In the digital space, brands are producing content that compete over people’s limited attention, be it in the form of articles, social posts, images, or videos. One strategy you can do in order to grab their attention is through unique and relevant display ads.
Why Use Display Ads?
The best thing about display ads is that you can incorporate them into all stages of your leads’ purchase journey. There’s no need to wait before people show interest in your business offerings before displaying the ad.
For example, you can display your Data Science courses on tech websites and review sites for visitors to see. If your display ad is done well, prospects can immediately recall your brand once they are on the search for exactly what you have to offer. Your company will have better chances than others of leaving a memorable impression in the minds of your target audience as they have encountered the ads during, or possibly even before, their research phase. Needless to say, this goes a long way with building brand awareness.
On the other hand, display ads can also be utilized for remarketing, reminding prospects of available course offerings after some time has passed since their last website visit. If you need a refresher on the many benefits of creating a winning remarketing plan, check out our article here.
Forms of Display Ads
Display ads can be served among 3 million websites, including YouTube, and among 650,000 apps throughout the Google Display Ad Network. You can tap around 90% of the global internet population with this, reaching a greater volume for your ads than ever before.
Banner
This is probably the most commonly known type of display advertising. With the use of eye-catching images and animations, these ads can easily capture the attention of viewers. You can choose from an array of sizes for your banner ads, depending on your campaign goals.
Gmail
As the name suggests, this type of display ad appears in Gmail inboxes, specifically in the Promotions and Social group. They can expand like a regular email when clicked.
App
With people using their phones more frequently than ever before, display ads through apps are a great way to connect to potential customers. Google lets you control where you show your ads such as limiting which devices and app categories are included in the campaign.
Types of Digital Ads
Aside from their forms, Google recognizes different types of digital ads, based on their configuration.
Responsive Ads
These types of ads automatically adjust their size and format to easily fit into any space in the Google Ads Display Network.
Responsive Display Ads
This is the default setting in Google Ads where the type of display ad is much like responsive ads but with the added bonus of allowing multiple assets for each type. According to Google, this type of ad allows you to provide up to “5 headlines, descriptions, and logos, and 15 marketing images.”
As a result of combining these multiple assets with algorithms designed for optimum performance, these responsive display ads drive more conversions than other types.
Uploaded Ads
Uploaded ads are ones that are uploaded to, instead of made, in Google Ads. The upside to this type of display is more control for your ads.
Here are common display ad sizes per device measured in pixels:
- Mobile: 300×250, 320×50, 320×100, 250×250, 200×200
- Desktop: 300×250, 336×280, 728×90, 300×600, 160×600, 970×90, 468×60
Semrush released an infographic that showcases how these sizes look on desktop, with 728X90 size being the most effective dimension for marketers.
Best Practices
- Use high-quality photos for your ads. Since display ads are all about the visual element, make sure that the photos you use aren’t blurry, heavily filtered, and cluttered. Avoid using borders as well.
- Make sure that the ad focuses on your product or service. Your product should be highlighted in your creative material in order to minimize confusion and clearly communicate to audiences what the ad is about.
- Avoid overlaying text, logos, or buttons on the ad. This distracts the audience and takes their attention from the image.
For more tips on your digital advertising strategies, check out Google’s own guide here.
