Banner ads give us marketers the flexibility to effectively put your message under the noses of the exact target audience you wish to reach. Is it easy? Yes, relatively. However, with like the majority of anything that is to be done right it will require some research.
To make the most out of your banner budget, it’s important to have a clear and concise definition of your goals and objectives. You will need to ask yourself the three “w’s”: Who, What, Why?
- What is my campaign’s objective? Define exactly what your campaign’s goal is.
- Who am I talking to? Define your target audience as distinctly as possible. Take into consideration features such as: Habits, gender, demographics, income, location, etc.
- Why should people listen? Have a clear offer or statement that emphasizes the benefit.
The folks over at Pagewiz have written up a nice graphic rich process for creating the most effective banner ads.
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THE PROCESS
Effective banner ads campaigns are assembled from a series of steps the marketer wants his prospective customers to take. This series of steps ends up being the process the marketer uses to turn paid web traffic into transactions. The technical term for this is a Conversion Funnel, which is basically a metaphor that describes the decrease in numbers that occurs at each step of the process. Thinking of your online campaign as a funnel is essential to structuring an effective online banner ads campaign.
(A simplified illustration of a conversion funnel)
Impressions: A measure of the number of times your ad is seen.
Visits: The amount of visitors that clicked your ad and entered the landing page.
Leads: The amount of visitors that completed the landing page’s call to action.
With this in mind, here are two additional questions that would be good to ask:
Where? and How?
Where would be the best place to present my message? Evaluate different media location that can enhance your campaign.
How should I construct the process? Or, how do I connect my landing page offer in a way that completes the message in the banner ads, and finally – how do I motivate visitors to convert?
BANNER ADS CONSTRUCTION AND DESIGN
Once banner ads get the attention they so eagerly desire, it is now their job to make people aware of a unique offer, or present people with a great benefit that can be obtained. Great banner ads will attract a prospect to click them, and at the same time filter out unwanted visitors that have a poor probability of converting.
Here’s a deconstruction of the particles basic banner ads are made of:
There are various banner ads shapes, sizes and designs, as well as many location choices to display them – Here are a few techniques to get you started:
COPY
Attract people to check into your product with a short evoking statement. Try to focus on benefits, not features. Be short, simple, informative, and always try to provoke curiosity.
PROVIDE A SPECIAL OFFER
Think how to incorporate an enticing offer that will grab people’s attention. When possible provide a FREE offer – It’s been proven that adding the word FREE increases click rate on almost any banner ads campaign.
CALL TO ACTION
Banner ads with strong calls to action, such as: “See it now!”, “Get it here”, still dramatically increase click though rate. Craft your CTA to blend with the banner’s offer. Good CTAs can also be more specific, for example: “subscribe to the newsletter”, “Get the FREE eBook”. You get the idea.
SIZE AND ANIMATION
Animated banner ads appeal the eye more than static ones, and usually generate better results. However, since many banner ads are displayed at the top of web pages, it is a good practice to create them in low file sizes. The idea is to make sure your banner ads load quickly, because if they don’t, it is most likely that many visitors will not get to see them.
BANNER ADS COLORS
Choose banner ads colors that contrast with the website’s background color. Make sure your banner ads stands out from the rest of the clutter. Sometimes this can also be achieved by adding a frame to the ad, as you have probably seen on some Facebook ads.
CREATIVITY
Creative banner ads with high production costs can sometimes be seen on high traffic sites. While these types of banner ads are mostly used by big brands trying to increase brand awareness, it is still always good to learn from the best.
Here is a great banner that proves that if your copy is extremely funny, you can get people to endlessly click on a banner.
See how this banner campaign made a great use of banner placement.
Another example of how creative thinking can turn a simple banner in to something people interact with.
Brilliant copy will always do the trick.
CONNECTING YOUR BANNER ADS AND LANDING PAGES TO MAXIMIZE CONVERSION
A good landing page will be carefully crafted for a specific audience coming from a particular ad. Let’s take a look at a few techniques that will help us create a tight connection between our banner ads and our landing pages, and as a result – create a sense of continuity. This sense of continuity will improve the way we guide our visitors though the process, and increase the results of our conversion funnel.
3 TACTICS THAT CREATE CONTINUITY
ASKING AND ANSWERING
Banner Headline: Where will I get the best mortgage rate?
Banner CTA: Find Out
PROMISING AND PROVIDING
Banner Headline: FREE PDF Reader/Writer
Banner CTA: Get it here
PROVOKING AND REASSURING
Banner Headline: Your computer may be at risk!
Banner CTA: Get Protection
4 ADDITIONAL LANDING PAGES TIPS BEFORE WE PART
- Emphasize the value – Make sure your offer is compelling to your audience, and create strong copy that emphasizes the value.
- Remove distractions – Make sure your visitors are not confused about how to fulfill your offer, make things clear and easy to understand. Limit navigation and try avoiding complex designs.
- Social sharing – Encourage visitors to tell others by using social media features.
- A/B Testing – Take the time to run A/B tests on your landing pages. For more information about A/B testing techniques and strategies, check out this two piece article: Optimize me.
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How will you change up your banner ad campaigns?
Original Article: PageWiz By Oren Rachum on July 5, 2014
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