One of the most exciting aspects of digital marketing is that it’s easier than ever before for advertisers to address consumers at different stages of the sales funnel. As a case in point, consider display advertising. Display advertising is a strategy that’s proven highly effective at building brand awareness and even engendering favorable attitudes from consumers, before they reach the point of purchase.

At enCOMPASS Agency, we often include display advertising in our client’s marketing strategy because it represents the best of all worlds, uniting the interactive engagement of multimedia content with the precision targeting and data-driven approach of digital ad buying. And, through retargeting, you have a number of unique options for reaching customers at various stages of their consumer journey.

Display Advertising at a Glance

Display ads are available in either a Cost Per Click (CPC) or a Cost Per Thousand (CPM) model; generally speaking, the CPC approach is less advantageous, because it’s the impression and the post-impression action that advertisers really value, not the click itself. The Display Advertising tactic is sometimes described as banner advertising, though that may be a little misleading; display ads can come in a wide range of sizes and shapes.

The distinction that needs to be made is that, with something like Search Engine Pay-Per-Click Ads, the ads appear on the search engine results page (SERP) for relevant queries. Display ads, however, are presented on the web pages themselves. Best practice for display ads is to purchase them based on the consumer’s online and offline behavior, helping ensure that they’re displayed in a relevant context.

For an example of display advertising, consider the Google Display Network. (It’s important to note that this is only one of many ways in which enCOMPASS buys digital ads, and it’s not necessarily the best way; we mention it here for illustrative purposes.) When you buy ads on this network, they might show up on news sites, blogs, on YouTube, within Gmail, and beyond. In other words, with the right targeting, you can essentially create ads that “follow” your target customers across the Web, keeping your products or your brand in front of them as they weigh a potential purchase.

Indeed, targeting is one of the primary reasons why display advertising works as well as it does. You can configure your ads to display only for users who meet certain demographic criteria, who’ve previously shown some interest in your brand, or who are searching for a product/service like your own. This helps your ads land with a maximum effect and enables you to use your ad budget efficiently.

One particular form of display advertising is what’s known as retargeting. You’ve probably seen this in action, even if you didn’t know what it was called. For example, have you ever been looking at a product on Amazon.com, chosen not to buy it, then noticed ads for that very product showing up on other websites? That’s retargeting in action, and it’s another powerful way for advertisers to engage with customers and try to lead them through the sales funnel.

Display Advertising with enCOMPASS

So far we’ve been talking in general terms about what display advertising is, and how it might help your business; now, let’s focus briefly on the particular approach to display ads that we take here at enCOMPASS.

Ads That Inspire Action

More than anything, we want to provide our clients with ads that deliver actual results, inspiring customers to take the desired action. To that end, we’ll develop relevant buyer personae, and create ad strategies that hone in on buyers on the basis of previous search history, geographic location, and other key demographic data. We also look at behavioral data so we can be sure to serve ads to users who are in the market for our client’s products.

Additionally, we use geo-fencing technology for targeting and even conquesting. Imagine that you are a new car dealership in a large market. We can actively target car shoppers who are on your competitors’ sales lots looking at cars. Just think: In the middle of car shopping, the customer starts seeing ads on their phone saying, “We will beat any deal on your next vehicle!” That could obviously be a windfall for your dealership.

Finally, we have an exceptional experience in developing the kind of messaging that generates engagement and leads to action. Using the latest technology, our award-winning design team uses HTML5 to create captivating, animated ads that perform spectacularly for our clients.

Safeguarding You Against Fraud

The one downside of display ads is that not all of the clicks out there are from actual humans; at enCOMPASS, we’re serious about protecting our clients from click fraud, traffic spam, and other forms of fraudulent activity. Our custom-audience platform was the first to successfully provide campaign verification, and we employ third-party adometry and Double Click verification to confirm impressions and deter false clicks. The bottom line: Our team is proactive in safeguarding clients against fraud.

Intelligent On-Point Delivery

We also make use of the IMI Display Advertising Platform, which helps us ensure that the right content is delivered to the right individual, without fail. This platform relies on data to ensure that your ads are always positioned just where they’re supposed to be.

Retargeting Strategies

The enCOMPASS team also assists in implementing smart retargeting strategies. If your potential customers are browsing similar products to your own, we can ensure they see an ad to remind them of your brand, before they make their final purchasing decision.

Advanced, Intelligent Tracking

As with everything we do at enCOMPASS, it’s all about the results. It’s important when measuring display campaigns that you are tracking not just impressions and clicks, but the post-click and post-impression data. This data can tell us if someone we served an ad to comes back to your website and completes a targeted action, even if they never clicked on the ad! This allows us to measure the campaign based on a Cost Per Action (eCPA), and not simply a CPM or CPC model.

Take the Next Step Toward Effective Display Advertising

We’re serious about providing our clients with a display advertising strategy that generates real, demonstrable results, and makes effective use of online marketing budgets. That’s why our team has become a trusted display advertising partner for businesses throughout the country.

We’d love to chat with you more about our technology, our strategic approach, and our commitment to our clients. Reach out to enCOMPASS today and let’s discuss display advertising together.