Google Display Ads offer a powerful way to reach potential customers and improve your brand awareness. As a seasoned marketer or just getting started with display advertising, knowing about the best practices for running a successful display ad campaign can significantly impact your results.
In this post, we’ll walk through the fundamentals of creating, targeting, and optimising your Google Display Ads to ensure you’re getting the most from your ad spend.
Understanding the Power of Google Display Ads
A Google Display Ad is a visual ad that appears across Google’s vast Display Network, which spans millions of websites, apps, and Google-owned properties like YouTube and Gmail. Unlike Google Search Ads, which rely on keywords to show up in search results, Google Display Ads are more passive, meaning they reach people while they’re browsing the web, reading news, or watching videos.
Display ads allow you to showcase your brand using a variety of ad formats, such as images, videos, and interactive banners. Display advertising provides a broader reach than search advertising, allowing you to build brand awareness and making you stay in the minds of your target audience. With the right ad formats, you can grab the attention of potential customers even before they actively start searching for your products or services.
How Display Ads Work
The core idea behind display ads is that they leverage visual media to engage users as they browse the internet. These ads are shown on relevant web pages, sites, and apps, or even Google-owned properties based on user behaviours, interests, and demographics. A well-placed display ad will grab attention, raise interest in your product, and lead users to click on your ad, which will in turn take them to your landing page.
One of the best features of Google Display Ads is their flexibility with responsive design. Responsive display ads automatically adjust their size, appearance, and format to fit available ad spaces across the Google Display Network. This ensures that your display ads appear in the most optimal format, whether it’s a banner, square, or even a video. The ability for ads to automatically adjust makes them a versatile and efficient choice for advertisers aiming for a broad reach.
How to target the Right Audience with Google Display Ads
Audience Targeting in Display Campaigns
One of the most important factors in the success of your Google Display Ad campaigns is ensuring you are reaching the right audience. Audience targeting allows you to define who sees your display ads based on factors like demographics, interests, behaviours, and location.
The key to effective audience targeting is to focus on those who are most likely to be interested in your product or service. This can include targeting by affinity categories (e.g., people who show long-term interest in a specific area), in-market audiences (e.g., people who are actively researching products or services similar to yours), or retargeting users who have already visited your website.
Focusing on retargeting ads, you can re-engage users who have interacted with your website but did not convert. These ads are a powerful way to remind users of your brand and guide them towards making a purchase.
Utilising Targeting Strategies for Maximum Impact
To get your ads in front of the most relevant people or internet users, consider combining multiple targeting methods. For example, you can use both demographic and interest-based targeting to ensure your ads reach individuals who are both within your desired age or gender range and who show interest in relevant topics.
Additionally, consider leveraging Google’s automation features to refine your targeting further. Google Ads provides tools like responsive targeting, which uses machine learning to optimise who sees your ads based on their likelihood of interacting with them. With this, advertisers can save time and resources while still ensuring their ads are delivered to the most relevant target audience.
Best Practices for Creating Effective Google Display Ads
Ad Copy and Creative Design
A strong display ad should grab attention, spark interest, and prompt action. One of the essential components of this process is crafting engaging ad copy and visuals that resonate with your target audience. To achieve this, use compelling headlines and descriptions that clearly convey your message. Whether promoting a new product or boosting awareness, make sure your message is clear and easy to understand at a glance.
Next, focus on the creative aspect of your Google Display Ad. Choose imagery that aligns with your brand and appeals to your target audience. Use high-quality gifs or videos when appropriate, as these formats tend to grab attention and engage users more effectively than static images alone. Additionally, ensure your display ads are consistent with your overall branding, including colours, logos, and fonts, to reinforce brand recognition.
Effective Display Ad Formats
Google Display Ads come in various ad formats, including static banners, animated gifs, and interactive videos. Choosing the right ad format is critical for achieving your campaign’s objectives. For instance, a static banner might work best for raising brand awareness, while a video ad may be more effective at engaging users and driving conversions.
When creating your display ad, be mindful of the different Google Display ad sizes available. Larger ad sizes, like 300×600 or 970×250, tend to perform better in terms of visibility and engagement. However, including a mix of sizes in your campaign ensures that your ad will fit a variety of placements across the Google Display Network.
Optimising Your Google Display Ad Campaigns
Measuring Campaign Performance
To ensure your Google Display Ad campaign is performing at its best, it’s important to monitor key performance metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and cost-per-click (CPC). With these metrics monitored, you can gauge how well your ads resonate with your audience and adjust your strategy as needed.
Using Google Analytics in conjunction with Google Ads allows you to get deeper insights into how users interact with your ads and website. For example, when you analyse bounce rates and time on site, you can determine whether your ads are attracting the right audience and driving meaningful engagement.
Continuous Campaign Optimisation
Once your campaign is live, it’s important to continually optimise it based on performance data. Make sure to adjust your bid strategy to get the most out of your ad spend and refine your targeting settings if certain audience segments are underperforming.
You can also improve your campaign’s effectiveness by regularly testing different ad formats, ad copy, and images. Testing various elements of your ads allows you to identify what resonates most with your audience and make data-driven decisions to enhance your campaign’s overall performance.
Remarketing
One of the most powerful strategies for display ads is remarketing. Remarketing enables you to show your ads to users who have already interacted with your website or app. You can do this by serving remarketing ads to people who have shown interest in your product but haven’t converted. With this, you can increase the chances of bringing them back to complete a purchase.
Remarketing is particularly effective when paired with personalised ad copy and visuals. For instance, if a user views a specific product on your site, you can serve them a tailored display ad featuring that same product, encouraging them to return and make a purchase.
Last Words
Incorporating these best practices into your Google Display Ad campaigns will help ensure that your ads not only capture attention but also drive meaningful results. If you focus on effective audience targeting, creative ad formats, and continuous optimisation, you’ll be well-positioned to maximise the impact of your display ads and achieve your marketing goals.
If you’re looking to boost brand awareness, generate leads, or drive conversions, Google Display Ads offer a flexible, scalable solution to reach your audience where they are.
Now that you’re equipped with the knowledge to run successful campaigns, it’s time to put these strategies into action and take your digital advertising efforts to new heights. Need help? Contact us today; let’s get you started.
FAQS
Display advertising refers to the use of banner ads, image ads, and other visual formats placed on websites and apps. These ads are often used to target people based on their browsing behavior, demographics, and interests. Display ads showcase your brand’s products and services, increasing brand awareness among potential customers. They can be in different formats, such as GIFs or videos, and reach internet users across various websites and apps. Display advertisers can take advantage of Google’s vast network to get your ads in front of the right audience.
Google Ads is an online advertising platform that allows businesses to create and manage ads that appear on Google’s search results and partner websites. Using Google Ads, businesses can choose between search ads, display ads, and responsive ads to reach their audience. Ads that are shown through this platform are often tailored to target people who are likely to be interested in your products or services.
The Google Display Network (GDN) is a collection of over two million websites, apps, and videos where Google display ads appear. It allows advertisers to reach a vast audience with display ads that are shown across a wide range of sites. The GDN is particularly useful for increasing brand awareness and showcasing products through image ads that appear in front of potential customers.
Search ads appear on Google search results pages, triggered by specific keywords typed by users. They target people actively looking for products or services. In contrast, display ads are shown across websites and apps in the Google Display Network, targeting people based on their browsing behaviour or interest, even when they aren’t searching for specific products. Display ads often rely on visuals, while search ads focus more on text.
Retargeting with Google Display Ads allows you to target people who have previously interacted with your website but didn’t complete a desired action, like a purchase. These ads get shown to people across the Google Display Network, reminding them of your brand and encouraging them to return to your site. Retargeting ads are often highly effective at increasing conversion rates, as they are targeting users already familiar with your brand.
Google Search Ads are great for capturing intent-based traffic—people searching for specific products or services. On the other hand, Google Display Ads are best for building brand awareness and reaching users who may not be actively searching but are likely to be interested in your offerings. Both forms of advertising work together to cover different stages of the customer journey, from awareness to conversion.
Google Display Ads come in various sizes, but some of the most effective formats include the 300×250, 728×90, and 160×600 banners. These formats are versatile and can be displayed across a wide range of websites in the Google Display Network. Choosing the right ad sizes helps maximise your ad placements and ensures better visibility.