The average display ad click-through rate across most industries is a disappointing .05%. We always assumed it was around .18%, but we were wrong. This means the average campaign uses 2,000 impressions before someone clicks on one ad. We have seen much better response rates for our clients and decided to give three reasons why most display ads need tweaking.
1. You’re Targeting The Wrong Audience
You can’t do enough research and strategy when crafting your display campaigns. As with any marketing campaign, identify your ideal client before moving forward. The neat thing about Adwords is that it allows you to target by geography, gender, age, interest and more. We’ve found that narrowing your targeting helps to increase click-through rates to your website.
2. Your Ads Are Boring And Cluttered
I once thought creativity could be minimized in online ads. That’s hard to admit, but I learned a good lesson. My click-through rates reflected a boring ad. If anything, creating a clean, creative ad is super important online.
Great design should always be considered when crafting a series of display ads. Many companies overlook this important aspect and utilize online software tools that pull images off your website to create the ads. This is easy, yes, but not a good practice. Many of these online tools leave the ad feeling cluttered and do not speak to the audience. Just because it’s good for your website, doesn’t mean it’s good for your online ad. Have fun creating ads that use color and bold ad copy. Keep in mind, the less wordy you are, the better.
3. You Haven’t Tested Your Ads Yet
I feel like a broken record sometimes talking about A/B testing. It’s in our articles a lot, but we think it’s very important. You never know if your ad copy, call to action, color or design will resonate with your ideal target market, unless you test it out. Pick an independent variable and create two different ads based on that variable. Then run them against each other. There is always a clear winner.
In conclusion, display ads are a great way to target your ideal client and drive them to your website. Three marketing tactics to keep in mind when crafting your display advertising include: research, good design and testing. You too can beat your national industry average of click through rates. If you want to know more information about online advertising, click here now.
