Display advertising is the term used to define any type of advertising that uses images or graphics online. Typically, a display ad appears near the main content of a website, but it can also appear in email, instant messaging applications, on social media sites, and other places online. Often, it’s easy to tell what is a display ad and what is the actual content of the page, but this isn’t always true. Some display ads actually look like website content and can easily be mistaken for such.
Display ads can come in all sizes and styles. Most do include images, but many also feature text, logos, animation, sound, and even full video clips. Many feature what is known as rich or interactive media. This means that the ad combines text, images, audio, video, and interactive content that the user can click on. One example of these ads is a simple games or quizzes that users can play before visiting the website the ad links to.
Display advertising, especially interactive display advertising, may seem like it takes a lot of work to put together. However, it’s actually not that much work because most display ads use images created for print ads or video made for TV spots. Not all do, but those that are building on an offline campaign often capture the same look and feel as other parts of the campaign do.
Even without the cost, there are still two major reasons to do a display ad campaign. The first is that it’s possible to focus the ad on specific demographics. Ads can be displayed only on sites that are in the same industry as the business is. This means viewers are likely to be interested in what the ad is about. A website that discusses engine repair may include ads for a mechanic or a parts store, which may be useful for visitors because the topics are related. On the other hand, visitors to this website would probably not click on a display ad for a florist because that’s not relevant to their current interest. Being able to focus on a specific demographic greatly increases the number of visitors who will click the ad.
The second benefit to display advertising is that it’s possible for a business to track how many times the ad is displayed in a day, how many times it’s clicked, and how many people make a purchase from the website. This allows businesses to calculate their return on investment down to almost the penny.
