Digital display advertising is an essential part of the marketing mix, even in a world of ad blockers and banner blindness.
The question is: how do you make digital display ads that aren’t terrible?
Here are our top five tips for creating digital display ads that actually work for lead generation and conversion.
1. Tailor your content
Don’t create one display and say “OK, we’re done.”In order for display ads to be effective, they need to be specific to the audience they’re displaying to.
For instance, let’s say you’re a handyman/home improvement company using pop-up windows on your own site to capture lead information. If you’re blogging about ‘how to install a ceiling fan yourself’, a pop-up window about electrical safety is a great resource to drive people to download (in exchange for their info). That same resource won’t work as well with an article about outdoor deck installation.
2. Streamline your message
A common pitfall for display ads is trying to cram too much information into a small space. Remember that your ad isn’t the main attraction. It’s something that people have to look at to consume the content they want for free (usually).
So, build your ad to say only one thing. Ask yourself: what’s the most important thing that I want to tell my audience? What’s the one thing I want them to take away from this?
… then strip out everything else.
3. Clarify your call to action
Make sure your banner ads and pop-ups include a clear call to action. Every ad should convey:
- What you want the audience to do
- Why they should be compelled to do it
- What/where they’re going to go when they click your ad (set expectations).
There are plenty of resources you can look to on calls to action, but in general, you want them short, specific (not generic ‘click here’) and easy to see and understand.
4. Optimize your landing page
The truth of the matter is, even the best banner ad or display ad isn’t going to have a great click-through rate The industry standard for banner ads across all formats is 0.05, which means you need to maximize the clicks you do get.
The best way to go about that is through landing pages.. The worst thing you can do is drive all these great clicks that go to your homepage and lose them there.
5. Test, test, test
The cold, hard truth of banner ads is that no one really knows what exactly will work. The best way to create and replicate a great display ad is to test, test and test some more. Test your CTAs, color schemes, images and value propositions. Over time, a comprehensive picture of what works and what doesn’t will start to emerge.
Summary
Display ads might have lost favor in recent years, but they’re still a critical part of most channel mixes. Of course, getting leads to view, click, and convert is half art and half science – but if you’re tailoring and streamlining your message, refining your CTAs, optimizing your landing pages and testing everything, you’re sure to see display ad dividends.
To learn more how our team can help you with your digital display advertising, give us a shout!
