Best Practices for Designing High-Performance Display Ads

Best Practices for Designing High-Performance Display Ads

Display ads are a fundamental aspect of digital marketing, offering brands a visually appealing way to attract users and drive traffic to websites. When executed well, display ads can significantly boost engagement, increase brand awareness, and drive conversions. However, poorly designed ads can result in wasted budgets, low click-through rates (CTR), and a negative impression of your brand.

To create high-performance display ads, marketers need to follow best practices that optimize design, messaging, targeting, and user experience. In this guide, we’ll explore the most effective strategies for designing display ads that maximize performance and generate positive results.

Prioritize Simplicity in Design

One of the most common mistakes in display ad design is overcrowding the space with too much information or overly complex visuals. The key to high-performing display ads is simplicity. A simple, clean design ensures that your message is easy to understand and quickly captures the viewer’s attention.

• Limit Text: Your ad should communicate its message in just a few words. Keep headlines concise and use brief, action-oriented copy that quickly explains what the viewer should do.
• Avoid Clutter: Use negative space effectively to draw attention to the most important elements of your ad. Cluttered ads are overwhelming and can confuse users, reducing the chance they’ll engage.
• Focus on One Core Message: Trying to communicate too many ideas in a single display ad can dilute its effectiveness. Stick to one main idea or offer, and convey it clearly.

Use Eye-Catching Visuals

Visual elements are the first thing users notice in display ads, so it’s crucial to use high-quality and relevant imagery or graphics that grab attention. The visual component of the ad should align with your brand identity and appeal to your target audience.

• Use High-Resolution Images: Ensure that the images you use are sharp, clear, and professional. Poor image quality can reflect negatively on your brand and reduce the ad’s effectiveness.
• Choose Colors Wisely: Color plays a significant role in attracting attention. Use bold and contrasting colors to make your ad stand out. However, ensure that the color scheme aligns with your brand and doesn’t overwhelm the viewer.
• Incorporate Your Branding: Display ads should always include consistent branding elements, such as your logo, brand colors, and fonts. This not only increases brand recognition but also helps build trust with your audience.

Make Use of Strong, Action-Oriented CTAs

A strong call to action (CTA) is essential for encouraging users to take the desired action, whether it’s clicking through to your website, making a purchase, or signing up for a newsletter. A clear and compelling CTA can significantly increase your ad’s performance.

• Use Action Words: Your CTA should be direct and action-oriented, using words like “Buy Now,” “Sign Up,” “Learn More,” or “Get Started.” These phrases tell users exactly what to do next.
• Create a Sense of Urgency: Incorporate urgency into your CTA by using phrases like “Limited Time Offer” or “Hurry, Offer Ends Soon.” This encourages users to act quickly and can drive higher conversions.
• Stand Out Visually: Ensure that your CTA button or text is prominent and visually distinct from the rest of the ad. Use contrasting colors for the CTA button and place it in a highly visible location, such as the bottom right corner of the ad.

Ensure Mobile Optimization

Mobile devices account for a significant portion of online traffic, and it’s essential that your display ads are optimized for all screen sizes. Mobile users typically have shorter attention spans, so your ads need to be clear, fast-loading, and easy to interact with on smaller screens.

• Responsive Design: Ensure that your display ads are designed to be responsive, meaning they can adapt to different screen sizes and orientations. This guarantees that your ad will look great on both desktop and mobile devices.
• Keep Text Readable: Text in display ads should be large enough to be easily read on mobile devices. Avoid overly small fonts, and make sure your message remains clear even on smaller screens.
• Optimize for Touch: On mobile devices, users will interact with your ad using their fingers, not a mouse. Ensure that buttons and interactive elements are large enough to be easily tapped without frustration.

Adhere to Brand Consistency

Consistency is key when it comes to brand recognition and trust. Your display ads should reflect your brand’s identity, values, and tone of voice. This consistency helps users associate your ad with your brand, even if they don’t immediately click through.

• Use Your Brand’s Visual Identity: Stick to your brand’s established color palette, fonts, logo, and style guide across all ads. This ensures that your ads are instantly recognizable and cohesive with other marketing materials.
• Tone and Messaging: Your ad copy should reflect your brand’s voice. If your brand has a playful tone, your ads should reflect that personality. If your brand is more formal or authoritative, your messaging should align with that style.

A/B Testing and Performance Tracking

To create truly high-performance display ads, ongoing optimization through A/B testing and data analysis is crucial. Testing allows you to understand what works and what doesn’t, so you can refine your ads for better performance over time.

• A/B Testing: Run A/B tests by creating multiple versions of your ad with slight variations (e.g., different headlines, CTAs, or images). By comparing performance metrics, you can determine which version resonates best with your audience.
• Track Key Metrics: Monitor important performance indicators such as CTR, conversion rates, and cost-per-click (CPC). These metrics will give you insights into which ads are working and where you need to make adjustments.
• Use Dynamic Ads: Dynamic ads allow you to automatically tailor the content (such as the product image or headline) to individual users based on their behavior or preferences. This can increase relevance and improve performance.

Target the Right Audience

No matter how well-designed your display ads are, they won’t perform if they’re not seen by the right audience. Proper targeting ensures that your ads are shown to people who are most likely to engage with them.

• Use Audience Segmentation: Divide your audience into segments based on demographics, behavior, location, and interests. Targeting specific groups with relevant messages can significantly improve your ad performance.
• Retargeting: Retargeting ads to users who have already visited your website or interacted with your brand is a powerful way to increase conversions. These users are already familiar with your brand and are more likely to engage.
• Contextual Targeting: Display your ads on websites or pages that are contextually relevant to your brand. For example, if you sell sports equipment, displaying your ads on sports news websites or fitness blogs will help you reach an audience already interested in your products.

Ad Size and Format Matters

The size and format of your display ads can significantly impact their performance. Different platforms and devices may perform better with specific ad sizes, so it’s important to design for a variety of formats.

• Use Standard Ad Sizes: Google recommends specific standard ad sizes that tend to perform well, such as 300×250 (medium rectangle), 336×280 (large rectangle), and 728×90 (leaderboard). Ensure that your ads are designed for the most commonly used dimensions.
• Consider Rich Media Ads: Rich media ads include interactive elements such as video, audio, or animation. These types of ads can engage users more effectively than static images and often result in higher CTRs.
• Test Different Formats: Try different formats, including static, animated, and video ads, to see which ones resonate best with your audience.

Compelling Offers and Promotions

Incentivizing users with compelling offers can significantly boost the performance of your display ads. Offers and promotions create urgency and give users a reason to take immediate action.

• Discounts and Sales: Highlighting discounts or limited-time sales in your ads can grab attention and encourage users to click through. Ensure that your offer is clear and easy to understand.
• Free Trials or Samples: Offering free trials or samples is another effective way to attract clicks, especially if you’re marketing a product or service that users may want to try before committing.
• Exclusive Content or Early Access: Create a sense of exclusivity by offering users early access to new products, services, or content. This can be particularly effective for generating interest and engagement.

Maintain Consistency Across Campaigns

Your display ads should complement and reinforce the messaging and design of other ads and marketing materials you are running as part of the same campaign. This creates a cohesive experience for users as they interact with your brand across different channels.

• Consistent Messaging: Ensure that the messaging in your display ads aligns with the overall theme of your campaign. If you’re running a holiday promotion, for instance, the copy and visuals in all your ads should reflect that.
• Cross-Platform Consistency: Display ads should fit seamlessly with other digital marketing efforts, such as social media posts, email marketing campaigns, and landing pages. This builds familiarity and strengthens your campaign.

Designing high-performance display ads requires careful consideration of both visual and textual elements, audience targeting, and ongoing optimization. By keeping your design simple, creating strong CTAs, optimizing for mobile, and regularly testing and refining your ads, you can significantly increase engagement and conversions. Following these best practices will help ensure that your display ads stand out in a crowded digital landscape, deliver results, and effectively promote your brand.