The key differentiator in online advertising will be the main topic in this article. Online advertising is unique in many ways and comes in many forms. In simpler terms, online advertising is postin ads on the worldwide web. This type of advertising usually involves display adverts found on websites, social media, videos, adverts on a search engine, and more.
Like traditional advertising, online advertising seeks to build brand awareness, create a demand, and satisfy this demand. But concepts like marketplace ads, tracking codes, web analytics, and popups make it different.
We discuss the key differentiator of online advertising and the different types of display adverts.
The Key Differentiator
What sets online advertising apart from traditional advertising is, it drives instant sales and conversions. Compared to other advertising mediums, the potential customer or consumer can visit a webpage, see an advert, and click. It is as easy as a simple click.
The internet, in nature, is highly connected, hence the instant sales and conversions. Here, online activities are easy to track and highly measurable. This way, adverts are easier to target.
It is also an efficient way to accurately track and gauge the efficacy of the advert. Each display advert, whatever the type, can be tracked for success.
Types of Display Advert
Now that you have learned about the key differentiator, let’s discuss the different types of display adverts.
As mentioned, online advertising can promote instant sales and conversions. The different types of display adverts make this possible. There are different forms of display ads. We have listed them down below.
Banner Adverts
This type of add could be a graphic image. It could also be an animation on a website for the purpose of advertising. The usual format for static banners are JPEG or GIF, but it could also make use of other formats of rich media like Flash, video, JavaScript, HTML, and other interactive technologies.
Rich media is highly interactive. It allows the viewer to interact or carry out within the banner. However, banners are not just bounded to the area that they occupy. Some of them expand on when you hover over. When you click a banner, it may also expand.
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Banner adverts have standard sizes measured in pixels. Certain sizes can be placed on certain website spaces, that is why it does matter.
There are also various rates of click throughs as well as conversions based on the variety of sizes. The bigger, the better. However, this is not always the case. It’s always better to test to know what works for your brand.
These types of ads can be static. There are also animated adverts. And there are those made in Flash. The most important thing to keep in mind is that all of these must be 50k or less when it comes to file size.
Most of the time, advertising organizations include a tiny graphic overlay. These are placed beneath the advert. These graphic overlays do not require you to resize your advert.
However, if you want, you can still leave a few pixels of empty space beneath each ad just to be sure.
Floating Adverts
You can see a floating advert in a layer over the content in the same window. The user typically closes it.
It is also highly recommended to put a prominent close button at the top right-hand corner of your advert. You can use DHTML or flash to create this type of ad. It floats in a layer above the content of a website. It’s only there for some time.
Wallpaper Adverts
You can see this type of ad in the background of a website where it creates change. There are instances when this type of advert is clickable, but most of the time, they are not.
The effect of wallpaper adverts is not highly measurable since there is no clickthrough. It is principally made for branding.
Interstitial Banners
Now we move on to Interstitial Banners. These are usually in the middle of the pages on a website.
Usually, you can see this right before the next page as you click from one page to another. The advert can be closed sometimes.
Banner and Pop-Unders
This is self-explanatory. Popups and pop-unders are adverts that pop up or under as the web page is being viewed.
Usually, when you click a pop-up ad, it will redirect you to a new browser window. Instantly, you will notice an advertisement or a notification pop-up. However, it will be apprehensive of a pop-under only after you shut down your browser window.
Popups and pop-unders were very well-known back then in online advertising, but the audience became annoyed by it. Now, there are so-called “popup” or “ad blockers.” A lot of good web browsers have these.
Sometimes, this is problematic. This is because a website will legitimately use a popup to display information for the reader.
Map Advert
Lastly, map adverts are placed on online maps like Google Maps. This is fitting for local businesses. Usually, it is based on keyword searches that are used for what the brand is offering.
Payment Models for Display Advertising
Aside from the key differentiator and types of display advert, you also need to learn about the payment models. There are a number of ways to pay for display advertising. Here are the most common payment models:
Flat Rate or Sponsorships
Lower-traffic website owners sometimes choose to market or auction banner space at a flat rate. This means that there is a fixed cost per month, no matter the amount of traffic or impressions. This is optimal for media buyers who may be experimenting with an online campaign that specifically aims towards niche markets.
Cost Per Milestone (CPM)
Here, the advertiser has to pay for every 1000th time the advert loads on the website. Some also refer to this as Cost per Milestone.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
When an interested party clicks an advertisement, the advertiser will pay. Regardless of how many times the ad is viewed, the advertiser will only pay for the click.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
Moving on to Cost per Acquisition or CPA, the advertiser will pay only when a user does the desired action or delivers an acquisition. The action may be to buy, subscribe, follow and etc.
Cost Per Engagement (CPE)
With this, the advertisers will pay for whatever interaction they want with the advert. These are usually placed in video applications like Facebook apps. An interaction or an engagement starts with a rollover that expands the ad. Then, it may have a video, game, form, or other interactive content. This ad will not let the user leave the web page. The best part is, advertisers are only required to pay after the customer completes the desired action.
Key Differentiators & More
That’s it for this discussion of the key differentiator and types of advertisement. See you at the next one!
© Image credits to Scott Webb
