Business Services

How to Improve Your Online Display Advertising

Written by Ted Dhanik

Keyword-based targeting leaves a lot to the imagination. Even when you want to post banners, keyword-based advertising leaves too many variables that a successful campaign must wade through to see huge conversions. Before you start throwing money at testing principles, focus on targeting the right users with your ads and your conversions will rise.

Placement

Knowing the sites on which your ads will be posted helps you determine whether the placement is good for your market. For example, you wouldn’t run a mortgage ad on a crafts site. The two don’t mix, and the audience isn’t likely to shop for a mortgage. You can use Analytics to determine some of where that traffic comes from, but your traffic provider may be able to provide some insight as well. Ask about specific traffic segments that may include clusters of similar websites. Your provider may even have some tips on which targeting settings would help your banner advertising campaign would get the best start.

Targeting

Demographic targeting is one of the most effective tools you have at your disposal. With demographic targeting, you can adjust your campaigns to meet specific qualities that you need to convert from your target market. Targeting also means the difference between appearing on websites that may be relevant and targeting websites that your audience specifically checks for products like yours.

There is also retargeting, which focuses on audience members that have already seen your ads and visited your website. This tactic is very useful if you have poor conversion rates, as it only targets people for multiple viewings, eliminating the volume of new customers that may be disinterested in your messages.

Analysis

Knowing more than just whether someone converted is the key to forming a strong campaign. You should be tracking which websites they came from, using parameters that both you and your traffic provider can recognize. This way, your display advertising will show up in your own analytics software and track the sites that hosted the ad in your traffic provider’s analytics. Piece these two bits of information together and you will have data you can mine from to learn more about customer behavior.

Final Thoughts

Display advertising requires plenty of testing if you want to scale a campaign successfully. Using these tips, you will be able to find the data you need on placements and target those placements effectively. A combination of demographic targeting, focusing on placing your ads on the proper websites, and analyzing the data your ads generate will help you build your customer base.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is a display media expert. With over fifteen years of experience in sales and direct marketing, , Ted Dhanik is poised to help businesses run aggressive banner advertising campaigns online. Contact Ted Dhanik to learn more about engage:BDR, a premium advertising network for online marketers.