Another popular online advertising option is placing ads on other online properties, such as a website or app, that are not search engines. The marketing term for this type of ad placement is display advertising. Display advertising – visual ad formats placed on websites or applications. The conventional way is to contact the website owners or companies to have your ads on their website, but this is a lot of work. Luckily, there is a display advertising networks like Google Display Network.

The Google Display Network is a group of more than two million websites, videos, and apps where display ads can appear. The network reaches over 90% of Internet users worldwide. Within the network, you could use targeting to show your ads in particular contexts, audiences, locations and remarketing to previous website visitors as well.

With display advertising, getting your ad in front of the right people is crucial. Unlike search ads, the people who encounter a display ad are not directly searching for your product or service, they’re merely seeing your ad. To increase the likelihood of the desired action, like a sign-up or a purchase, you must deliver your ad to your likely customer.

There are two types of Google Display Ads: uploaded and responsive. With uploaded ads, you will have to create the ad graphic, meet the required specifications, and then upload the ad. There are several ad sizes to choose from, such as banners, leaderboards, and skyscrapers. Marketers choose to create custom ads if needed with their design resources for the ad.

With responsive ads, you upload the content, such as images, headlines, logos, videos, and descriptions. Google Ads will automatically generate ad combinations. These ad combinations are for websites, apps, YouTube, and Gmail. While there’s less control over what the ad looks like, some people prefer this responsive ad because it’s easier. You don’t have to create ad graphics based on different sizes. Google Ads does all the work!

Here are a few more benefits of responsive display ads. One, you get to use Google Ads software to optimize your ads. The software uses the best combination of ad content, such as images, headlines, and logos to deliver the best performing ads to potential customers.

Another benefit is that your ads have a broader reach. This means that your ads reach more customers. Some websites only support certain types of ad sizes. Google will adjust the ad size, appearance, and format to fit just about any ad space available.

The third benefit of responsive display ads is that you can use them with videos. Adding videos will maximize your reach on the display network. If you upload a video, Google will then test the video against the photos you uploaded.

The fourth benefit is that it will save your time. With responsive display ads, you can reduce the time spent on managing a complicated ad portfolio with a bunch of different types of ads. Google Ads takes care of that. You can dedicate more time to performance improvement.

How to optimize a responsive display ad for your goals

Below are the best practices recommended by Google for the best result for your responsive display ad. Let’s start with the creative best practices.

The first is to upload the recommended number of assets. Assets are the content of the ad, such as the headline, image, description, logo, and business name. To drive the best results, Google recommends five headlines, five images, and five descriptions. On average, advertisers have 10 percent more conversions when using multiple headlines, images, and descriptions with responsive display ads.

Another best practice is to create unique and effective copy. Your headline should demonstrate your brand or product’s value. It needs to be interesting and useful to customers. Write the headline so it’s clear and effective without the support of a description. The description should complement the headline. Use a description to explain the product or service’s value clearly to your potential customers.

A third best practice is to ensure the landing page keeps the customer experience cohesive. The best practice of the landing page is also apply for display ads. The messaging on the landing page should match the messaging on the ad. If the experience from the ad to the landing page is confusing, the potential customer may just go back to what they were doing before clicking on your ad. So make it as clear as possible what the next desired action should be and how they can take it.

The fourth best practice is to rotate in new display ads every few weeks. Improving ads is a trial-and-error process. Swap out lower-performing creative assets for new ones. Even great banners can become less effective over time. Rotating in new ads prevents potential customers from developing ad fatigue. Ad fatigue happens when your audience encounters your ads so often they become bored and stop paying attention.

Responsive display ad tips for images:

• Consider using an image from Google’s library of stock images at no cost if you don’t have any quality images.
• Ensure the ad has a strong visual focus, don’t overlay a logo, text, or button. There are different formats your ads might appear in so it is best to leave those items out. The call to action button is banned by Google Ad policy so avoid these as well.
• Make the product the focus image. Blank space should not take up more than 80 percent of the image. Keep this in mind if you’re doing a photoshoot with products.
• The setting of the background suits the product. For example, you don’t want to create a fake background for an image, such as putting a product in outer space. Unless it is in outer space. Use images that have a physical setting with natural lighting and shadows.

Advertise on YouTube

Who doesn’t watch YouTube? With millions in seconds, you can’t ignore the platform. There are two types of ads on YouTube: Display ads and TrueView Ads. This can sometimes be confusing as they are both often referred to as just “YouTube ads.”

Display ads

As you have learned, Display ads are visual ad formats placed on websites or applications. They are static ads created in Google Ads using Display campaigns. Think of them as digital billboards. Display ads use the Google Display Network, a group of websites, videos, and apps where ads can appear. When on YouTube, these ads appear next to the streaming video.

TrueView Video Ads

Alternatively, TrueView Ads are video advertisements. They are called “trueview” because brands only pay when someone chooses to view them. While these ads are also managed in Google Ads, advertisers must first upload their videos to their YouTube channel before creating a campaign.

After uploading your video ad to your brand’s channel, there are different ad formats to choose from. These include skippable video ads, non-skippable video ads, overlay ads, and in-feed ads.

• Skippable video ads allow viewers to skip ads after five seconds.

• Non-skippable video ads must be watched before a video can be viewed. They run between 15 to 20 seconds depending on regional standards. A subcategory of non-skippable ads is bumper ads. These ads run for just six seconds.

• Overlay image or text ads appear on the lower 20% portion of a video. Unlike the other TrueView ads, overlay ads can only be viewed on computers and not on mobile devices.

• In-display ads, also known as TrueView Discovery Ads, appear in the YouTube search results for video queries with related topics. They include a video thumbnail, title, and description. Think of them as Search ads with videos instead of webpage links. When selected, they can be watched in full – independent from other videos.

Benefits of advertising on YouTube

YouTube is a powerful tool for brand marketers trying to get noticed by relevant audiences. Its capabilities and low cost make it a promising tool to meet your brand needs.

YouTube ads are inexpensive

It is relatively cheap to run YouTube ads because of the pay-per-view or pay-per-click model. This means that brands don’t have to pay for an ad until a specific action is taken. On average, these ads cost between $0.10 to $0.30 (USD) per view or action. The exact cost depends on factors such as watch time, audience targeting, and campaign objective. The low-cost is helpful for brands with small budgets or brands with larger budgets seeking to produce many ads.

YouTube ads help you reach your audience

YouTube allows brands the opportunity to reach a variety of audiences who are searching for their brand or topics related to their products. Brands can target customers using specific topics, keywords, or demographics.

Your brand’s video can also appear in the suggested video feed of another video. This means your ads can appear on popular videos that will be seen by a relevant audience.

YouTube ads are effective

With a larger audience, you have more opportunities for viewers to interact with your brand. People who view an ad are 10 times more likely to engage with the brand behind the ad. This is great for brand awareness and driving sales.

Check out this article: explore the steps for uploading a trueview video ad campaign.

How to create a responsive display ad

Responsive display ads are the default ad type that appears across the Google Display Network. Responsive display ads consider “responsive” because they automatically adjust their size, appearance, and format to fit available ad spaces. Responsive display ads can show any sized text or image. They can even be shown as “native” ads, meaning they can blend into the font and feel of the publisher’s site.

Getting started

Get your assets ready.

• Business name: the official name of your business or brand. Ensure your company name is is spelled and capitalized correctly.
• Display URL: where it leads your potential customers to. Google’s policy is that your landing page and final URL must share the same domain as your display URL.
• Display campaign: before running a responsive display ad, you need to create a display campaign in Google Ads.

To get started:

• Log into your Google Ads account.
• Select the display campaign you want to create ads for.
• Select Ads & extensions.
• Select Ads.
• Select Responsive display ad

Upload assets

Responsive display ads are an asset-based ad type, which you can create them by uploading various assets. When setting up a new responsive display ad in Google Ads, you can upload the following assets when prompted:

Images: you can upload 5 to 15 images from your computer, or use a free library of stock images provided by Google. You can also scan your website for relevant images using Google Ads feature. Your images should:

• Be high quality and have a strong visual focus
• Make the product or service the focus of the image
• Support the main point of the ad
• Have a background that suits the product
• Not overlay a logo, text, or buttons
• Not be blurry, skewed, or use excessive filters

Logos: your brand’s official logo will also appear in the ad. It should be a 1:1 ratio image or square. The recommended size is 1200 x 1200 px.

Headlines: you’ll be prompted to write at least five short headlines. These headlines are the first lines of your ads and will appear in tight ad spaces, where long headlines don’t fit. Short headlines may appear with or without your description and are 30 characters or fewer. You will be prompted to write one long headline consists 90 characters or fewer. Both short and long headlines should:

• Be written in sentence case (i.e., only capitalize the first letter of the first word, except for proper nouns)
• Incorporate unique and compelling copy that demonstrates your brand or product’s value
• Stand-alone without the support of a description
• Describe any promotions or special offers
• Tell customers what to do

Descriptions: you’ll need to write up to five distinct descriptions about your product or service that encourages your audience to act. Each description has a 90-character limit. Your descriptions should:

• Be written in sentence case
• Complement your headlines
• Explain your product or service’s value clearly
• Include unique selling points, prices, and promotions
• Explain in more detail why customers should trust your brand
• List ratings and reviews

Videos: videos are an optional asset. If you choose to include videos, they must be a length of 30 seconds or fewer, and the video must be uploaded to YouTube before creating your ad.

Once you enter your assets and publish your ad, Google Ads will automatically generate the best ad combinations for available spaces based on what you upload. The more assets you have, the more opportunities Google Ads has to fit your ads in different spaces.

Be sure to keep accessibility in mind when creating your ads like low vision readers who require screen readers to process the content. For this reason, keep the headlines and descriptions straightforward and descriptive.

Review performance after two weeks to get ideas about what is working and what is not working. Look for the correlation between your assets and viewers’ interaction. Then adjust the ads accordingly.

More on: Create effective responsive display ads.

Happy learning and good luck!