Banner Advertising Is Still Very Effective
Banner advertising is one of the highest volume forms of advertising on the internet. Contrary to popular belief, banner ads aren’t dead. In fact, if you have a high converting product, they could bring more traffic than any other traffic source.
Placing buys on high traffic sites can get you millions of impressions a month. But how do you turn those impressions into clicks and ultimately sales?
Attention Grabbing-
The most important thing your banner ad needs to do is call attention.
There’s a big difference between the way Microsoft, Blackberry, Apple and other big brands buy ads and how you need to buy ads.
Big brands just want exposure to their brand, along with positive colors and positive emotions. They don’t have to get clicks, they don’t have to make sales. They just need to build brand.
You on the other hand, do need to make sales. You need results.
In order to do that, you first need to get their attention. Use red colors. Use high contrast images. Use provocative images. Use unusual images. Even test animation. Just do everything possible to get attention.
Deliver the Benefits-
Make it clear what the benefits of your product or website are. That means spelling it out in crystal clear, easy to understand language.
Don’t just hint at it with photos of your product. Actually say the benefits and make sure that someone who’s just scanning the page will get what you’re promising.
Both the photo and the text matter. Have a photo that communicates the benefits, while the text makes a bold promise.
[ Banner Ad Example]———> 
Clear Call to Action-
Having a clear call to action will help you get a lot of clicks.
If you’re paying CPM, your goal should be to get people to click on the ad and come to your website. Don’t try to sell the product in the banner ad. Sell the click, then let the website do the actual selling.
If you’re paying CPC on the other hand, use qualifiers so you’re only paying for high quality clicks. For example, if you put the actual price of the product in the banner, you’ll get fewer clicks but higher conversions.
Make sure there’s a “click here” button of some sort on the ad.
Ugly And Simple Works-
Don’t make the mistake of thinking banner ads need to look good to work. Sometimes the worst looking ads are the ones that pull.
Likewise, don’t make the mistake of thinking ugly always works. Test both good designs and poor designs. Test both high contrast and beautiful. And you dont have to have a lot of text in your banner ad, make it short and sweet, the objective is to give your prospect value and to make them very curios and to want to learn more.
Finding a high converting banner ad often lies in testing. Use the principles outlined in this article to design three to five different banner ads. Test them all, find the best one and use it to iterate even better versions.
Ok so I really hope this little insight helps you get a better understanding on banner ads.
To your great success on your online business journey, Bob@Lurnprofit
Please leave any questions or comments below.
