Coaching Session 8 – Display Advertising

Video Lesson

Lesson Notes

In this lesson:

  1. What is Display Advertising
  2. Guide to Display Ads
  3. Getting Started

Portfolio

  1. Draft your first Display Ads in Google

Display Ads

A type of online advertisement that combines text, images, and a URL that links to a website where a customer can learn more about or buy products. There are many ad formats. These ads can be static with an image or animated with multiple images, videos, or changing text (also called rich media ads). An ad campaign can have different goals, and some display ads educate about the product while others are designed to entertain and engage through simple games or puzzles. Banner ads are a common form of display ads that are frequently used for awareness campaigns.

A popular and effective format of digital advertising is display advertising. It is completely driven by the visuals it uses to attract attention and spread brand awareness across the internet.

Display ads are a lucrative method of advertising for marketers looking for ways to reach and acquire customers. They make generous use of visual media in the form of texts, images, or even videos to catch people’s attention.

The Difference between Search Ads and Display Ads

Search Ads vs Display Ads

While Search ads show up to potential customers the moment that they start looking on Google for what you offer, Display ads show up while people are visiting sites across the Google Display Network.

When running Display ads, you might not reach those who are actively searching for what you offer. That said, you’re still introducing your business to a specific target audience who is likely to be interested in your products or services. This may help you to reach a larger or completely new audience than simply through search.

The Display Advertising Targeting Process

Some of the steps you can take to maximize this feature:

  1. Define your demographic: You can segment the audience based on their basic demographic details like age, gender, interests, etc.
  2. Identify target keywords: This allows you to reach the target demographic based on selected keywords as per your product or service.
  3. Zero-in on the topic: This feature lets you choose a group of websites that fit a specific topic/category within which your business operates.
  4. Formulate the ideal placement: You can choose the website you want your display ads to run on.
  5. Show ads based on interest: Google collects data on its user’s behavior, and depending on what users are searching for, you run display ads that resonate with specific interest areas. 
  6. Retarget based on past behavior: Also known as retargeting, this display ad targeting feature lets you target users who have already visited your website, thereby reinforcing the brand’s impact and recall.

Three Basic categories of Display advertising

1. Site Placement Advertising

In this type of display advertising, the advertiser/marketer chooses the website they would like to run their display ads on.

2. Diverse options

In this type of display advertising, networks place ads on relevant websites, for example showing an ad for dog food on a pet adoption website.

3. Remarketing

Remarketing display ads appear in front of users who have been on your website or post-click landing page but have left without completing the relevant conversion goal.

 

Types of Display Ads

Banner Ads – Banner ads are the most common display advertising format, as they clearly stand out on any webpage. They are named after their shape, which is banner-like. They are nothing more than hyperlinked, image-based ads in the shape of a strip. They are usually placed on the top of a webpage.

Rich Media – The use of rich media is one such new tactic that involves using interactive elements such as video, audio, and clickable elements to make the advertisement more engaging.

Interstitial Ads – These are ads that appear as a separate webpage before you are directed to the original page that you wanted to visit on the internet. They are effective in capturing the user’s attention as they take up the entire screen.

Video Ads – When it comes to displaying advertising costs, video ads are slightly more expensive but worth it. Platforms like YouTube and Instagram have made it convenient for marketers to run video ads and attract a lot of attention and engagement.

These are the most commonly used display ad sizes

Managing Display Advertising

Reach: Measuring the reach of your ad accurately means obtaining figures on how many users saw the ad. This is reflected as the unique number of views on your display ad. You can monitor the reach of your ad and assess the effectiveness of your display ad management and targeting effort. 

Impressions: Simply put, an impression is the number of times an ad has been “served” to a user on a website or placement. Every time an ad is displayed, it counts as an impression. Once you have successfully quantified this, you can map ad performance against the conversion rates. If it seems that your impressions are growing but your conversion rate isn’t, you may need to rethink your display ad management plan.

Click-through rate: A crucial indicator of engagement, click-through rate indicates the number of people who have clicked on your ad. Mathematically, it is the ratio of impressions to clicks. For example, if your ad receives 2,000 impressions and you generate 200 clicks, that’s a click-through rate of 10%. Low CTRs are indicators of the need to adopt a new display ad management strategy or relook at targeting formulas.

Conversion rate: This is the most important metric to consider because, at the end of the day, conversion is the main objective of running ads. This rate is a quantification of the number of people who click-through to your landing page and perform a definitive action such as downloading your app, opting in to a newsletter, or buying a product.

Getting Started With Display Ad Management

  1. Is the copy simple and comprehensive?

A majority of the audience viewing your ads will have limited time and attention. They are consuming a lot of content already, so your ad needs to be crisp and direct. Display ads let you identify and target specific demographic and psychographic profiles of users, so make sure to formulate the copy accordingly.

  1. Is the color scheme and design in sync with the brand image?

The design and color scheme selected during display ad management can make a lot of difference. There are incredible psychological links between colors and audience behavior. You can study them and use it to your advantage while designing the graphics for your display ads. It is advisable to keep your campaign clutter-free, and the textual content should be clearly visible.

  1. Am I using too many formats for my ad?

Remember, less is more when it comes to displaying advertising management. With so many options to choose from, you might just be tempted to mix and match formats to get better results. A successful campaign, however, is minimal, direct, and crisp. 

Benefits of Display Ads

  • Visually appealing. Since these ads are usually graphic/visual, advertisers can experiment with different designs, shapes, sizes, and formats to identify what works and what doesn’t.
  • Diverse options. You can be as traditional or as out of the box as you wish to be when it comes to displaying ads.
  • Effective targeting. The display advertising targeting lets you reach audiences as per diverse parameters, ensuring optimum engagement.
  • Enables retargeting. The retargeted display ad that you show them acts as the slight push they needed to come back to your website.
  • Analytics Insights. Using a tool like Google Analytics for display advertising management, you can track how your ads are performing. 

Best practices for display ads

  • Be respectful of your audience’s experience
  • Use a simple design
  • Go for quality over quantity
  • Include a strong call to action

How to start using targeted Display ads

Google Display Network targeting allows you to set where or when your ad is shown based on features of your ideal audience, such as their personal interests, age, or gender. This means your ad can show up on sites related to your business, or to users who match the specific criteria that you’ve specified.

If you aren’t already running ads on the Google Display Network as part of your Google Ads account, here’s how you can do so:

  • Log into your Google Ads account
  • Click on “Campaigns,” and then “New Campaign”
  • Select “Display Network only” as the campaign type

How to reach customers based on interest

Affinity Audiences

This includes 80 different groups based on interests or hobbies, such as “sports fans”, “auto enthusiasts”, or “gamers”. You can choose to show your ads to one or more of these audiences.

Custom Affinity Audiences

To narrow your targeting even further, create your own custom audience using keywords. If you’re running ads for your running shoe shop, you might use keywords such as “marathon training”, “beginner runners”, and “running tips”. When you set up your custom audiences, your ads will be shown to people visiting websites that contain these keywords.

In-Market Audiences

With In-Market Audiences, you can identify customers who are actively looking at products or services similar to yours. Running with the same example, these might be customers who have added running shoes to their shopping cart while browsing a website, or those who have browsed numerous sites related to running shoes.

 

Portfolio

Please submit the following:

  • Create ad content in Canva and download it as PNG/JPG
  • Draft your first Display Ads in Google 
  • Send screenshots only until “review your ad”

Email Subject: DM – Portfolio 8

Examples

Use the arrow on the navigation bar to view the other pages of the portfolio samples.

Portfolio 8

DM-CS8

 

2 Corinthians 9:8

“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

 

Need Help?

Previous Lesson
Back to Course