Google AdWords is split into two networks; the Search Network, and the Display network. If advertising on the Search network, businesses place text ads in the results. However, using the display network means placing display ads on a big network across the internet. It’s worth noting that search ads and display ads tend to perform differently, but both are worth having in your campaign to get worthwhile results.
Display ads are the visual banner ads that can be found on advertising supported sites everywhere. They can be found on blogs, news sites, and more. You’ve probably noticed a few of them today if you have been using the internet for a while. You may have even clicked on some of them in the past. They are simply small banners or boxes advertising a product or service. The Display Network reaches over 90% of global internet users expanding across 2 million sites!
Below, we have some display advertising tips that will help you to nail a display ad campaign.
Target The Right Demographic
The Display Network allows you to target your audience based on things like interests, gender, age, topics, etc. This will lead to higher conversions once you refine your settings so they are directly relevant to the market you are trying to attract. You can easily use demographic targeting to reach a narrow audience, and this can help you to get much better results overall. Make sure you know exactly who you are trying to target before setting up your display ads.
Start with Remarketing To Keep People Engaged
Remarketing is the most effective way of getting an ROI on your display advertising efforts. Remarketing is essentially when you cookie your past site visitors to follow them around with ads on various sites that they look at. You might feel a little bit like a stalker, but this method really works. The people you are remarketing to already have a genuine interest in what you are selling, so having your ad follow them simply reminds them that it’s there. Many people end up buying a product this way. Keeping people engaged is key if you want them to buy what you’re selling. To learn more check out our Google Ads Remarketing Ultimate Guide
Your Call To Action
Ideally, the call to action you use on your website and other advertisements, should be the same one you use on your display adverts. To create a strong call to action you need to know exactly what your goal is. For instance, if you want somebody to sign up to your newsletter, make sure you say that.
Use Managed Placements To Have More Control
A managed placement is a targeted method that gives the advertiser more control over where the ads are placed. If you use a method like topic targeting or interests, Google is doing the decision making for you and will guess which sites are appropriate. Managed placements, on the other hand, allow you to decide exactly where you want your ads to be displayed. This is the best way to keep some control over your ads as the people you’re targeting and conversions are more consistent, which means it also tends to cost you far less money.
Your top referral sites in Google Analytics are a good indicator of the sites you should use. Have a list of 5-10 if you can.
Set Ads In Various Formats To Ensure They Are Supported By Multiple Sites
Some websites will only support one format, so having ads in every format is pretty important. This means it’s still important to have text ads even though display ads are statistically much better.
Set Your Budget Carefully
Display is such a large space, as it reaches 90% of the USA daily. This means you have to be extremely careful when you set your budget. Start out with a small amount that you feel comfortable testing with and go from there. Setting up a brand new display campaign is all about sticking to your budget. If you have a really good list of managed placements, for example, allocate more of your budget towards that campaign. This way you can separate the different placements into their own ad groups, and you will be able to feed more money into the ad groups that contain the placement that is giving you the best ROI. Once one of your campaigns or ad groups is running successfully and giving you some good returns, feed more money into it. Your reach is pretty unlimited with this method!
Ensure Your Ads Match Your Branding
Your ads should always match the feel of your company’s brand/website. Using the same colors, fonts, and other elements will ensure you strengthen your brand. However, sometimes you can use your display ads to test new colorways if you think it is appropriate. Even a small change can change whether somebody decides to click on your ad or not, so test out various ideas and see which of your ads perform best when they go live.
Ensure Your Ads Are Simple And Visual
Did you know that 68% of ads on the display network are plain text ads? These ads have a much lower click through rate. Display ads are an absolute necessity, so you should be using them properly when you can. They should be simple, visual, and easy to read. Image ads tend to perform better for industries that are considered visual, such as travel. When people can see an attractive picture of a destination, they will more than likely imagine going there. Don’t worry if you’re not a whizz on photoshop – there are many easy apps that can help you to create an ad.
Pay Close Attention To Your Ads - Don’t Set And Forget
Chances are, you spend a lot of time looking at your Google Analytics and paying attention to how your search campaigns are doing. You should be doing the same to your display ads. You should make sure they are present on the right sites, and you should make sure you keep an eye on them with your tracking software. If you’re selling baby products, you don’t want to be marketing to a super young audience, professional singles, or somebody who is unlikely to have a baby. Don’t just set them and forget them. Keeping an eye on them is imperative if they are going to be successful.
Test with Your Left Over Budget
Once you’ve hit your main goal, you should use some of your leftover budget for testing. Your reach is endless, as the display network is massive, so if you’re not testing out your options then you’re probably missing out on a huge number of customers. Around 10-20% of your budget should be used for testing. Remember; the Google display network is so vast that it would be impossible for one advertiser to own it all. You have to find your niche and use existing data from smaller campaigns to build a bigger, better campaign. This is why experimenting is crucial.
Types of Display Advertising: Marketing Funnel
The marketing funnel has various stages for reaching purchasers. Search marketing is known as the bottom of the funnel targeting, or direct response marketing. Display Advertising has options to reach people earlier from awareness, interest, desire and actions (AIDA), or awareness, consideration and conversion stages within the buying funnel. Some of the targeting options for reaching buyers include: In-Market Audiences, Topics, and Video
Conclusion:
Setting up a successful Google display campaign can be a great way to boost your ROI. When you keep in mind that users do not convert the same way on the Google Display Network as they do on the Search Network, you will be able to generated low cost leads in large quantities. Experimenting and testing out different methods is absolutely key. It’s also a good idea to overlap different audiences. There are plenty of different ad options, so you have the ability to create video, animated, static, and text ad formats to increase brand awareness and drive conversions.
