Attracting users’ attention on the Internet is a task that large and small businesses constantly face. Properly selected advertising effectively copes with this task. Display advertising is just one type that works for engagement. In the article, we will talk about the types of media, on which platforms to launch it (https://smartyads.com/blog/programmatic-advertising-platforms), and how to measure the effectiveness of campaigns.
What is display advertising?
Media advertising is a visual way for brands and businesses to promote themselves across the Google Display Network, apps, social networks, and other online venues. Advertisements necessarily contain a hyperlink to the promotional page and combine text and images (or videos) to evoke emotions in the user.
The main goal of media advertising is to convey a certain idea to the user in an attractive way, that is, to interest and encourage them to perform the target action (purchase, subscription, filling out a form, etc.).
What are the types of media advertising?
In order for media advertising to work to its full potential on the Internet, it is necessary to choose the type of advertisement correctly. Let’s consider the main ones:
- Text-graphic blocks are a common type of ad that consists of an image, text, and a call-to-action (CTA) button. This format is used when it is necessary to draw the attention of the audience to a specific offer, for example, a discount, a raffle, or a novelty.
- Video advertising is a video clip lasting from a few seconds to several minutes. Video ads are placed on various sites and video hosting sites, such as YouTube.
- Web page branding — a web page or a certain section of the site, which is an advertising platform, is designed in the corporate style of the product being advertised. Branding is used mainly by large companies for large-scale events, promotions, during the launch of a new product, etc.
And it is also worth mentioning the banner — a static or dynamic block whose text elements are part of an image or video.
What is the difference between contextual and display advertising?
To begin with, contextual ads mostly consist of only a text part that contains a limited set of characters. Various types of digital content are used in the media format: text, video, and images.
Contextual ads target a specific CA segment through search queries and cookie data. Media targeting — on certain groups of users based on interests, geolocation, age, and other characteristics, for example, if they were interested in your site or competitors. As Smartyards experts say, both types are often launched within the same campaign, which is sometimes called contextual media advertising.
Where to launch media advertising?
Media advertising on the Internet can be found almost everywhere. Let’s briefly consider the main online platforms:
- The Google Display Network is an ad-serving network consisting of more than two million sites and apps and reaching 90% of users worldwide. Media advertising through Google Ads is launched. In the office, you can configure audiences according to various indicators, choose formats and methods of setting bids (how and how much to pay for advertising), and select or exclude specific web resources from showings.
- Showing ads on selected websites. In this case, a marketer or other specialist negotiates directly/through an advertising agency with a specific website. This format of cooperation is often chosen for branding sites with large reach.
- Social networks, in particular Facebook and Instagram, are used as advertising platforms for the promotion of business pages on social networks, and websites directly.
You can find out more information from Smartyards experts at the following link: https://smartyads.com/blog/programmatic-advertising-platforms.
How is the effectiveness of media advertising measured?
Various indicators and tools are used to evaluate the effectiveness of media advertising. Online formats are most often analyzed using web analytics, such as Google Analytics.
Media advertising measurement criteria:
- The total number of impressions is a basic indicator, which is necessary for the calculation of other metrics.
- Reach is the number of people who saw the media. The value can be measured both as an exact number and as a percentage, for example, relative to impressions.
- CTR (Click-through rate) is the percentage ratio of clicks on an ad to the total number of impressions of the same ad.
- Conversion is the number of visitors in the percentage who performed the target action on the site (purchase, form submission, subscription, etc.). Determined from the total number of visitors/shows.
- ROMI (return on marketing investment) — profitability, payback of the campaign. Calculated as the difference between marketing costs and profits.
- Brand Lift is a comprehensive metric for measuring the effectiveness of video advertising, which will help reveal the effectiveness of the campaign. The rating is based on sociological research – Google shows a survey to users who have seen or could have seen the video. You can set up Brand Lift through the Google Ads advertising cabinet.
Tips before launching display advertising
Follow some of our tips so that media advertising of a site or a particular product brings real benefits to the business. First of all, choose relevant sites for placement. More does not always mean better. Showings to a non-target audience will “eat up” the budget without achieving the desired results. You can learn about them from a useful article at the link: https://smartyads.com/blog/programmatic-advertising-platforms.
When you have chosen a platform, do not forget to test it. The information on the landing page should meet the expectations of the potential client. Always remember that media advertising is about creativity, so pay attention to seasonality, situations, and trends. Advertising must be relevant, hit the “pains of the CA” and reflect the mood of society.
Conclusions
Media advertising is a great tool to increase the visibility and sales of your brand or company, as long as it is done with strategy and segmentation properly. In addition, you should think about which social networks your target audience has a presence on to select where you are interested in investing money to reach them and where you are not.
