For years, display advertising has stood as one of the most popular and effective forms of digital advertising. This visual-driven approach is an especially apt choice for marketers hoping to boost brand awareness and to attract attention from online users. Display advertising is also characterized by its robust targeting features, enabling marketers to be methodical in their efforts to reach and acquire new customers.

At enCOMPASS Agency, we often advise our clients to make display advertising a centerpiece of their media mix. In this post, we’ll provide further explanation of what display advertising is, and why it’s so advantageous.

What is Display Advertising?

First and foremost, we all encounter display ads on a daily basis, whether we recognize them by this name or not. Basically, display ads are found on third-party websites, and combine images, text, and URLs in order to raise awareness for a particular brand, product, or service.

For an example of what display advertising can look like, think about the tried-and-true banner ad, which has been a staple of the online landscape for decades now. Most display ads feature rectangular images that lead to product- or service-specific landing pages, though there can be some exceptions to the norm.

How Does Display Advertising Work?

One way to engage with display advertising is for the advertiser to choose a display network; there are numerous options, but the most obvious example is probably Google Display Network (please note, this is not a recommendation, just an example). These networks provide advertisers not just with reach, but also with targeting features that let them zero in on their core audience.

Display advertising also allows for remarketing, also known as retargeting. There are two main types of remarketing. The first is site remarketing, which enables you to show your ad content to users who have already visited your website or browsed some of your products, perhaps without completing a transaction. The second is search remarketing, which enables you to show your ad content to users who may have not yet visited your site but have searched for your products or services online. This can be an effective way to keep your brand top-of-mind among those customers who may still be on the fence, or just require a little more time or a few more touchpoints to make their decision.

Display Ads vs. Native Ads

Here it may be worth drawing a distinction between display ads and another medium, commonly known as native ads. These types of ads are erroneously lumped together sometimes, but actually they differ in important ways: Most notably, native ads are designed to resemble editorial content and to blend seamlessly with the page on which they are featured, while display ads are obvious and attention-grabbing.

Far from being a downside to display ads, this can actually be a significant advantage: For campaigns where your primary purpose is to raise awareness for your brand, opting for an unsubtle approach generally makes the most sense.

Why Include Display Ads in Your Media Mix?

Beyond the potential to boost brand awareness, display ads offer a number of other important benefits.

Display Ads Convey Your Message Quickly

Most display ads are predominantly based in imagery, as opposed to plain text. What this means is that they convey important information about your brand more or less instantaneously. They can make an impression and linger in the memory even if the consumer scrolls past them quite quickly.

Display Ads Offer Plenty of Creative Potential

Looking for an opportunity to present your brand in a way that’s visually appealing? To try something a little bit outside of the box? Display ads offer tons of opportunity to get creative, and to tell the story of your brand in a range of different ways. HTML5 ads offer the most flexibility and creative freedom for animations and motion graphics.

Display Ads Offer Robust Targeting

Perhaps the most significant reason to add display ads to your media mix is the targeting. When working with an agency like enCOMPASS, you can access sophisticated targeting options that ensure you’re only showing your ads to the people most aligned with your offer, thereby allowing you to use your ad dollar more efficiently and to boost your return on investment.

Why Choose enCOMPASS for Your Display Advertising Campaign?

At enCOMPASS, we have helped guide countless clients to success through display advertising. Our approach combines award-winning creative with precision targeting and advanced data collection, allowing us to deliver your ads to the desired consumers at every stage of the sales funnel. Additionally, our team can help you develop a carefully curated network of national, local, and social properties where your ads are proven to yield the greatest return.

Additionally, we employ the IMI Display Advertising Platform, which guarantees that the right content consistently gets displayed in the right place. This platform uses demographic, psychographic, geographic, behavioral, social-media and more data to calibrate the most effective display campaigns for your brand. With hundreds of data partners, we are always confident our client’s ads are showing up in front of the right people.

These are just a few of the ways in which our commitment to next-gen technology, combined with our decades of experience in display advertising, enable us to deliver real results for our clients. To find out more, contact enCOMPASS Agency today.