If you’re looking for new ways to market your brand, you’ve probably considered digital display advertising.
These eye-catching ads are designed for quick conversion and are a powerful marketing strategy for small businesses that want to reach an intended audience and build brand awareness.
They can be basic banners with a combination of text and images or they can include interactive formats like audio, video and animation. They typically appear at the top or side of a webpage and can appear on any kind of consumer-forward site.
Among the internet's earliest ad formats, display ads continue to be one of the most popular tools in a marketer's kit, and these six reasons make it easy to see why.
- Display ads strengthen your brand identity
- Display ads create initial interest & build awareness
- You can target (and retarget) your preferred audience
- Display ad success is easily measured
- You can optimize your display ads
- Display ads are cost-effective
Display ads strengthen your brand identity
Display ads are highly visual, allowing you to include graphics, a catchy CTA and your brand’s own flare. Creating a captivating ad will help your intended audience become familiar with your branding.
While they are typically most effective as a top-of-funnel awareness tactic, display ads can drive conversions when the creative includes a promo code or discount that delivers immediate value to the audience.
Display ads create initial interest & build awareness
Where paid search ads only appear in the search engines of consumers who are already looking for your product or service, display ads get in front of consumers before they even realize they need what you’re selling. Especially when paired with contextual targeting, the user may already be in the mindset to make a better connection with your brand or messaging.
This creates initial interest by linking the category/topic to your brand and establishes the foundation for brand awareness amongst your targeted audience.
You can target (and retarget) your preferred audience
When it comes to promoting your small business, targeting the people who are most relevant to your brand is key. With display ads, you have the ability to segment based on geography, language, interests, gender, device used (i.e. desktop or mobile), and even income — ensuring your ads reach the right audience at the right time and place.
Display ads also support retargeting. Display retargeting allows you to reach customers who have visited your website and abandoned it without buying, encouraging them to return. Have you ever searched for something on one page and then seen ads for it on a different site later? That's ad retargeting in action.
Display ad success is easily measured
Being able to measure your success or ROI (return on investment) is an essential part of any marketing strategy. This critical information will help you optimize your strategy toward what's working. By nature, display ads allow you to track key metrics, like how many impressions your ad has served, been seen and clicked.
You can optimize your display ads
If you're unsure about what design will be most effective for your display ads, you can run A/B testing comparing different elements like text, images, animations and colours. The results of these tests will give you a strong indication of which display ad design will work best for your campaign and your goals.
When you optimize your display ads by using A/B testing, you have the data you need to be confident that your advertising spend will have the biggest possible impact.
Display ads are cost-effective
Compared to other online marketing options, like native advertising and video, display ads are relatively quick and inexpensive to execute. There are cost per impression (CPM) and cost per click (CPC) ads, both offering flexible payment terms and low costs — ideal for budget-conscious small businesses.
Should I use display ads in my online marketing?
The online advertising industry is constantly innovating, so it says something that display ads have stood the test of time. The answer to whether display ads are right for your campaign, however, varies depending on your targeted audience, brand, product and goals.
Display ads, when used in combination with engaging design elements and appropriate audience targeting, are an effective way to familiarize people with your brand and promote time-sensitive campaign messages.