8 Advantages of Online Display Advertising

Online display advertising has taken many turns over the years and despite its low click through rates (CTR) compared to other media it has proven to be an effective means to reach a wide audience for a fraction of the cost of other media.
It has many benefits and disadvantages and one of its drawbacks is that it has a low CTR due to ad blindness as viewers browse websites across the web. It involves an advertiser like an online retailer placing ads on third party sites for a fee either through cost per click (CPC) or cost per thousand impressions (CPM)
However, display advertising is here to stay and it has the following advantages which you should be aware of s as you consider implementing it:

1. Direct Response

The aim of a direct response campaign is to generate an immediate response like a sale on your website or a download of a whitepaper for business customers.

Display ads usually have a lower click through rate compared to search ads, however they can be used effectively as part of a direct response campaign. In Google Adwords, you can create a ‘Search Network with Display Select’ campaign to advertise on high quality sites that are effective at increasing sales and other conversion types on your website.

However, a better campaign option to create is a ‘Display Network Only’ campaign for easier management of your display ads and to get a wider range of targeting and bidding options.

2. Enhance brand awareness and reach

Because display banner ads are visual and some include animation and flash, they have a higher impact than text ads and are just close behind video for impact. They help to target customers who are not aware of the brand or business and using banners and rich media ads on third party websites, they can reach a wide range of people who are not actively searching for your business or your brand.

3. Media-multiplier or halo-effect

The halo effect is evident when the response rates of other online channels increases due to exposure to display ads. That’s because repeated exposure to banners, search ads, promotions and others can increase awareness of the brand and ultimately lead to purchase intent.

Usually an increase in banner exposure through display advertising leads to higher search volumes for the brand and an uplift in CTR (click through rates) and increases the likelihood of converting.

4. Achieve brand interactions

Display ads allow for interaction through an initial visual that encourages interaction with a rollover and then another visual that encourages interaction with the brand. This enables you to assess the extent to which your viewers interact with your ad by calculating the Interaction Rate (IR).

5. Targeting

Display advertising has many targeting options which include demographic, geographic/location, specific placements or apps, interest, topics, remarketing and you can use a combination of these to ensure you are targeting the right customers.

6. Cost

Average cost per click (CPC) for display ads is significant lower than search CPC and profitability is high when ads are targeted at the right audience and lead to click-through from people who purchase. One of the main reasons they are cheaper is that there is often less competition or no competition for space on many placements unlike search which is an auction and were the top positions usually go to the highest bidders.

Digital display advertising is also much cheaper than traditional forms like television which charge thousands and even millions for placement.

7. Dynamic updates to ads

Unlike traditional forms of advertising like television, print and radio where media placements have to be bought months in advance, online display advertising are far more flexible and you can be advertising within a few hours of campaign setup. It’s also easy to make changes and updates in line with new offers and promotions and to use it to retarget visitors at a low cost.

8. Accountability

Like search advertising and other online advertising techniques, display is highly measurable and it’s possible to measure reach, interaction and response to ads. This is unlike traditional advertising were wastage is high due to poor targeting and factors like distractions during viewing and interruptions.