When done right, banner ads have the potential to increase traffic to your website and help you capture valuable leads or sales. In contrast to many other advertising platforms, they tend to be more affordable and measurable, too. But not all banner ads are created equally. In today’s cluttered digital market, it can be challenging to create and place ads that will cut through the noise and grab your audience’s attention. Here are 3 tips to help you develop and execute better banner ads.
1. Design Strategically
Banner ads are small, so it is important to maximize the limited design space to convey your message. Most contain three key elements: a brand logo, value proposition, and a call to action (CTA). These three pieces should work together to engage your audience and encourage them to complete the desired action (join a mailing list, buy a product, etc.).
- Including your company’s logo will help build brand awareness, but it should not overshadow the value proposition and CTA. Although the logo is important, the consumer should be drawn in to product or service being offered.
- The value proposition is the most important aspect of the ad’s overall design and strategy. It should be a clear, easily understood statement that explains what your audience will gain by engaging with the ad. In a nutshell, it should answer the question, “Why should I click on this ad?”
- Lastly, create a CTA that your audience can’t resist. Just like the value proposition, strategically craft a CTA that will bring value to your audience. CTAs such as “Start a Free Trial,” “Download the E-Book” or “Register for Our Webinar” will direct your audience to the desired outcome of the ad. Avoid generic CTAs like “Click Here” or “Learn More” that don’t really tell the viewer what is in store for them once they click.
2. Be Picky with Placement
Place banner ads on websites that are relevant to your target audience. Do research to determine what your audience cares about and where they spend their time online. Another solution is to consider programmatic advertising. This process utilizes artificial intelligence to automate the decision-making behind ad buying. Ultimately, it will help maximize your budget by placing banner ads on the right website, at the right time, to the right person.
It’s important to know, too, where you don’t want your ads shown. Hopefully, your advertising partner will be able to exclude certain categories or websites where showing your ads might cause brand damage. For example, thousands of digital advertising partners have stopped placing ads on the controversial news outlet Breitbart due to requests from advertisers worried about this very issue.
3. Stick the Landing
So now that you’ve got a beautifully-designed banner ad that’s placed on just the right website to attract your ideal customer. Now what happens when they give you that precious click? If you don’t have a customized landing page behind that banner ad, you might not find the ROI you’re looking for.
This landing page from Nauto offers a clear description, CTA and chance to convert without distractions. (via Hubspot)
Creating a customized landing page for each banner ad campaign helps in a number of ways:
- They make it so that your visitor doesn’t need to hunt through your website looking for the deal or offer you promised in the ad
- They remove the other distractions on your website, keeping the visitor focused on what they’re there to commit to
- They provide more detail as to your offer and help explain why they should take your desired action
If your banner ads are simply directing a click to your homepage or a generic page within your site, you’re losing a lot of opportunity from the get-go. And even though the process of creating a landing page can be time-consuming, it’s a crucial part of any targeted digital ad campaign.
Creating and placing banner ads that engage your audience can affordably build awareness for your brand. By doing your research and keeping these tips in mind, you will find the right formula for your success. Want to maximize your own banner ad campaigns?
