Danny Andrawes 10 January 2019

Tips On How To Create Strong Display Ads and Campaigns

Top Display Ad Tips – Display ads enable brands to reach users all across email, news, video, and social websites on mobile, tablet and desktop devices. Display strategies re-engage existing site visitors, target prospective new customers and ultimately drive incremental conversions and revenue. As you refine and review your display strategy, here are some top tips to keep in mind.

What Are Display Ads?

Display ads are visual advertisements that appear on websites, apps, or social media platforms as part of an advertising network. These ads come in various formats, such as banners, images, videos, and interactive content, and are designed to capture the attention of users and encourage them to take specific actions, like clicking on the ad to learn more or make a purchase.

Display ads are typically used to raise brand awareness, promote products or services, or re-engage visitors who may have previously interacted with a business. They are a powerful tool for reaching a wide audience across various websites, targeting users based on factors like demographics, interests, location, and online behaviour.

In Australia, businesses use display ads as part of their broader digital marketing strategy to reach potential customers who may not be actively searching for their products but can still be influenced through eye-catching visuals and compelling messaging.

Who offers display ads?

Display ads are offered by several platforms and ad networks, making it easier for businesses to reach their target audience across a variety of websites and apps.

Here are some of the key players that provide display ads:

  • Google Ads (Google Display Network)Google Ads is one of the largest and most popular platforms for display ads. Through the Google Display Network (GDN), advertisers can show display ads on millions of websites, apps, and YouTube. It allows advertisers to target users based on demographics, interests, and online behaviors.
  • Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads – Facebook and Instagram, owned by Meta, offer display ads that appear in users’ feeds, stories, and on the sidebars of the platform. They are highly targeted, enabling businesses to reach specific audience segments based on location, interests, and behaviors.
  • Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) – Microsoft Advertising allows display ads to appear on the Microsoft Audience Network, which includes sites like MSN, Outlook, and other partner websites. This platform also provides targeting options to help advertisers reach the right audience.
  • LinkedIn Ads – LinkedIn offers display ads through its LinkedIn Marketing Solutions platform. These ads can appear on the LinkedIn feed, sidebar, or as sponsored content in members’ inboxes. They are ideal for B2B marketing and targeting professionals by job title, industry, and company.
  • Amazon Advertising – Amazon offers display ads across its own platform, allowing businesses to advertise products directly on Amazon. Additionally, Amazon’s display ads extend to third-party sites through its demand-side platform (DSP), reaching a broader audience.
  • AdRoll – AdRoll is a retargeting platform that offers display ads, email marketing, and social media ad solutions. It’s often used by eCommerce businesses to target users who have previously visited their website but didn’t convert.
  • Taboola and Outbrain – Both Taboola and Outbrain are native ad networks that allow businesses to place display ads in the form of recommended content on various websites. These platforms help drive traffic to blogs, articles, and videos.
  • Criteo – Criteo is a global ad network specializing in retargeting. It serves personalized display ads based on a user’s browsing history, helping businesses bring back potential customers who showed interest but didn’t make a purchase.
  • Pinterest Ads – Pinterest offers Promoted Pins, which are display ads that appear in users’ feeds and search results. These ads can be images, videos, or carousels, allowing businesses to reach an audience interested in inspiration, products, or services.

These and other cost-per-click / CPC adverting platforms offer display ads. They do this to help businesses reach specific audiences, drive traffic and increase brand awareness. In Australia, these services are widely used by many different businesses, across various industries, to drive customer engagement and conversion.

Consolidate your ad activity

Utilise a cross-channel and cross-device strategy

Each and every day your users traverse the internet. They may surf the Sydney Morning Herald on their mobile on their way to work, browse Facebook on their desktop at lunch, and flick through Instagram when they have a few moments to spare. Users are everywhere, and therefore cross-device and channel campaigns are smarter and more efficient.

Let’s consider a consumer who browses your products on their mobile in the evening, and returns to your site on their desktop the next day. Without the ability to map these two devices to one user, we would consider these two separate consumers who are casually interested in your products, and bids would be set accordingly.

Display Ads   The Guardian

Display Ads – The Guardian

Instead, AdRoll cross-device technology equips us with the knowledge that a single shopper is close to purchasing, and we will bid higher for that user to ensure that shopper ultimately converts.

Running a cross-channel and cross-device strategy provides a holistic view of the customer path to conversion, and allows you to combine and consolidate efforts to reach the broader business goals. AdRoll enables the orchestration of display, social ads, and email all through a single platform.

Understand Your Display Ads Goals

Define different KPIs for each stage of the funnel

Before launching display campaigns, ensure that you have a clear idea of what you are looking to achieve. Is your goal to bring back loyal customers,convert current site visitors,or drive new audiences to your site? If you are looking to achieve a combination of these goals, ensure that you set different KPIs to each stage of the funnel in order to accurately measure success.

For example, you may want to consider a Cost Per New Visitor KPI to measure the success of your efforts to attract new quality visitors to site, whereas you might want to consider a Cost Per Acquisition goal to measure the success of converting existing site visitors.

Optimise creative for Display Ads

Test Ad Styles, Formats and Content

Display ads come in all different kinds of shapes, sizes and formats. Some ads will perform better than others for different stages of the funnel, different campaigns, and even for different individual users.

Consider running dynamic and static ads side by side to A/B test these different formats. You may find that dynamic works better for high intent users, and static ads for upper funnel. For social, consider running both link ads and carousel ads. For web, consider running the 6 most popular ad sizes (300×250, 728×90, 160×600, 970×250, 300×600, and 320×50) in order to maximise reach and access more inventory.

Display Ad Example - Go Cabinets by OMG

Display Ad Example – Go Cabinets

Beyond the ad size and format, A/B testing the ad content itself is vital. Consider the below best practices:

  • Colourful, eye-catching creative tends to perform best.
    Utilising visually compelling colours, products and faces ensures that your ad stands out in its environment.
  • Include a strong Call To Action.
    Using a strong call to action such as “Buy Now”, “Sign Up Today” or “Shop Now” tells your customer what the next step is, and tells them what to expect when they click on your ad.
  • Keep messaging clear, simple, and easy to understand at a glance.
    You have one second to get your message across and capture attention. Make sure a potential customer is able to understand who you are and what you do at a glance. Also consider that many users do not click on display ads, so include enough information to enable them to navigate to the site later in the day or week, even when they don’t have an ad in front of them.
  • Consider content relevant to different stages of the customer lifecycle.
    Remember that upper funnel users may not have heard of your brand before, whereas high intent users are likely very familiar with your offering, and loyalty customers have already purchased from your site before. As a result, the messaging that you present to users at various stages should be different.

In addition, here are a few important factors to keep in mind as you set up your display ad campaign

As you set up your campaign, keep these points in mind as well:

  • Target Audience – Define who you want to reach based on demographics, interests, and online behavior.
  • Ad Creatives – Use eye-catching visuals and compelling messaging that align with your brand.
  • Ad Placement – Choose relevant websites, apps, and networks to maximize visibility.
  • Bidding Strategy – Set competitive bids that align with your budget and campaign goals.
  • Landing Page Experience – Ensure your landing page is optimized for conversions with a seamless user experience.
  • Retargeting Strategy – Engage previous visitors with tailored messaging to drive conversions.
  • Performance Tracking – Monitor impressions, clicks, and conversions to refine your strategy over time.

By focusing on these elements, your display ad campaign can effectively boost brand awareness, engagement, and sales.

You may also want to review our Ultimate Guide to Google Display Network

Our highly capable Australian based SEO agency and leading digital marketing firm in Australia can help set up and monitor any Pay Per Click campaign you wish to create.

About the Author

Danny Andrawes

Danny Andrawes, Chief Executive Officer of OMG, plays a pivotal role in shaping the agency's strategic direction. With nearly 20 years of experience, he progressed from Content Specialist and Digital SEO Specialist to CEO, leveraging his impressive background in SEO/SEM delivery, client acquisition and retention, and change management to enhance OMG's service offerings. Danny’s leadership emphasises client partnerships and the integration of cutting-edge tools to optimise digital campaigns, positioning OMG as a trusted partner for businesses worldwide.

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