5 Reasons Why Banner Ads Work

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Did you know that the banner ad is 18 years old? And according to comScore, over 5.3 trillion display ads were seen by U.S. consumers in 2012. However, as with any form of marketing, the most important question is always:  do they work? The answer depends on many factors such as creative, targeting the right audience and advertising on the right websites. But ultimately, when done right, banner ads are an effective way to reach your target audience. And reaching the right audience, in the right context, with the right creative, can make for an incredibly successful digital campaign.

To help you better understand why banner ads are an effective method of advertising and why they should be a part of every business’s marketing strategy, we’ve put together the top 5 reasons why banner ads work:

1.) The majority of advertising exposure occurs when the audience's attention is focused elsewhere, such as while browsing a web site. However, a new study reveals that even this incidental exposure to advertising has a positive effect on consumer attitudes.  “Effects of mere exposure are expected to grow in a marketplace where consumers' attention is often focused elsewhere.  Regardless of measured click-through rates, banner ads still create a favorable attitude toward the ad due to repeated exposure.” (Journal of Consumer Research)

2.) Research shows that consumers engage with banner ads more than TV or outdoor ads.  Banner ad CTRs average at 0.07% (Digiday).  TV response rate is 0.05%, according toNielsen. Outdoor has a 0.03% response rate (Digiday). Radio, which lacks the visual component of the other three media, has a response rate of 0.13% according to Arbitron.

3.) Banner ads have the ability to hyper-target by age, lifestyle, and geography better than most other mediums.  Maybe that’s why eMarketer projects the top five sellers of display advertising to generate $18.6 billion in the U.S. alone in 2013, a 20 percent increase from 2011.  The ad tech industry, tapping into new pools of data and efficient distribution systems, is making display advertising more efficient and more targeted.  By 2015, eMarketer predicts that display will overtake search ads as the top online ad segment.

4.) Video and display advertising are effective at driving a significant lift in site visitation andSEO, even in the face of minimal clicks on ads. (comScore)

5.) It’s all about ROI.  Marketers continue to pour billions into banner ads due the sheer scale and efficiency.  Low CPMs, compared to other media, mean that marketers can afford a high volume of impressions at a relatively low cost.  When you combine the business generated directly by clicks with the “collateral damage” that occurs beyond the click, mostadvertisers find the investment is worth it.

These statistics should provide you with an understanding that banner ads do work. With the right planning and creation of a digital display campaign, banner ads can have a very positive impact on your business’s marketing efforts. Banner ads allow you to reach hundreds of thousands of consumers for a relatively low cost.  However, remember that banner ads are just one of the many elements that go into creating a successful marketing campaign for your business.