display
Effective display advertising
Having been involved in a fair few consultations regarding online display creative, I thought I’d share a few nuggets with you.
People aren’t interested in a story
You need cut-through, so get to the point. No more than 5 frames of animation; less if you can manage it.
Show me the money(shot)
Your incentive should appear fairly soon in your animation frames in order to grab attention. Money off, vouchers, a specific offer – whatever it is, do it quickly.
Know your enemy: banner sizes
There are a set number of specific banner sizes that you can use to get your message across. Certain formats will allow you to do more: others will allow very little room for messaging.The IAB set out guidelines for ad unit sizes, as follows:
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Banners and Buttons
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Skyscrapers
| 160 x 600 IMU – (Wide Skyscraper) | 40k | :15 | |
| 120 x 600 IMU – (Skyscraper) | 40k | :15 | |
| 300 x 600 IMU – (Half Page Ad) | 40k | :15 |
The takehome? A teeny-tiny 88×31 space will NOT allow you to tell a lovely, 21st-century-BT-esque-family story. Choose your sizes/locations wisely, and apply the ‘Storyboard’, ‘Moneyshot’ and ‘In-situ’ rules appropriately.
Know your enemy #2: in-situ
You know when you look at banners on a designer’s screen, or printed out on lovely pristine white presentation boards? Yeah – that’s NOT how people will see your ads: they’ll be in amongst other content – stuff that they’re actually interested in reading. Your ad is, essentially, a distraction. Make it a good one.
Who are you?
Remember: people don’t know who you are. ALWAYS include your company logo, and if at all possible, a persistent URL. People may not click on your ad, but display can be used as a Brand Response mechanism as well as Direct Response. Therefore, including your logo and a URL can only help brand recall.
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