Are the results of your banner advertising campaign meeting your expectations? Is your campaign driving high-quality, targeted traffic to your site and boosting ROI? If not, take heed of the banner advertising tips below. These hints are bound to maximise the effects of your online advertising strategy, increasing its effectiveness and enhancing your visibility on the Web.
- Target your intended audience
Where are you adverts being placed? Make sure they’re found on websites that are relevant to your market. The Internet is highly effective in targeting specific groups of users, and this works to your advantage: You can ensure that your ad is reaching the exact region, industry or demographic for which it is intended.
Further to this point, it’s worth considering frequency capping, which will ensure that a user is only shown an ad a certain number of times in order to prevent wastage. The chances are that if a user has seen an ad two or three times and hasn’t clicked on it, s/he won’t ever click it. Frequency capping ensures that the same (probably disinterested) user isn’t bombarded with the ad constantly, but that valuable impressions are delivered to new users instead.
Delivering your message to the appropriate group of web users, an appropriate number of times, increases quality traffic to your site, generates more leads and sales, and secures your brand’s online presence.
- Add a splash of colour
Bright colours attract the eye. Are your banners dull and drab, or are they colourful and appealing? Vibrant colours are known to increase response rates. For the purposes of capturing users’ attention, forget your brand’s colours – consider research. According to studies, the colours most effective in grabbing users’ attention are yellow, green and blue. Steer clear of black, white and red if you want your banner to get eyeballed.
- It’s not inside, it’s on top
Where is your banner positioned on websites? The best place to put your ad is at the top of a web page, and it’s worth negotiating for this spot when purchasing ad space. Placing an ad in the middle of a page is also known to be effective. Consider varying placement and tracking the results to find the ideal spot for your banners. It’s also important to rotate adverts often in to maintain web users’ interest. Stale ads often lead to significant drops in conversions.
- You don’t have to take them home
When users click on your banner, which page on your site are they taken to? Sometimes, it’s not the best strategy to lead them to your home page, as this may not be the page responsible for generating leads. Instead, lead users to a web page that will transform them into buyers, subscribers or members.
- Entice them to click
The entire aim of banner ads is to get Web users to click on them – so make them interesting! Include questions or intriguing phrases in your banners, such as, “Want free advertising?” or “See our latest product!”. Cryptic messages may also pique users’ attention and entice them to click on your ad to find out more. Vitally important is to include a strong call-to-arms in your banner advert, such as, “Click here for more information” or “Click now to take advantage of our limited offer!”. Your target audience needs a reason to click on your ad, so make sure that you give them one. Better yet, let us give them a reason to click!
Speak to Purple Cow, the professionals, about creating an effective online advertising campaign guaranteed to boost your ROI.