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The best online display ads seem to do it all: entertain, pay a nod to branding, and generate a colossal click-thru rate. A blend of science and art, the winners are built on best practices sprinkled with a dash of creative flair. And yes, while there is always an off-the-wall ad that seems to take the market by storm (at least for a while), the ability to consistently create high performing ad campaigns is driven more by strategy and optimization than by clever thinking.
This paper gives you 10 tried-and-true how-to’s and helpful insights that go into the making of a top performing online display ad campaign. Presented in the three parts of Create Your Ads, Run Your Campaign, and Optimize Your Performance, this information helps ensure you focus on the right elements in each step of the online campaign process to convert more eyeballs to sales. As with most creative endeavors, much of what drives a winning campaign happens before the words and images ever meet the eye. Which is why it’s fitting that the first topic this paper addresses is not brainstorming, but research.
1. Do your research.
Understand what other businesses in your category are doing to advertise online and how you need to position yourself to stand apart from your competition. You can do this by browsing sites where you know your competition advertises, or do a Google search and see what words are used most in paid search ads. Additionally, AdReady makes it easy for you to leverage industry best practices with the AdReady Library of proven performance ads supported by actual historical performance data.
2. Words matter.
Think carefully about the words you use in your ads. The more you can personalize the ads (“I” instead of “we”) and choose proactive words that suggest a clear action or benefit (“Get” instead of “read”), the better your ad will perform. And as with most things in life – keep it simple. The shorter version is almost always better than a longer one.
3. Initially test at least two concepts.
As the saying goes, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. It is much better to run with two or more creative concepts in your first test and understand the relative performance between them. Once you get a read on what is clicking with your audience you can start making tweaks to the copy or visuals to optimize the creative elements and improve the ad’s performance. AdReady makes it easy with our Customization Tool that lets you change out words, visuals, and background colors in seconds.
4. Know your audience.
The more you know about your target customers and their likely online behavior, the more success you will have in putting your ads in front of them. What types of information do your customers seek before making a purchase with you? What related services or products might they also be interested in? Are they motivated by price, quality, or exclusive perks? Knowing what “pushes their hot buttons” will give you a better clickthru rate right from the get-go.
5. Take advantage of basic targeting options.
For online display advertising, this typically means a geographic target (i.e., “I only want consumers in Dallas or Florida to see my ad.”) and a content or subject target (“I want my ads to appear on sites about personal finance, or fashion, or travel, etc. or next to articles covering those topics.”) AdReady makes it easy with geotargeting options and content selections that help put your ad in front of your ideal buyer.
6. Set clear goals.
Before running an online marketing campaign, you need to clarify your goals: are you looking to drive awareness of your company, promote a specific product, or generate leads for your sales team? How much are each of these events worth to your business? If a particular product generates $200 in profit for your business with each sale, how much are you willing to spend on your advertising to capture that profit? Having at least a rough estimate of what you want to accomplish before you start is critical in evaluating your campaign results and understanding where to focus your optimization efforts.
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