see. So make sure you give everything the right focus.

G is for Geofencing – Geofencing is our most popular tactic, allowing you to precisely target people at a set location. There are so many ways that this can work, and the results can be amazing.

H for Human Thinking – AI is a big talking point across the marketing industry. And while it has its place, never overlook the power of human thinking. Considering such things as unpredictable behaviour and unusual contexts can give your adverts a special flair. There are some things that AI just isn’t capable of.

I for Inventive – The best advertising campaigns have a good balance of innovative creativity and well thought through science. You need that solid research to begin with, but then be inventive in your execution. It’s not always best to stick with the easiest answers.

J for Joined Up – Adopt an omni-channel approach. Whatever you do in your advertising, make sure it’s joined up with the rest of your marketing to maximise results.

K for Knowledge – Measure everything you do, but then don’t forget to feed that back into future marketing plans. One of the most powerful elements of digital advertising is how trackable it is. But then use this new knowledge to hone your marketing.

L for Location Based – Location Based Marketing has emerged as a pivotal marketing strategy for businesses looking to maximise their reach. Despite this, however, many marketers are still yet to harness the full potential of this approach. From tapping into your local market, to reaching a very specific audience further afield, location based marketing offers incredible precision. If you haven’t explored this yet, don’t get left behind.

M for Media Buying – Media Buying is about more than just buying the right space online for your adverts. The more strategic you are with it, the better your adverts will work. With an abundance of options available, don’t just jump in. Take your time to get it right.

N for Narrative – Storytelling has proven to be an important element to include in your marketing strategy. Letting people in and allowing them to know who you are will increase your brand awareness and brand loyalty. Adverts don’t have to be static in design. You can use different tactics to tell your story through advertising.

O for Options – You don’t have to be an expert to get the best out of your digital advertising. Alongside the Fluid Ads platform where you can build and deliver your own ads, we also offer a Managed Service, where we can do all the work for you. There are so many options when it comes to advertising, so make sure you explore what’s right for you.

P for Passive Audience – Alongside the people who are actively looking for you, there is always a set of people who need your services but don’t know it yet. We call these the passive audience. Digital advertising can be a fantastic way to reach these people, putting your products or services on their radar, and convincing them that they do need you after all. Digital advertising can reach audiences that other tactics can’t.

Q for Querying – Don’t just set up your adverts and hope for the best. Query everything. Advertising, like all marketing activities, is an ongoing process. So keep learning and keep improving.

R for Retargeting – Retargeting is about more than just trying to grab the attention of people who once seemed interested in you. Retargeting is actually about building a relationship with your audience. Think about how you can use this incredible tool in more interesting ways than just the obvious.

S for Size – The size of your adverts can make a huge difference in how people react to them. But the bad news is there isn’t a magic formula for success. Every campaign and every audience will react differently. Make sure you think carefully about how your advert looks in different sizes, and monitor who is clicking on what size to see what the results are.

T for Testing – As no marketing activity is ever guaranteed to succeed, testing is a vital part of any marketer’s job. And with digital advertising being so trackable, you can start to see clearly what is working and what isn’t, and you have the tools to react accordingly. A/B Testing is easy with digital advertising, and powerful reporting can give you so much great insight to build upon.

U for Understanding – The best campaigns relate to their audience. Modern day adverts need to grab attention, but they also need to appeal. Show your audience that you understand them and think carefully about that creative.

V for Variety – Advertisers can increase their clickthrough rate (CTR) by around 89% simply by layering tactics within a campaign strategy. On average a digital campaign with five layers will create the best results, but it’s imperative to test and optimise each individual campaign as there is no guaranteed formula for success. But we know the more variety, the better things tend to work. 

W for Website – Most campaigns will send people to a website to find out more and, hopefully, convert. That means as part of your advertising plan you need to think about your website. The greatest ad campaign in the world will fall flat on its face if your website doesn’t have the right messaging or navigation to support it.

X for Flexibility – (Sorry, we’re cheating a bit). One of the most powerful elements of digital advertising, that just wasn’t possible with traditional advertising, is how flexible it can be. If something isn’t working, or you need to make changes, you can do so instantly. This means you can test and react in real time, and it’s easier to hone for success.

Y for Yardstick – Measure everything. Fluid Ads provides a lot of comprehensive reporting that will allow you to see just how your adverts are performing. Advertising should be a long game, but measuring performance is the only way to make sure it really works.

Z for Zillions – This A-Z only touches on the zillions of options available for any modern day advertiser. That’s why testing and monitoring are so important. It’s unlikely anyone will get it right first time. 

If you want to keep learning and keep tabs on the zillions of ways to optimise your advertising, then please sign up for our top tips newsletter.

If you’d like to find out more about digital advertising, why not book in a demo to explore our ads platform, or book in a meeting with the team where we can answer your questions.

Could Fluid Ads take your digital strategy to the next level? You alphabet we can!

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