Display ads: creativity and performance

Have you heard of display ads? You may not recognise them by that name, but they’re the graphic advertising that appears in the margins of a web page or on social media.

They come in different types: animations, images, text with images, video… But one thing they all have in common is that design matters more and more in getting people to click on an ad.

What is a display ad and how does it work?

A display ad is a type of online advertising, known in our industry as a banner or creative, that appears on the website or channel relevant to the target audience and leads to a landing page that may offer a product or service. A few years ago we only found them as static formats, whereas now they’ve evolved into dynamic elements such as videos or gifs.

This type of advertising campaign is booming thanks to increased consumption of audiovisual content and the use of social media. A campaign like this lets us, among other things:

• Measure audiences: find out who has clicked on the creative.
• Segment audiences: find new customers or keep the ones we already have. This option lets you target your ads at users interested in your products.
• Increase conversions: Google’s responsive display campaigns, especially with automated targeting, identify audience segments and boost them to achieve a return on investment. Smart display campaigns combine the strengths of targeting and automated bidding with creatives to maximise conversions in Google Ads.

How much do these campaigns cost?

The cost depends inherently on the budget available, but as with setting up other campaigns on these platforms, there are four payment models for this type of advertising:

• Flat rate: agreeing on a fixed amount to pay per day or per month, depending on the type of goal set.
• Cost per thousand impressions: a fixed amount is agreed each time the ad is shown 1,000 times on the platform.
• Cost per click: the advertiser pays every time a user clicks on the ad.
• Cost per action: the advertiser pays for a specific action the user takes.

If, after reading this, you’re thinking about creating a campaign like this but don’t have time to work out the best option, we at Belvedere will plan it for you and help you choose the best option for your company.

What formats are there?

In Google’s case, there are two ways to create a display campaign. The traditional one comes with a guide to display ad specifications, and the most widely used formats are:

• Classic banner: 728 × 90 pixels. There used to be an older 468 × 60 format, which became too small for brands needing to stand out and make an impact on users.
• Billboard: takes up the full width of the page being viewed. It measures 970 × 90 pixels, or 970 × 250 pixels in its expanded version.
• Rich media: this type of display advertising lets users interact with it thanks to its advanced features. It has no specific size or format.
• Skyscrapers: the classic vertical ad placed in the right-hand margin of the page.
• Medium rectangle (“robapáginas”): the most widely used. It’s square or rectangular.
• Interstitial: this format takes up the entire page it appears on. It usually shows up on entering a site, about something very noteworthy.
• Skin: customising all the advertising elements on the page.

On the other hand, Google Display’s newer responsive campaigns take the images we provide and transform them into the sizes mentioned above. The images and text we supply must also meet a few requirements, set out in Google’s guide.

Design and display advertising: a golden duo

How many times do we “click” on a banner while reading a newspaper article? Often our minds skip over these ads and carry on with, say, reading the article. Unless the banner really catches our eye. That’s where the importance of advertising design comes into play.

How to design a banner

We can’t forget that the purpose of this ad is to catch the user’s attention. So it needs to be built on a few basics:

• Content: the ad sits within the page, so we need to use illustrations, images… to stand out from everything else on the page.
• The hook: in other words, the call to action. Include a button or element that leads straight to your ad’s page. That way you’ll know whether your ad is working.
• Text: too much text is boring. Users don’t have time to stop and read the ad. They want something that grabs their attention so they can take it in. So use short phrases that sum up what you’re offering.

Here are a few examples.

The banner makes the leap to social media

As we’ve been saying, creativity is the difference between success and failure in an ad. Given this, some brands have taken the step onto social media.

For example, by creating Instagram filters that let users interact with each other, so that your brand or product becomes a trend among them.

Now that you know a bit more about these ads… why not give your business a boost? You can count on us to do it.