Especially when 64% of people say ads today are annoying or intrusive, you may be wondering if it’s really worth the time and effort if people are just getting annoyed with you.
Written by Alex Mitchell
However, display ads have been reported to increase brand awareness by up to 12% and with the right techniques, they can bring you a whole new customer base and help convert your existing fans.
Be relevant
It’s every company’s dream to be able to get their brand out there and reach a huge audience at a relatively small cost and that’s what makes display advertising so appealing. But what’s the point in running a national campaign, reaching 2 million people in a day, with a CPM of £0.01 if none of these people have the slightest interest in what you’re advertising? According to Infolinks, only 14% of us could recall the last display ad we saw; even worse, only 2.8% thought these ads were relevant
Google’s display network provides a variety of demographics, placements and interests. Everything from 65-year-old+ cat lovers who are looking at the Daily Mail website, to 18-24-year-old thrill seekers from Yorkshire. There really is no excuse to not be reaching at least a slightly relevant audience.
Lookalike audiences
Not sure who your target audience is or how best to reach them? Google’s ‘Similar Audiences’ or Facebook’s ‘Lookalike Audiences’ enable you to create audiences based on the interests of your existing customers. Handy, eh?
Retargeting
So, you’re now getting the right people to your website, they’re showing interest in your products, but think to themselves, “I’ll buy that later when I’ve got a bit more time”. Later comes and they’ve forgotten the name of your website. “Nevermind, I’ll just get it from this competitor website instead”.
Now, if only there was a way you could have prevented this from happening… Welcome: retargeting ads. By reminding people of your brand and serving them ads to keep your products at the front of their mind, they are 70% more likely to convert and a recent study found that retargeting ads lead to a 1,046% increase in branded search queries.
Be creative
If someone is browsing a website, they are there for a particular reason and that’s not to quit what they’re doing and visit your website instead. That’s why creativity is key when it comes to creating your display ads. We’re here to make people forget what they were reading and come to you instead, a bit like kidnapping.
Static JPEGs aren’t going to cut the mustard when it comes to standing out, why not create striking, animated HTML ads that distract the user? Now you’ve got their attention, you need to make sure your ad is clear with relevant messaging and an appealing call to action. Job done, the customer is now yours!
Taking all these tips and techniques into consideration, we really do believe that display advertising can be incredibly effective when done correctly.