7 Display Advertising Mistakes to Avoid
In this article, we’ll go through a few common Display Advertising Mistakes to Avoid in your campaigns.
There are increasingly more and more options available for digital marketers to get their message out.
Content, Search Ads, Email, Influencers and so on.
Display ads have been around since the beginning of the Internet (and even long before then too!) Although it’s true that clickthrough rates aren’t what they used to be (in the beginning they were as high as 44%), display ads are an effective way to increase brand awareness, and indirectly drive conversion rates.
Display advertising is a tried and true method that should be a part of any marketer’s toolkit.
Here are 7 Display Advertising Mistakes to Avoid.
Display Advertising Mistakes: Failing to Optimize for Mobile
In 2018, mobile internet traffic surpassed desktop usage.
Mobile spend now makes up over 63% of the total digital ad spend by marketers.
If you’re still thinking of mobile as being secondary to desktop when it comes to your display campaigns, you’re behind the curve.
Make sure that you’re allocating the proper amount of your budget to mobile ads. Also, make sure that your creative is optimized for display on mobile.
Display Advertising Mistakes: Not Using Proper Targeting
Today’s advertising technology allows for granular and precise audience targeting. If you’re not utilizing this to the fullest, you’re simply throwing money away.
If you’re selling retirement homes, you probably don’t want to advertise to teenagers.
Likewise, the latest video game might not be a big hit with the 80+ age group.
Also, since display ad networks can show your ads across the Internet on a variety of websites, you’ll want to employ some filtering as necessary to prevent any potential mismatched ad placements.
If you spend a few minutes Googleing “display advertising placement fails” there are countless examples of contextual mismatches that can be a marketing nightmare.
Display Advertising Mistakes: Not Using Retargeting
92% of website visitors aren’t going to buy on their first visit.
Most customers need to engage with your business multiple times before making a purchase. However, unless they have a reason to go back to your site, there’s a good chance that they’ll just forget about you altogether!
This is where retargeting comes in.
Retargeting allows you to follow up with and re-engage users after an initial interaction with your business.
If you’re not incorporating a sophisticated retargeting strategy with your display ads, you’re leaving money on the table.
Display Advertising Mistakes: Wasting Money on Mobile Games or Apps
Little kids are amazing. They can light up even the most cranky and bitter adults.
If they’re sitting next to you endlessly crying on a 5-hour flight, they’re not so cute.
What does this have to do with Display Advertising Mistakes?
It turns out that kids can be wasting away your ad spend on mobile apps and games.
Imagine that young kid crying on the plane, there’s a good chance his parents will try to entertain the child with some kind of game on a phone or tablet.
Do you think that kid is interested at all in what you are selling?
Many display ad networks will indiscriminately place your ads on a variety of apps and games designed for younger users, even toddlers.
It’s not surprising when you stop and think about it, but it turns out that there are a bunch of children mindlessly clicking away your ad spend on mobile apps and games.
Pay particular attention to your ad spend on mobile games and apps, and opt-out as necessary.
Display Advertising Mistakes: Misleading CTAs
We’re talking about clickbait.
Yes, it might be effective in getting a click.
The problem is that you can cross a line where your ad is simply misleading or irrelevant to what you are selling.
Think about it, you don’t want to trick users into clicking on your ad because they’re not going to follow-through and convert, but you’re going to pay for the click anyway.
It’s a waste of their time and your money.
Figure out a way to grab their attention without crossing the line into clickbait. Stop making Display Advertising Mistakes.
Display Advertising Mistakes: Not Doing A/B testing
Tactics, theory, and best practices are all a great way to make informed decisions when it comes to your display campaigns.
Make no mistake about it, these are no replacement for proper experimentation and A/B testing.
What it comes down to is that you never know what is going to work, and what won’t.
Employ A/B testing with different variations in copy, colors, graphics, and so on.
By comparing different ads with subtle variations, you can figure out which ads are effective, and which aren’t.
With this you can save wasted money on ineffective ads and maximize ROI on the ones that work! Stop making Display Advertising Mistakes.
Display Advertising Mistakes: Using CTR as a Measure of Success
You might be tempted to use CTR as a way of measuring the effectiveness of your display campaigns a common Display Advertising Mistake.
How else would you know that your display ads are working if not by how many clicks they are getting?
As we mentioned earlier, clickthrough rates are generally pretty low these days so if you’re using them as a metric of success, you’re likely to be disappointed.
While display ads might not always lead to a direct sale by way of an ad-click, they are a great way to increase brand awareness.
For whatever reason, users these days are more inclined to do a Google search based on an ad they see, rather than actually clicking on it in the moment.
Ultimately, we know that display ads can drive sales despite lower clickthrough rates.
Rather than CTR, pay attention to your overall ROI with display advertising for a more accurate measure of your campaign effectiveness.
Contact Us to learn how we can help you build highly optimized display advertising campaigns to achieve your business goals. Or, learn more about our services today.