The Simple Guide to Display Advertising for Beginners

The 411 on Display Ads

Display ads come in several forms, including banner, skyscraper and half-page ads, and may contain text, audio, images and/or video to deliver a message. It’s also possible to run many different ad types, including responsive display ads, uploaded image ads and engagement ads – each of which can help businesses connect with and engage potential customers.

Of course, all display ads aren’t created equal, and understanding which types of display ads drive the best results can enhance ROI. For example, the “medium rectangle” (300×250), “large rectangle” (336×280), “leaderboard” (728×90) and “half page” (300×600) ad sizes perform best, according to Google. Furthermore, depending on your needs and goals, some formats may be more appropriate than others.

How Do Display Ads Work?

Display ads are embedded into web pages and designed to drive traffic to your site. To be effective, it’s best practice to place display ads on websites that are relevant to your audience. That means choosing those where your target audience usually hangs out.

With advanced targeting settings, you can determine where and when to place your ad based on keywords, affinity audiences, demographics and more. And since display ads are clickable and linked to your website, potential customers can see your ad while browsing their favorite sites and click through to yours.

When and how often your ads are delivered depends on your budget. You’re typically able to set a daily budget, and it’s used to generate clicks, impressions and actual conversions from your ad.

There are many factors to determine how your allocated budget is spent throughout the day. However, advertisers can choose between two delivery types: standard and accelerated. The former aims to distribute your budget throughout the day to prevent it from running out, while the latter – which isn’t recommended in most cases – is not optimized so you run a greater risk of exhausting your budget earlier in the day.

Measuring Display Ads

One of the best things about display ads is that they’re measurable. And understanding how your ad is performing allows you to adjust your bids and targeting to maximize your advertising ROI.

Tracking tools are able to monitor the number of clicks, impressions and conversions an ad has generated, along with other metrics, that help advertisers learn – and sell – more. Even better? All of these analytics are available in real-time, giving advertisers an immediate picture of what’s working and what’s not.

When integrated into a comprehensive advertising plan, display ads can give any modern business a competitive advantage. And partnering with a trusted media team like Hubbard Chicago can help you develop and deliver display ads designed to maximize your results.