How can your business dependably and capably build a connection online? How can you reliably reach your target customer?
Enter the world of display advertising.
If you recognize the value of display advertising, you can use it to discover your target customer. Be aware, this requires taking the time to conduct proper market research. But if done effectively, it’ll pay off. A recent study by AMA found that five key factors are the most influential drivers of brand loyalty.
They are as follows:
- Dependability: the consumer feels they can rely on the brand’s products.
- Superiority: the consumer believes the brand’s products are better than other brands.
- Social media connection: the brand engages effectively with customers online.
- Light emotional connection: the customer feels positively toward the brand.
- Heavy emotional connection: the customer connects with the brand’s message or mission.
These five factors are highly dependent on your ability to make personal connections with your target customers. You can achieve this by realizing the benefits of display advertising and purposeful social media posting.
While market research can be lengthy, it is crucial to understand what your audience needs from your business and how your products and services can help them. In short, customers need to trust you and connect with your message.
Once you have that trust from a core audience, you can continue to grow your reach organically.
Connecting With Your Audience Through Display Advertising
While you may already have a marketing strategy in place for your business, you may not have laid out a plan for connecting to your audience through display advertising.
What is display advertising?
Essentially, display advertisements appear on web pages to send a message to consumers and encourage them to click on the ad. Display ads are meant to be straightforward in an effort to pique the interest of a consumer enough that they will want to learn more.
The ads include a clear call to action telling them what they should do next. The messaging contained within your display ads should be both visually stimulating and succinct. Allow the consumer to be enticed enough to click the ad and learn more.
Connect with your target audience or customer through display advertising by following these 4 tips:
1. Build Trust and Credibility
People are more likely to buy from a brand they trust and that they feel is reputable.
It can be hard to trust a brand that seems to constantly post sales messages, without a hint of who the people behind the brand are. According to a study conducted by Research Gate, 95% of people said that a brand’s reputation has an impact on how much they trust the brand.
Consumers place high value on a brand’s credibility within a market, and with the influx and increased reliance on reviews in today’s market, brand reputation is crucial. Sites like Yelp and Google give customers a critical viewpoint in pointing out a business’s highlights and lowlights, as well as the opportunity to recommend a business to other customers.
One negative review could be enough to deter a potential customer from making a purchase, and continued negative reviews can further the cycle. The same can be said about creating a post or advertisement that is in poor taste or may cause potential customers to lose interest in your brand.
Think about how the ad will make your customer feel when they see it pop up on their feed, and if they will feel a sense of urgency to act on that emotion. You want your target audience to know your brand’s vision and values based on your digital presence.
Just as you can hear a commercial jingle song and know which brand the song is connected to, you want to create this familiarity and connectivity within your display advertising. Show your target audience you can help make their lives better by trusting your brand and demonstrating what your brand has to offer.
2. Focus on an Attention-Grabbing Message
According to a study, the average person’s attention span is just eight seconds long.
This can be attributed to an inundation of information and fascinating technology, with new products being released at a moment’s notice. Internet users view up to 10,000 brand messages per day, which means if you want to get your message across, it should be memorable.
Consider utilizing brand messaging and imagery that will capture people’s attention and cause them to stop scrolling. Think about remarketing display ads on multiple social media platforms and developing a flexible brand strategy to resonate with a broad range of consumers.
You want to create an advertisement that will cause the reader to share the ad with someone they know. Moments like this can be a game-changer for your brand because they will create buzzworthy attention that will make people come back for more.
In addition to grabbing the user’s attention, make sure you follow through by showing the consumer valuable content. Customers want to know what you can offer them to make their lives easier or better, whether it’s through your product or service.
Clickbait tactics can be effective for some display advertising campaigns, but they are generally not well-received by consumers and can prove to be a waste of money for businesses in the long run. Instead, grow a loyal customer base by showing consumers that your brand offers them something valuable.
Additionally, one study out of Harvard University found that display ads can generate consumer search clicks after two weeks, which means that users may remember your display ad and search for it later if the message is effective.
You may not think your creative messaging is working at the moment, but if you focus on creating buzzworthy advertising content, users will take note.
3. Utilize Data to Optimize Results
Unfortunately, hoping to reach your target audience by placing an ad and crossing your fingers is not an effective strategy. The best way to ensure you are reaching the right people at the right time is to study the data analytics behind your display advertising.
Whether you are using Google Ads or Facebook paid advertising, each platform offers unique consumer behavior analytics. These tools help you learn more about the people viewing and clicking on your ads.
The platforms allow you to target audiences based on metrics you’d like to start with, such as geography, gender, etc., but you can build from there.
This data can provide more insight into:
- what the consumers are looking for,
- which websites they visit most frequently,
- what hobbies they enjoy,
- and more!
Digging deeper into these analytics will help you create more robust ads and ensure you are targeting the best audience for your brand.
For example, look at the websites your target consumers visit most often. By gathering data about consumer needs on these websites, you can create display ads that directly respond to them. When users click on your ads, they’re led to your social media platforms. This process makes them more likely to trust your brand.
Similarly, by analyzing demographics, you can tailor your advertising strategy to focus on the values and concerns of your audience. When used correctly, display advertising can help reinforce the validity of your brand to its target audience and provide a boost for your products and services.
This directly links back to consumer trust and brand reputation, as social media platforms have become the face of businesses. If consumers in your target demographic feel seen and understood by your brand, they are likely to purchase your products and services regularly.
4. Mobile Compatibility and Call to Action
A fatal mistake a business can make in display advertising is forgetting to consider its advertising compatibility with mobile devices.
57% of website traffic comes from smartphone users in comparison to desktop users.
If an ad is not viewable or compatible with a mobile device, it prevents thousands of users from seeing or engaging with it. This can greatly impact your ROI.
You’ll need to ensure your display advertising campaign includes mobile sizing for all ads. Mobile-optimized ads appear clearer and crisper than standard display image sizing.
You also need to provide the same impactful message on mobile platforms as on web platforms. Often, this means concise language and meaningful imagery. Mobile ads should be equally, if not more, effective in drawing in the target audience.
In addition to this, creating a stirring call-to-action is important to ensure users know what to do when they see an ad.
“For instance, if an ad says “Claim your free product here,” the user immediately understands the benefit. They know there is something in it for them. The ad also provides a clear action to complete.
Display Advertising That Works
Display advertising is an excellent way to show your audience what you offer. These ads demonstrate how you can improve their lives with your products and services. Display ads may lead to direct clicks and conversions immediately upon viewing. Alternatively, they can drive later conversions through follow-up searches. Either way, these powerful messages help your audience get to know your brand better.
The best part about display advertising is its flexibility with budget and optimization strategies. You can adjust your approach depending on what works best for your campaigns. New target audience segments can be implemented based on actual performance data. Additionally, comprehensive data analytics are available for deeper insights. These analytics reveal who is viewing your ads specifically. Furthermore, they show you how to better reach your ideal customers.
You can also take steps to learn more about why consumers are clicking on ads. Analyze what led them to reach your products using various metrics.
By following the steps outlined above, you can learn more about your target customers. You’ll discover what you can do for them and how your business can cater to your market as a whole. Contact us for your Advertising services
Have we missed any display advertising tips?
If you have your own tried and tested suggestions, please share them with us in the comments below!