The Ultimate Guide to Online Display Advertising for Businesses

Online display advertising has come a long way. Initially, internet-based advertisements were created to help marketers measure advertisement impacts, entice buyers and connect with users. That said, the question of customer influences has come into effect. Do customers respond more to online display advertising or search advertising?

In recent history, Sunil Gupta, a Harvard Business School professor, initiated research surrounding online display advertising and its incredible growth. A lot of his work can be found on the Harvard Business School’s website, focusing on display advertisements and today’s leading analytic technologies.

Banner Ads and Evolving Advertisement Initiatives

While search ads are one of the most measurable forms of online advertisement, they require in-depth search query analysis. Display ads, meanwhile, are more visible. They’re less likely to create direct clicks, but they’re responsible for raising brand awareness, product attraction and consumer retention.

That said, the display advertisement can be tracked analytically. Display advertising can be measured over time, resulting in a business’s ability to do the following:

• Adjust budgets
• Track buyer trends
• Consider new products
• Target new audiences

When used effectively, these practices can change a buyer’s purchasing decisions. Data can be used to “convert” customers, assuming a display advertisement is clicked upon. In fact, many business providers rely on historical data to make many spending predictions.

Banner Ads – Common standard banner ad units are 728×90 leaderboard, 300×250 rectangle, and 320×50 mobile banners. These typically include a combination of text, images, animation, and branding. Banner ads are displayed across a network of publications and websites.

Native Ads – Native ads blend seamlessly into the design and content stream of the websites they are placed on. Examples include sponsored content articles, recommendation widgets, and in-feed promotions units that match the surrounding context. The native format provides a more seamless user experience.

Rich Media – Rich media display ads incorporate engaging animation, interactive elements, video, and HTML5 content without having the user leave the page. This higher production value grabs attention while allowing easy access to more information.

Social Media Ads – These are display ads tailored specifically to run natively within the feeds of major social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Various placement options are available depending on campaign objectives.

Online Display Advertising: Expert Practitioner Perspectives

“A common mistake we see is advertisers treating display as a standalone channel without an integrated strategy. You must coordinate your creative messaging and visuals across channels and placements for true omnichannel cohesion.” – John Smith, Digital Advertising Director.

“We build all our media buying around a core testing methodology. We continually test new placements, ad design variants, copy language, landing pages, and more. Letting hard data guide optimization is key for display.”

Online Display Advertising: All About Search Clicks

Because a business’s display advertising banners, content and media can drive buyers down the purchasing funnel, it’s also responsible for exposing them to search ads. More importantly, It initiates more clicks, gains more customers and helps business operators understand the data behind display advertisement itself.

All-new display advertising targeting options are here, and they’re evolving rapidly. In the past, display advertising wasn’t terribly effective. New targeting analytics, however, have made age-old display advertisement initiatives far more valuable.

First, keyword targeting was a bit hit. Soon after, interest targeting was trending. Remarketing initiatives soon took off, resulting in many experts focusing on hyper-specific display advertisement designs. Many pay-per-click advertisement initiatives used classic email marketing approaches, though marketers shouldn’t worry about unsubscribed readers.

How are Analytic Technologies Used?

In display advertising, business marketers can examine trends, data and recorded user experiences in various ways. Among these—and, admittedly, one of the most popular—is Google’s Display Network. Display Network websites currently reach over 90 percent of the Internet’s users.

Marketers using the Display Network can use targeting practices to display website advertisements in specific contexts. They can additionally separate audiences based on the following categories and more:

• Location
• Age
• Buyer Personas
• Previous purchases

Google’s Display Network has a partner: Search Network. Both are contained within Google AdWords. When business operators decide to advertise via the Search Network, they can place various text-based advertisements within search engine results. Then, they can empower their display ads by checking the Display Network for ad network “real estate.”

Why Do People Use Display Advertising Networks?

There’s been a lot of hesitation towards accessing Google’s Display Network. That said, professionals such as Sergey Rusak and Many Search Strategist consider impressions to be paramount in the digital marketing world. To him, display advertising is the new “local newspaper or a highway billboard.” Fortunately, today’s advertisers don’t need to spend thousands of dollars. They can promote their brand, avoid expensive fees and use technologies similar to Google’s Display Network.

Remarketing with Online Display Advertising

Many experts agree that remarketing is a common goal of online display advertising campaigns. Regarding various display network initiatives, the ability to constantly shift towards ever-changing markets is vital. Remarketing can occur when a business looks at its website’s cookies. These cookies log a website’s visitors, helping providers follow them through other websites. If a consumer has expressed legitimate interest in your business, tracking them can create a future of buyer excitement.

Managed Placement Technology

In 2017, several digital marketers used managed placements to target users. Often, managed placement technology grants advertisers granular control over each display advertisement’s placement. By using topic marketing tools, Google’s tools and relevancy-targeting tools, you can pinpoint conversions, determine new strategies and save quite a lot of money.

By identifying between five and 10 domains, a business can redirect relevant products and services. Then, they can dish out new display advertisements crafted for relevancy. The display advertising world is huge. In fact, experts believe it reaches 90 percent of the United States per day. For this reason, display advertising pros are careful with their budgets.

Visuals and Direct Downloads

Display ads, in 2017, heavily utilize “Download Now” options, too. While the text is important, imagery prompts this Download Now craze. A proper display advertisement is simple, easy to read and visual. Download Now display advertisement strategies work well, as customers can be tracked not only through their click behaviour—but also through their online dedication to a business’s digital service.

Exploring Advertisements with VR

Online display advertising won’t stop evolving. In all likelihood, it’ll adapt to virtual reality and augmented reality. In fact, big companies are already using virtual advertisements to create immersive advertisements.

Products like Google Cardboard and the Oculus Rift, for example, offer incredible advertisement accessibility while prompting direct engagement. The advertising world is hopping aboard immersive, highly engaging campaigns. It’s also targeting video games first. A recent example of this is Mariott’s virtual gateway experience. Customers were invited to digital worlds, beautiful locations and a taste of future exploration. Because powerful display advertisement campaigns evoke emotions via the senses, such initiatives are incredibly effective.

Other Bright Futures

While virtual reality and augmented reality advertisements are coming, they’re not the only innovations on the horizon. In-vehicle display advertisements are a likelihood, too, showing drivers safe, digestible advertisements near their stereo. Technology like the Microsoft HoloLens has made online display advertisement virtually limitless.

Again, data collection is a huge part of online display advertising. Today’s data collectors are tomorrow’s bankers, and buyers are interested in many new, unique advertisement strategies. If companies want to expand their display advertisement abilities, they must cater to the audience’s excitement.

On Security and Non-Intrusion

While online display advertising may seem like a no-restrictions game, plenty of security and privacy regulations protect users from online information-gathering services. In fact, many of today’s publishers and advertisers are changing domain names and server-side advertisement rendering options. By using standardized APIs, marketers can use publishing systems which seamlessly operate with advertisement networks.

In the near future, we’ll probably witness non-intrusive, streamlined display advertisements which are deeply connected to the content. Privacy, too, will get better—allowing advertisers the ability to target users without sacrificing buyer integrity. How data is processed now is still relatively safe, but it still carries a few quirks.

Inspiring, entertaining ads, of course, are the main goal. Many business marketers write, rewrite and update online display advertising options—and for good reason. Creative, engaging content wins. While virtual reality and truly immersive advertisement experiences slowly evolve, their existence has helped businesses redefine the advertisement world. Image-rich display advertisements still seemingly rule the Internet. Alongside mobile advertisement, however, innovative display advertisement campaigns are constantly searching for new formats, new additions and new ways to inspire the customers responsible for their ongoing success and creativity.

Online Display Advertising Stats

Incorporate recent data on benchmarks and performance:

• Display ads delivered viewability rates exceeding 60% in 2022, according to Media Rating Council analysis. This means over half of all served impressions were visible to users.
• Average clickthrough rates on standard banner display ads were around 0.10%, while native ad formats achieved clickthrough rates of 0.78%, per Wordstream data. This illustrates the higher engagement of native ads.
• 49% of surveyed consumers reported taking some direct action after viewing a digital display ad, according to 2022 data from Statista. Nearly half led to site visits or purchases.

Online Display Advertising: FAQ Section

Q: What are some preferred placement options for display ad campaigns?

A: It’s important to balance premium, high-traffic sites like CNN and NYTimes with mass reach on networks like Google Display. Also, test niche sites and publications contextually relevant to your audience’s interests.

Q: What is the typical cost per thousand impressions (CPM) range for display ads?

A: Average CPMs can range wildly from $2-$15 based on factors like targeted audience, placements, page positioning, and auction dynamics. Set realistic benchmarks based on your past campaign performances and industry verticals.

Q: What are the main advantages of display advertising?

A: The display allows dynamic creativity, massive reach through network targeting, strong branding capabilities, and retargeting engaged users.

Q: How do you calculate display ad ROI?

A: Track direct conversions and assign value. Factor in brand lift and attribution if the sales cycle is long. Divide return by ad spend.

Q: What are good display ad CTR benchmarks?

A: Average display CTR is under 1%, but aim for niche contextual CTR over 0.5%. For native ads, target 1%+ CTR.

Q: What display ad sizes work best for mobile?

A: 320×50 mobile banners, 300×250 rectangles, and interstitial full-screen units work well on mobile. Keep ads crisp and simple.

Q: How are native ads optimized?

A: Continually A/B test elements like images, headlines, ad copy, calls to action and placements to optimize native ad content, relevance and performance.

Q: What are the targeting options for social media ads?

A: Target by demographics, interests, behaviours, and lookalike audiences. Social platforms offer robust targeting for highly relevant reach.

Online Display Advertising: Conclusion

A comprehensive display advertising strategy leverages multiple formats across placements relevant to your audience. Continually test and optimize based on performance data. Integrate display with other channels for omnichannel synergy.