There are different types of advertising formats. One of them is display advertising. This article will answer the question, “What is display advertising?”It will also explain why marketers should use it to their advantage.
For decades, companies and brands have invested heavily in advertising. In 2021, companies across the globe spent around $521.02 billion on digital advertising. In 2022, as per predictions, this figure will grow to approximately $602.25 billion. And with each passing year, this number is only likely to increase.
With so much happening in this space, marketers, and entrepreneurs must understand how online advertising works and pick the most effective formats to beat the competition. Display ads are one of those advertising models.
What is display advertising?
Advertising can have many purposes, from building and repairing reputations to launching new products and putting a new spin on old ones.
Nevertheless, its main aims often include:
- Building brand awareness and visibility
- Increasing sales
- And beating your competition
Display advertising refers to advertisements that primarily appear on websites, social media, apps, and on connected TV devices. They usually contain a call-to-action (CTA). Many websites use this form of advertising. In general, most ads, apart from audio-only and paid search ads, are display advertising.
Pay-per-click (PPC) and search advertising are different from display ads and mainly only appear on search engines. Display advertising, however, appears on websites and not on search engines. When published on a website, display ads enable marketers to target specific audiences.
For example, if you are targeting an audience in a city or country, you can advertise on a local news website to reach those people.
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Marketers employ display ads for advertising specific products, increasing awareness, and promoting content, apps, and services. Companies can use them to target any segment of the buyers’ journey. Nevertheless, these ads work best when used to target top-of-funnel marketing, such as brand awareness.
For marketers and entrepreneurs alike, the potential rewards from this advertising format can be plentiful.
How to leverage display ads
While even some industry professionals might struggle to answer the question “What is display advertising?”, it is crucial to understand why it is essential for marketers to master it and include it in their marketing strategy.
Here are some factors that make display ads one of the best ways to reach potential customers.
1. Display ads are eye-appealing
Display advertising helps companies and brands stand out from the crowd. The reason for this is that you can style and design it so that the people watching it feel engaged. In contrast, PPC ads show only text following a stipulated word. As a result, there is little-to-no scope to capture the attention of people who view the ad.
Digital display ads, however, allow the use of videos, graphics, and audio to quickly connect the audience to a brand and its message.
New and small businesses can tell potential customers the news about their business or products.
2. Display ads improve brand awareness
The best part about display ads is that they boost customer engagement. Rich media ads contain interactive features such as audio, video, and clickable elements. PPC ads require viewers to click on the text to get onto the landing page if they want to learn more about the business. Display ads, however, let you impart as much information as possible within the ad itself.
3. Use tools to track how display ads are performing
Marketers can use tools such as Facebook ads manager, Google analytics, etc., to check how their display ads are performing. Through this, one can have total control over these ads using KPIs such as impressions, frequency, and click-through rate (CTR).
Marketers can also use them to pause or tweak their ads to achieve optimal results. Moreover, these tools can check how many clicks an ad is generating as well. Through this, you can optimize your marketing budget and strategy to get the best results by assessing what’s working and what’s not.
4. Display ads help beat the competition
Some companies put a lot of effort into content marketing to generate organic traffic to their site. However, this approach sometimes requires a lot of time before it yields results.
Paid advertising, on the other hand, lets marketers grab the opportunity by placing the ads on websites where they can find their target audience. This audience-targeting method also allows them to eclipse their competition
As a result, if the ad copy is engaging and eye-appealing, it can reach many people. The only limit is your advertising budget.
5. Display advertising supports marketing strategies
It is also possible to optimize and tailor ads to achieve certain results, such as building brand awareness and generating leads or sales. Positive results in other marketing segments are only possible when marketers adopt display advertising in their marketing plan.
6. Retarget customers who visit your website
The reasons customers abandon the cart after visiting a consumer website vary. Sometimes it’s due to an internet outage, other times they simply find better deals. Yet, by using display advertising, marketers can target those customers who seem to have given up on their purchase.
When these buyers leave your site, they will see ads showcasing the product they were thinking of purchasing on your site, as well as similar products on your catalogue. Seeing these ads multiple times online should persuade them to reconsider and purchase the items they were thinking about. This is called retargeting and it’s one of the best ways to increase online sales.
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7. Set up virtual fencing
Geofencing is one of the most effective ways to reach potential customers. Companies can push advertisements to mobile devices in a particular area in this advertising format. Using this model, brands or stores can target online shoppers and/or people browsing online with a strong intention of making a purchase.
For example, if your shop is in a specific location, you can set up a virtual fence using geofencing features when creating the ad. By doing this, you can target people nearby who might be passing your store. Thus, you can attract more customers to your physical store. Competitors that are not using this ad strategy will end up losing customers to you.
8. Make use of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) enables display advertising. Every second, AI collects and analyzes data to see if customers are engaging with an ad campaign. They then use this data to target audiences similar to those who did engage with the ad.
9. Get quick results
If you want quick results, display ads are the best option. For example, if you want hundreds or even thousands of people to learn about your product today, you can run an ad campaign and get the views and impressions you desire in no time.
10. Customize ads to target different audience groups
Marketers can create different types of display ads catering to the audience they are targeting. If the product they sell is for more than one audience group, with display ads, they can personalize the ads using different ad tags, display ads, and CSV (Comma-separated values).
In conclusion
So, what is display advertising? As this article explained, they are ads appearing on websites and social media that engage certain audiences with video, images, and audio to suit different purposes. Display advertising has changed the way businesses work to get leads or sales.
Undoubtedly, it is one of the best ways to reach your potential customers.
