How effective are banners in online advertising?

Banner ads fall into the category of digital advertising, one of the most lucrative ways to generate revenue.

How effective are banners in online advertising?

Banner ads are effective and drive business performance. So, yes, there is absolute relevance with over 99% of digital ads that are not linked to a conversion. This is a type of online ad that combines text, images and a URL that links to a website where the customer can get more information or buy products. These ads can be static with one image or animated with multiple images, video or changing text (also called rich media ads).

An advertising campaign can have different objectives, and some display ads educate about the product while others are designed to entertain and engage through simple games or puzzles. Banners are a common form of banner ads that are often used for awareness campaigns. Display ads vary greatly in who they target and how they work. Here's a breakdown of the different display ad options and what they do.

The majority of display ads you see today are remarketing ads, also known as retargeting ads. Thanks to the trend towards personalisation of ads, retargeting campaigns have become more widespread. Display ads are still popular, but a new strategy called native advertising has started to take away some of their market share. Native ads are less obvious than display ads and can sometimes reach users who have ad blocking software enabled.

They can be a good way to engage potential customers, as most people respond better to content when it is not an obvious ad. But there is always a risk that when they get to the end and discover that the post or article they just read was an advertisement, they will end up feeling cheated. No form of advertising is perfect for every company. Before deciding whether or not to invest in display ads, consider the benefits and drawbacks.

Unlike native ads that mimic editorial content, display ads are clearly advertisements. While this sometimes means that people will ignore them on principle, it also means that audiences immediately recognise that they are seeing a message from your brand. Most display ads are image-based, not text-based. Your audience doesn't have to read an entire article or infographic to get to your brand message, as with content marketing or native ads.

Even when people scroll past these messages, they still make an impression. Compared to other forms of digital advertising, display ads do not require complex integration with publishers' sites. They can appear on almost any site that is part of the participating ad network without requiring a lot of technical expertise. Display ads are designed to get your message across as quickly and easily as possible, but their short duration can work against them.

Venture capitalist Gilad de Vries has found that they are most effective when they lead viewers to long-form content. While display advertising is useful, it is probably not the real driver of your marketing strategy. Most people see banner ads at the beginning of their buying journey, so they are best used as part of a long-term marketing plan. Your banner ads can pique a potential customer's interest and prepare them for more in-depth content later on.

Your brand story is important, but banner ads are often too small to include all the details. To avoid overwhelming users, keep the design simple and use as few words as possible to convey your message. The ad, from top to bottom, follows a sequential hierarchy starting with the brand logo, followed by a title and subtitle, followed by a call to action (CTA). But for premium ad placement, banner ads are the way to go and have cemented their importance in driving revenue for marketers.

This ad features a partnership between Coca-Cola and an NFL team, positioning the beverage as a great choice on game day. Banner advertising has the potential to send traffic to a website, and when the placement is done correctly, the likelihood of that visitor being interested in your products and services is high. The key to demonstrating results with banner ads is to know your audience and to know the publisher and the website where the banner will be placed. So you could cast a wider net by running a contextual ad on home improvement sites, real estate blogs or even parenting forums.

Because it is an auction system, the cost of a banner campaign will vary depending on the display network you choose, the size of the ad, the competitiveness of your vertical, the popularity and nature of the placements on the website you win, etc. The CTA is arguably the most important element of the banner ad, as it prompts the user to act on the banner ad's message. There are also a number of factors to consider when designing a banner to have the best chance of success. To determine whether banner ads will be effective for you, it is important to understand how the cost is broken down with this method of advertising.

Banner ads fall into the category of digital advertising, one of the most lucrative ways to generate revenue. Banner ads have been around since almost the dawn of the Internet, and as new tactics such as native advertising and inbound marketing have evolved, the question of whether banner ads still have a place seems increasingly present. You pay the display network directly (rather than the publishing medium) for ad placement, and you can choose the types of websites on which your ads will be displayed. A display ad is much less disruptive than a TV or radio ad, especially if it is accompanied by relevant content.

But if you consider banner advertising as part of a broader ecosystem of marketing tactics, banner ads can contribute to other marketing objectives as well as traffic generation.

Cathy Jerrett
Cathy Jerrett

Twitter fan. Incurable twitter geek. Total travel junkie. Devoted pizza scholar. Proud internet fanatic.