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Research Findings: Banner Effectiveness Tips
Tip 1: Target, Target, Target:
By utilizing the Web's ability to target, you can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your online advertising efforts. You can deliver your message to specific industries, include or exclude specific geographic regions or cities, target by user interest and even control frequency. Through targeting, you can be sure that you are reaching your target audience, and only your target audience.
Taking advantage of the Web's ability to deliver highly targeted audiences will help you generate leads and sales and create the one-to-one relationships which will extend and build your brand.
Tip 2: Pose Questions:
Don't just make statements or show pretty pictures. Use questions ("Looking for free software?", "Have you seen?"). They initiate an interaction with the banner by acting as a teaser. They entice people to click on your banner. More importantly, they can raise click-through by 16% over average.
Tip 3: Bright Colors:
Colors effect the eye differently. Using bright colors can help attract a user's eye, contributing to higher response rates. Research has shown that blue, green and yellow work best, while white, red, and black are less effective.
Tip 4: Home is Not Always Sweet:
All Web pages are not created equal when it comes to eliciting response. While the home page often performs very well, a site may have other pages that outperform it. Depending upon the advertiser, certain pages can deliver a more targeted audience than others. By carefully analyzing these pages, you can increase your response by placing your banner on a page that better attracts your target audience.
Tip 5: Location, Location, Location:
According to research, banners that appear on first page load are more likely to be clicked on. Negotiate ad placement on the top of page when buying space. The best possible scenario is having banners placed both on the top and on the bottom of a page.
Tip 6: Use Animation:
Animation can help catch a user's eye. Strategic use of movement grabs attention more effectively than static banners. Using simple Java or .gif animation can increase response rates by up-to 25%.
Tip 7: Use Cryptic Messages:
What did that ad say? What did that mean? Cryptic ad banners can help involve a user in the message. Because the "sponsor" of the message is not revealed, cryptic messages can be very intriguing.
But there is a downside. Branding is forfeited on the ad. This may not be an issue if branding is not your main objective. Cryptic messages typically increase click-through 18%.
Tip 8: Call to Action:
As in traditional direct response, a call to action is known to raise response rates. Simple phrases such as "Click Here", "Visit Now" and "Enter Here" tend to improve response rates by 15%. These phrases should be strategically placed in the ad, preferably on the right side. This is where the eye will be drawn.
Tip 9: Avoid Banner Burnout:
After how many impressions does click-through rate significantly decline? After how many impressions do people start ignoring your banner? Our study concluded that there indeed is a "sweet-spot" for user response. After the fourth impression, average response rates typically dropped to under 1%. We call this banner burnout, the point at which a banner stops delivering a good Return on Investment. These findings are incredibly significant. Controlling your frequency extends your reach and maximizes your ad dollar.
Tip 10: Measure Beyond the Click:
Click-through is not always the best measurement of campaign effectiveness. It depends on your objectives.
If you are simply trying to drive traffic, the click-through is great. If you are trying to gather leads, the best measurement is the number of people who clicked through and filled out a lead form. 3% click-through and 80% lead fulfillment is better than 10% click-through and 20% fulfillment. If you are trying to measure brand impact, conduct an online brand awareness study, or measure user interaction with your site.
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