Banner ads are sweeping through the digital marketing world. They are not setting fire to it, but rather lighting it up like the Las Vegas strip on a clear summer night.
But what exactly is it about these banners that turn them into such a powerful tool?
The driving reason could well be that they are simple. There isn’t much more to it than that.
You don’t need to be a graphic design genius to produce a stunning online banner in little to no time. On top of that, there are plenty of opportunities to use a banner generator to really give your ads that extra sparkle.
Even so, creating a banner is one thing, but knowing the best uses for them is something else. Then again, that is the same with anything right?
Read on to learn how to best utilize a banner for your website.
Choose the Right Location for Your Banners
Location, location, location. Isn’t that what it always boils down to?
When talking about digital marketing, location can mean two things. One example of location is on what sites you want to have your banner appear.
Let’s take books as an example. Fiction or non-fiction, it doesn’t make too much difference. The internet is booming for eBooks of all sorts. You could almost say that the market is saturated with them.
Yet, they continue to be popular. Continue to sell. There is a need, a want for them. Banner ads are perfect for books, and when used right, they can bring people in droves.
But you wouldn’t place a banner for books on a site targeted towards selling platform shoes. Well, you might, but you would see less profitability than if you were to take out an add on a site like BookBub.
The second example of finding a good location for your banner is placement on the site. If we keep running with the book example, then across the many different promotion sites, there are different options for where you can place your banner.
- Top Banner
- Side Banner on the homepage
- Top Banner on a genre specific page
- Side Banner on a genre specific page
- Bottom of the page
It’s natural to assume that the top banner on the homepage is going to be the best choice, as it will most likely have the highest traffic, and therefore garner the most attention. However, that may not necessarily be the case.
It depends on your product.
If you’re writing in a genre that holds wide appeal, then the homepage will work for you. However, if you’re writing in a sub-genre, with a specific reader base, then one of the genre-specific pages may work best.
You might get fewer views on the page, but the CTR (Click Through Rate) on your banner will be higher, which means your chances of a sales boost will increase greatly.
It doesn’t matter if you are selling books, lawnmowers, or golf equipment, choosing the place that doesn’t just get the most views but the best CTR is crucial to a successful online banner campaign.
The Core Uses for Online Banner Ads
The same way that location is important for proper use of banner ads, there is also the consideration of what you want the banners ads to do. What will they link through to?
To Generate Sales
One of the primary uses of online banners is to advertise a product for sale, with the goal of enticing people to click the add and follow through to the register with the item still in their basket.
If you’re an established company with a product that is selling, then a sale based ad could be just what you need to create that spike.
To Draw in New Members
When it comes to digital marketing, making the sale is not always the key to success.
For a young company that’s looking to make their mark, or get more traffic to their site to view the range of products or services they provide, a banner prompting sign up could be the best option.
The double sided bonus to this is that with good word use and the right link – maybe just to your site rather than a sign-up form directly – you can generate a nice increased stream of traffic for the period your banner is running.
To Inform Existing Customers of a Sale
You also have to consider the options for when you are a known brand that has people interesting in your product or using it already, but you have decided to run a special offer.
That could be a sale, or it could be a promotion that cross-links with a second product you have or a partner’s product. Whatever the reason, using an online banner to draw people’s attention to this special offer could be a great way to leverage your brand.
You might have the banner on your own site, directing people away, to wherever they can benefit from the sale, or on external locations directing back to you.
To Generate Interest in a New Product
Much like if you are having a sale or cross promotion, you could be preparing to introduce a new product into the market. On an occasion like this, you could use banner ads to drum up interest in the product from several different viewpoints.
i) Pre-orders
ii) Focus group participation
iii) Beta testing
In theory, you could even run different ads for each of the above options, and strategically place them on different sites. Tailoring them toward the different user base that you want to draw towards each phase of the new product launch.
To Hire New Staff
It is not even beyond the realm of comprehension to consider using banner ads as a way of attracting new staff members.
Recruitment is an industry that also has seen heavy changes in strategy with the rise of digital marketing.
This could be useful if you are looking to add full-time members to your team, and working in an industry that is geared towards the types of people that would follow a banner ad. It could also work for a company that is looking to employ people remotely, such as freelancers.
Mix and Match Your Online Banner Ads
Whatever your reasons for looking to use banner ads, just remember that there are lots of different options and different styles that will best work to send the message you want to share.
There is nothing stopping you from mixing and matching your banner ads. Running several different campaigns across different sites and platforms.
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