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When consumers are shopping online on their mobile devices, it’s likely that they’ll want to call your business to get more information. And they’re not shy about clicking on ads, as 63% of consumers will click on an ad to call your business.
Your display ads, from the targeting to the ad copy, need to help consumers understand what action you want them to take. While display ads are still heavily used for brand awareness, there is an opportunity for marketers to drive direct conversions both online and offline from display campaigns.
In this post, we’ll cover the basics of display advertising and its benefits, as well as how to drive more phone leads from your campaigns.
Display advertising is a form of online advertising that involves the creation and placement of visual ads on websites and social media platforms. These ads can include static or interactive graphics, videos, and animations. Display advertising is beneficial for businesses as it allows them to reach a large audience, target specific demographics, and increase brand visibility. It also provides the opportunity to track and analyze ad performance, optimize ad campaigns for better results, and potentially increase conversions and sales.
Display ads can help increase brand visibility by promoting your product or service in front of a large audience. This can help increase your business’s brand awareness and recognition, especially if the ads are strategically placed on high-traffic websites or social media platforms.
Display advertising allows you to target specific audiences that are relevant to your industry by basing them on factors such as demographics, interests, behaviors, and location. This can help ensure that your ads are shown to the most relevant potential customers, increasing the likelihood of conversion and return on investment.
Display ads offer a high degree of creative flexibility, allowing businesses to use a range of formats, including images, videos, animations, and interactive elements. This can help create engaging, visually appealing ads that capture users' attention and drive engagement.
Display advertising can be a cost-effective way to reach potential customers online, especially compared to other forms of advertising such as television or print ads. Many platforms also offer self-service options that allow businesses to set their own budgets and bids, making it accessible for businesses of all sizes.
Display advertising offers a range of metrics and analytics to measure the performance of ads, including impressions, clicks, conversions, and return on investment. This allows businesses to track performance on a granular level, and achieve better results over time.
One of the biggest challenges with display advertising is ad blindness, where users consciously or unconsciously ignore banner ads. With the internet flooded with display ads, many users have trained themselves to overlook anything that resembles an advertisement. This makes it harder for businesses to capture attention and achieve desired results, even with eye-catching designs.
While display ads can generate impressions, they often struggle to convert those impressions into clicks. Compared to other forms of digital advertising, such as search ads or email marketing, display ads typically have lower click-through rates. This can limit their effectiveness, particularly for campaigns focused on direct response rather than brand awareness.
The rise of ad-blocking software poses a significant challenge for display advertising. Many users install ad blockers to avoid seeing ads altogether, reducing the reach of your campaign. This makes it difficult to ensure that your ads are seen by your target audience, especially among tech-savvy or privacy-conscious users.
Despite targeting capabilities, display ads can sometimes appear in contexts that aren’t relevant or appropriate. For example, ads might show up on websites that don’t align with your brand’s values or messaging. Poor placement can waste advertising dollars and even harm your brand’s reputation if it’s associated with unsuitable content.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, we’ll get into some ways you can drive more conversions and ROI from your display ads right now!
Brand ads are fine for awareness, but if you want to drive conversions you need to give people a reason to click. Use your ad copy to its greatest advantage: Tell consumers the exact action you want them to take.
If a customer has called your business before from display or any marketing channel, use that as criteria to target your ads by integrating call data in your DMP and DSPs. If you know which audience has a higher likelihood of calling you, you can directly target your ads to them.
No digital marketer wants to waste ad budget. But that’s exactly what bad targeting can do if you’re looking to drive more calls from display.
When you use hyper-local targeting to reach local smartphone owners, it’s as though you’re speaking directly to them. This is especially important for franchises or businesses with multiple locations.
Get even more customers calling by adding click-to-call to your mobile display ads. It works similarly to mobile search marketing, where consumers can click on an ad to place a call.
When consumers click on your call-enabled display ads, they trigger a call dialog from their smartphones while also directing them to your landing page.
You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, this is doubly true for display ads. Imagery gives you an opportunity to differentiate yourself from the hundreds of written ads people are bombarded with every day. It also allows you to create some sort of emotional appeal which increases your odds of engagement while reinforcing brand recognition.
A/B testing of display ad landing pages is a powerful tool for optimizing conversions. By comparing the performance of two or more landing pages with subtle variations, businesses can determine which version performs better in terms of driving traffic and converting visitors. This information can be used to refine landing pages and improve the user experience, resulting in higher conversion rates. A/B testing can also help identify areas of a landing page that are causing confusion or frustration for users, allowing businesses to make necessary adjustments to improve engagement and increase conversions.
Remarketing is a powerful tool for converting prospects who have interacted with your business but didn’t convert initially. By serving tailored display ads to these users, you can remind them of your product or service and encourage them to take the next step.
For example, if someone visits your website but leaves without making a purchase, show them an ad featuring the exact product they viewed, coupled with a compelling CTA like “Limited Stock—Order Now!” or “Get 20% Off Today Only!”
Where your ads appear is just as important as its content. Partner with reputable ad networks to ensure your display ads appear on high-quality, relevant websites that align with your target audience. Placement also includes strategic locations on the webpage itself, such as above the fold, where they’re more likely to be seen. Additionally, monitor performance data to identify which placements drive the highest engagement and conversions, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Creating a sense of urgency can significantly boost conversions. Display ads with time-sensitive offers, like “Sale Ends Tonight” or “Only a Few Left in Stock,” can motivate users to act quickly.
Pair these messages with visually compelling countdown timers or bold typography to grab attention. Just be sure the urgency aligns with your business operations—nothing frustrates potential customers more than discovering the “limited” offer isn’t actually valid.
Want to learn more tactics for increasing revenue from your marketing campaigns? Check out these resources:
Request your personal demo to see how Invoca can help you drive more phone leads and conversions from your display ads.
