At the heart of every successful online display campaign lies a set of good banners. This seems obvious, but in practice, it turns out that advertisers don't always use banners to their full potential. Such a pity! Applying a few proven tactics and guidelines will easily lead to more clicks and visibility. With these four must do’s you will create successful banners.
1. Use the standard banner sizes
When you create your banners, make sure to use the standard IAB sizes. Different banner sizes can be rejected by exchanges. By using the right formats you ensure that your banner can be displayed at the spots on the websites you want. So keep to the following sizes: Large Rectangle (336×280), Medium Rectangle (300×250), Leaderboard (728×90), Skyscraper (120×600) en de Wide Skyscraper (160×600).
If you are looking for a higher branding value, use the rich media formats: the Half Page Ad (300×600) and Billboard (970×250). Also make sure your banners are suitable for mobile devices (320×50 and 320×100) to reach your target audience throughout the whole customer journey.
2. Use short animations and static images
For maximum reach, your animations should be 30 seconds or less and end with a static image. Not all the ad exchanges take up banners with longer animations. Also your message and brand name won’t stick with your audience if they scroll through the page when the animation keeps playing. This is solved with a static image at the end.
3. Attract attention with your message
To attract the attention of the audience your message must be clear and striking. On average people decide within less than a second if they see value in an online ad. So keep your proposition short and powerful. Combine text with images, too much text is distracting and hard to remember. Also make sure to display the prices in your banners to generate qualitative traffic, because, consumers who know the price and still click are more likely interested. Lastly, it is important to create urgency in your message. People are more likely to respond to time limits (only three more days available!) or limited offers (only two rooms left!).
4. Adjust your banner to your campaign goals
Adjust the elements in your banner to your campaign goals. Is your goal to generate traffic to your website? Add a Call To Action (CTA) button. It is important to show the button in the last frame, but best is showing it throughout the whole ad. This encourages visitors to click during the ad. Use only one CTA per banner set. Using several is is confusing and therefore counterproductive.
Are the banners meant for a branding campaign? Make sure your logo is displayed as often as possible. This way after seeing your banner the consumer will link their needs to your brand and logo. To achieve this you have to show the banner at least in the last frame to show your logo when the animation is finished, but preferably throughout the whole animation.
Applying these four must do’s to your banners will help you gain more clicks and achieve better visibility, to ultimately get the most out of your campaign.
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