Digital marketing offers many exciting and innovative ways for your business to reach potential consumers online. Banner ads are one way to attract consumers and build brand recognition. These digital advertisements can appear on websites, online news publications, and blogs along the sidebar, header, or footer.
This article gives a quick primer on the essential facts about this marketing tool, including:
What is a banner ad?
Banner ads—also referred to as display advertising or web banners—are digital advertisements that appear on web pages. They combine small amounts of text with images like GIFs, JPGs, or videos, to engage the reader and encourage them to take action.
Ad placement can be at the page’s side, top, or bottom, usually taking up just a small amount of space on the page (a half-page at most). A stand-out ad can engage consumers and generate leads for your brand or business. The user clicks on the ad and is brought to your brand or business website, possibly upping conversions.
Anatomy of a banner ad
There are different types of banner advertising, which we’ll discuss in more detail below. However, a well-crafted display ad has a few key characteristics that ensure a high click-through rate (CTR)—meaning a high proportion of webpage visitors click on the banner ad.
Consider some of the key components that make up a good banner ad.
- Clear and direct content. Banner ads don’t have a lot of space to use since they only take up a small portion of a webpage (as a sidebar, top banner, or bottom banner). Banner ads should limit text to avoid looking cluttered. Clear, concise, direct messaging is necessary. One to three key phrases should be sufficient to convey your message.
- Call to action (CTA). Like any content marketing or advertising material, the point of a banner ad is to get the target audience to take a certain action. The CTA incites this action. A CTA should be clear, concise, and action-oriented. It might encourage the reader to click to subscribe to an email list or promote a blog.
- Attractive, high-quality visuals. Banner ads combine images with text to create a visually engaging display. The visuals should be aesthetically pleasing and of high quality. They should have sufficiently high pixel resolution without any blurriness. The visuals should also consider the layout (vertical or horizontal).
- Consistent branding. Your banner ad should reflect your company’s visual brand. You likely have a logo, color scheme, and font that you regularly use for your marketing materials, from your website to ads. Your banner ad should align with this visual image, making it both recognizable and memorable for your target audience.
- Smooth animations. Not all banner ads have moving images (more on that below). However, banner ads that use animations should have high-quality visuals. Animations should be clear, high-resolution, and not choppy. Accompanying audio should be clear and free of gaps or jumps.
Different types of banner ads
There are different types of banner ads (and these different types can come in various banner ad sizes). Understanding the differences between the types of banner ads can help you determine which online ad format is best suited for your purposes.
Static/still banner ads
A static or still banner ad consists of a single image. It isn’t animated and doesn’t have any moving images or audio. This standard banner ad on U.S. News & World Report shows the power of a static ad with just three points: a tagline encouraging the reader to sign up for a newsletter, a brief description of what the newsletter will give them, and a sign-up button.
The static banner’s simple yet compelling message is accompanied by a fitting graphic: an image of gold coins and a clock, speaking to the newsletter’s topic of financial investing. Note how the ad incorporates the U.S News & World Report logo and coloring. There is also a clear and bold CTA thanks to the red “Sign Up” button.
This type of ad is ideal if you have a simple message that is clear, concise, and to the point. You can’t create a long narrative with only static images, so you want to keep your CTA short. For comparison, see how the animated and video banner ads below create greater complexity through their CTAs by presenting a problem first and then a solution.
Animated banner ads
An animated banner ad contains moving images, which may be accompanied by audio. These ads tend to be more eye-catching because they aren’t static. With an animated banner ad, you can also weave a narrative and tell a story that can engage the user.
This Upwork banner ad (a sidebar) is one example. The banner grabs the reader’s attention with a problem (“Need an SEO expert?”). The animated text then changes to present the solutions (“Browse SEO projects at fixed prices”). Note how the banner ads use the Upwork font, logo, and colors, staying true to the brand. There is also a succinct CTA button (“Browse projects”).
This type of ad is ideal if you have a more complicated message—in this case, trying to sell services rather than simply getting a newsletter sign-up, as above. The animated format allows for greater complexity so a problem can be presented, followed by a solution.
Video banner ads
Video banner ads use high-quality videos to attract the reader’s attention and maintain their interest through storytelling. These banner ads are easy to share. They may even include a share button so they can be sent to another person (e.g., via email), increasing the likelihood of going viral (something that funny YouTube ads often do).
This Thumbtack video ad is a good example. The video plays through a series of household catastrophes that a homeowner may experience, from an ant infestation to a leaky faucet. It concludes with this shot of a man using Thumbtack (a platform where you can find work-for-hire handypersons) to get a pro to fix the issue.
As the Thumbtack ad demonstrates very well, these video ads are a great way to create a compelling narrative and tell a story (even more complex than the simpler banner ad above). The reader is engaged by the series of catastrophes they’re witnessing.
Similar to the Upwork ad, the viewer is presented with a problem and a solution to that problem at the end.
Interactive banner ads
Interactive banner ads include features that allow users to interact with the banner. They feature attractive visuals and place a heavy emphasis on the company’s imagery. The viewer is invited to click on the ad, which may respond to clicks and mouse movements (like a game).
This Wheat Thins ad is a great example of how exciting an interactive banner can be. It shows cracker chips falling from the top of the screen. The player uses the mouse, scrolling to fill the party bowl with as many cracker chips as possible. There’s a nine-second time limit to increase the pressure. A page advertising Wheat Thins products appear at the ad’s conclusion.
Interactive banner ads are a great way to win over consumers without making them feel like you’re trying to sell something to them. You capture their attention with a fun activity, leaving the promotional aspect on the back burner.
The Wheat Thins ad is a great example: First, the viewer gets to have fun, and then they’re presented with a product push.
Transitional banner ads
Transitional banner ads appear when a webpage is loading. They’re characterized by quick messaging since they don’t appear for a long time. An attractive design also helps engage the audience in this brief window. Transitional ads are great for highly targeted marketing and provide high visibility.
This Lenovo ad for Motorola phones is a great example. It appears as a pop-up on a loading page for the PC Magazine website, specifically a landing page with an article about kids’ video games. Presumably, the person reading this page would be a parent with a kid—the kind of person who has disposable income for such a gadget.
This kind of ad is ideal if you have a succinct message that you can get across to your audience quickly. The Motorola ad is a great example, as it has three key messages: what you can get (unlocked phones), where to find them (Lenovo.com), and a CTA (“Shop Now”). Also, note the inclusion of each brand’s logo and lettering (on the right-hand side).
Bad practices for banner ads
The right banner ad for your needs depends on various points, from your target audience to your marketing goals. A banner ads expert can help determine which type of digital advertising is right for you. Regardless of the type of banner ad you opt for, there are a few things to keep in mind when creating your ad content.
There are certain “no-gos” to avoid to minimize the risk of “banner blindness.” This refers to a phenomenon when people simply glance past the banner without really looking at it. To keep that from happening and increase brand awareness, steer clear of these mistakes.
- Ignoring your brand/company’s imagery. You should always stay true to your company’s branding, including logos, colors, and fonts. This helps create a recognizable and memorable visual for your audience.
- Incoherent colors. Colors in a banner ad should be complementary, creating a pleasing visual impact. You can use color wheels to determine which colors go well together.
- Too full of information. Banners don’t offer a lot of ad space. Avoid clutter and overcrowding—which can be visually unappealing and overwhelm the reader—by minimizing text and information. The banner ads above never have more than three key points, for example.
- Poor graphics/animations. Since you don’t have a lot of space to work with, banner ads need to be clear—including when it comes to imagery. Graphics and animations should be clear, high-resolution, and free of blurriness or other issues.
- Misses CTA objectives. Ultimately, the point of a banner ad is always to get the viewer to take action. The CTA should clearly articulate an action, like visiting a website or subscribing to a newsletter. The entire ad should focus on that objective, streamlining the user experience.
