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Sep 9, 2022
Different types of Digital Ads and When to Use them
The digital advertising space is a crowded one. With the sheer number of ads and ad types, it can be challenging to know which ones will work best for your campaign.
Thankfully, some general rules can help you determine what kinds of ads will be most effective for your brand and goals.
There are three major types of ads:
- Banner Ads
- Text Ads
- Video Ads (including playable)
Banner Ads
Banner ads are rectangular graphics that may contain text or images. They are usually placed on the side of a web page, at the top, or in a blog post, email, or social media feed. Banner ads can be static (no animation) or animated.
Text Ads
Text ads are the most basic type of digital ad, and they appear on a search engine results page.
Text ads have only two components: a title tag and an optional description line. You will often see text ads in this form:
"{product name} | {company name}" or "{company name}."
Static and Dynamic Text Ads
Single-line text ads are "static" text ads, but you can create multiple line versions called "dynamic" ones. In both cases, you need to include keywords that relate to your business/website because these keywords will determine when users will see your ad in their search results.
Text ad size and SERP
Text ad size depends on how much space each character takes up on the SERP (Search Engine Result Page.) For example, if your title tag is 35 characters long and there are no other elements like images or buttons within it, then the width of that part of the SERP would be 35 pixels wide by 25 pixels tall (this assumes we're talking about desktop web browsers here).
A good rule of thumb here: if you don't want anything else taking up space next to your title tag, try making sure it's at least 60 characters long before going over 100 characters.
Video Ads
ads are a great way to engage your audience and create an emotional connection with them. They can be used for branding, lead generation and sales (from paid advertising or organic content), social media, display, and mobile.
Video Ads can be used in the following ways:
- Promotional videos: Beneficial for companies with a product or service to sell. These videos have their own landing page on the company's website, where visitors can learn more about what they offer.
- Educational videos: These videos are for, well, like the name implies, educating the viewer.
How do you know where to place and which digital ads to use?
Each type of digital ad has different characteristics that make them more or less suited for specific placements and outcomes.
- Banner ads tend to be more effective for branding purposes like awareness campaigns—but they're less likely to convert than text or video formats due to their passive nature (i.e., they don't require the user's input).
- Text-based ads are often better at driving conversions since they need interaction from the user to complete a purchase or lead the conversion process. These formats aren't as engaging as video or playable because they don't include visuals like images or video clips that could keep users engaged longer with what they see on screen (i.e., no eye candy!).
- Finally, video/playable formats tend to perform well across all key performance indicators (KPIs). Adding visual elements such as images/video clips into an ad unit while featuring sound effects and its written copy allows advertisers to reach users' senses, keeping their attention longer than in other formats.
The best way to implement any ad is to think about your goals first. If you want more traffic, a text ad with a clickable call to action could be the right choice. Search engine marketing (SEM) might be a better option than traditional banner ads or pop-ups if you are trying to sell products through your website. Whatever type of ad you decide on, make sure that it fits into your overall marketing strategy so that it can help meet those goals!
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