How to create banner ads that perform

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a network marketer, a mom and pop business, or a multi-billion dollar brand, success hinges on your ability to find, attract, and motivate customers.  To achieve this feat, every promotion, banner ad or otherwise, must align with three crucial qualities of any advertising campaign:

1. Grab the viewer’s attention (captivation)
2. Make a lasting impression (brand awareness)
3. Incite action (get them to buy, think, talk, act)

While, this is an extremely simplified list, every successful campaign excels in all three, core objectives.

Banner advertising presents unique challenges in meeting just the first criterion.  By following five basic guidelines, you can find that ‘sweet spot’, generate leads, and grow your business.

With the information bombardment that we all endure, it’s not surprising to discover new findings by online-ad-research giant Dynamic Logic** which indicate that good creativity and presentation is more important than highly targeted ad placement.  The best banner ads combine persistent branding, strong calls to action, and human faces to promote better ad recall, galvanize brand awareness, and arouse purchase intent.

A blueprint for banner advertising

Keep in mind that you are marketing to individuals with personal thoughts, needs, and desires.  Therefore, the look and feel of your campaign must be tailored to your message and target audience. (Oh yes, you do need to put yourself in your customers’ shoes.)  This is what keeps Madison Avenue in business.  If every advertising campaign could be reduced to a cook book, you’d be able to purchase banner ad boiler-plates at Costco or Sam’s Club.

Fortunately, since all advertising strives to achieve the same three goals, Dynamic Logic’s study identified five common rules to follow:

1. Highlight the brand prominently throughout the ad

“Intrigue is rarely a good strategy in online campaigns,” the report says.  Ads with the highest brand and online ad awareness embed omnipresent logos.

2. Make each second count

Whether the objective is brand awareness or to incite action, your ad should support a singular message at all times.  Sadly, most ads receive little more than one second in front of a user, so each moment must convey the message.

3. “Reveal” ads don’t work

Building upon rule #2, deliver your message right up front.  You can’t expect the user to wait around and watch the ad in its entirety.  (Only 1 out of 20 top performers on ad awareness used the reveal format, while 17 out of 20 bottom performers did.) Caveat: Video and highly entertaining ads are sometimes exceptions to this rule.

4. Stay simple

The Dynamic Logic study recommends no more than two messages per banner execution.  As an example, financial services advertisers tend to use copy-heavy ads and come up short in developing brand awareness.

5. Use people

Banner Ads including people imagery work especially well, even for financial services campaigns.

(**For more info, read Kunur Patel’s Oct. 20, 2009 article at Advertising Age)

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