Welcome to Thanx Media’s “Elements of E-Commerce” blog series. Follow along as we wade through the nuts and bolts of e-commerce technologies that you need to know.

Banner ads, wallpaper ads (visuals that take over the whole webpage), pop-ups—you know, and maybe hate, all of these things. These are display advertisements and in this post we’ll get to know more about the loves and hates for display ads.

What is Display Advertising?

First, a little more definition. Display ads are usually visually based, centered on images and video. These ads are displayed in areas of a website reserved for advertising, such as the banner space along the top of a site or the box spaces along the sides. They generally run on a pay-per-click or similar pay model.

Native ads are display ads with a newer twist. Native ads fit in with a website’s content, such as sponsored posts that show up in the same stream as a website’s general blog posts.

Pros and Cons of Display Advertising

The thing is, people don’t really pay attention to banner ads and they hate pop-ups that take over their screens, right? Well, yes—for example, click-through rates on display ads are only about 0.06% according to HubSpot. So why would anyone pay for display ads? Here are a few reasons:

⋅  Increasing brand awareness. Display ads create visibility, whether anyone is actually clicking on an ad or not. If ads use strong, memorable visuals a company can get its name and brand into a lot of people’s heads with display ads.

⋅  Reach is not dependant on particular searches. Display ads show up whenever someone is browsing a website; they are not limited to someone specifically searching for your products and services. If ads are thoughtfully targeted to audiences in the right locations and with the right demographics, display ads can act like PSA’s, giving their audiences useful information about products they are likely to want.

⋅  Display ads can be much cheaper than search engine advertising. If your goal is to gain visibility, you may be able to run more ads for longer choosing display ads over search-related ads.

⋅  Native ads are pretty successful. In fact, they are viewed 53% more often than banner ads.

⋅  Remarketing works. Display ads that put your products in front of shoppers who have already visited your website are 70% more likely to lead to a sale than other display ads.

Is Display Advertising Right for You?

Each company needs to ask: is display advertising right for my business? Here are some questions to think about before getting into a display ad campaign:

⋅  Are your goals a good fit for display ads? I.e. are you looking for visibility or do you need the ads to lead to sales? If you are looking for sales, display ads may not be the best fit.

⋅  Do you have the design experience and budget to run a successful campaign? And does your message translate into a simple, attention-grabbing visual? Display ads need to have a clear, simple message, and use engaging and memorable visuals. Effectively increasing your visibility will only happen if people pay attention to and remember your ads.

Sorting through the best paid digital marketing strategy for your company means looking closely at your goals. Get in touch and let us help sort through the best options for your industry and business.