Display is often typecast as PPC’s distant cousin. You know that guy that’s a little misunderstood? He’ll turn up to the family gathering, loiter around the edges, and then take credit for the birthday cake that he didn’t even help bake. Well, the expert Display team at addmustard are ready to dispel this stereotype.

Having worked with multiple clients over the years to kick start their display offering, it’s fair to say we’ve experienced some hurdles. So we’re going to run through the main reasons for these common short-fallings, and explain how Display can actually be the missing piece of the puzzle for your business.

 

 

Perceptions

The Myth

Traditional companies may think of Display ads as the infuriating pop ups which charge across your screen, obnoxiously attempting to steal your attention away from the actual task at hand.

The Reality

Luckily, advertising techniques have come a long way since then. Display marketing is now focused on delivering tailored, informative and specific ads to users in real time. Creatives have diversified: video, audio, text are moving into more advanced HTML5 formats which allow dynamic insertion of content – meaning no one banner is the same for the end user.

In reality, Display, like all marketing, is about adding value for your customer. Using tactics such a remarketing can help reinforce brand USPs, retain customers, and increase conversion for customers considering your product.

 

 

Viewability

The Myth

Or rather, a real concern for advertisers, Google reported that 56% of ads are never seen, and a recent study by Lumen found that only 9% of digital ads are viewed for longer than one second.

The Reality

Yes, unfortunately this is still the main issue when it comes to Display marketing, though optimising for clicks and CPC bidding can help increase your position on the page. It also means that it’s crucial to not only make sure your ads stand out creatively, but to choose the right platform to ensure your ads are shown on high quality and relevant placements (e.g. web pages) tailored to both your brand and prospective customer.

For example, Facebook as a placement has one of the highest CTRs we’ve seen from Display, as the ads are well positioned within someone’s newsfeed, making them more likely to be seen. So how do you know your ad has been viewed? There are various tools readily available on the market, including Active View, Adloox and Integral Ad Science, that all do the job effectively. Plus, there are “above the fold” option settings and the Display Planner when using larger platforms such as GDN, that guarantee a level of placement quality.

 

 

Attribution

The Myth

Tracking is crucial in understanding the true value of Display marketing and its effect on other channel performance. Most advertisers use the default ‘last click’ attribution model, however, this rules out any credit given to top of the funnel Display activity, as well as a lack of impression tracking meaning that all brand exposure from Display is ignored completely.

Whilst being a great branding channel, the impact of Display advertising on offline channels is also difficult to measure. It’s often a case of “you’ll need high levels of spend to see any effect”, meaning smaller clients can frequently be put off investing.

The Reality

The key to monitoring the effect of Display, both in silo and against other channels, is impression tracking alongside bespoke attribution models. Third party tools tell you the number of users who have been shown your ad, allowing you to apply click and conversion metrics and calculate an accurate ROI. Attributing a percentage of a conversion to all the channels that were involved in that user’s purchase journey means that while a Display ad may not be the last touchpoint, it still receives a fair piece of the conversion pie.

 

 

Risking the unknown

As Display is still a relatively new marketing channel for most companies, there is a lack of exposure and understanding of its capabilities, even though 86% marketers agree it can work better than other channels. In fact, Display can work extremely well with channels such as Email, Social and PPC in giving a consistent omnichannel marketing experience for the user. In short, with the right expertise and approach, Display can be a highly effective channel within the marketing mix.

 

To find out how Display Marketing can support your businesses objectives, just drop us a line.