Digital display advertising for small businesses

Digital display advertising for small business. Once considered exclusive to big business, display advertising is now a popular way for SMEs to create cut through online. From the basics to best practice, learn all about it here.

eBook 01 Digital display advertising for small businesses A beginner’s guide to digital display advertising.

You may not realise it, but Display ads are part and parcel In this guide, we’ll take you display ads are everywhere. of the internet these days, and, through the ins and outs of Remember that image of an used effectively, are a vital display advertising – from the oh-so-delicious-looking dish component of any business’s basics, to best practice, to at a local restaurant, an marketing ecosystem. And, measuring success – to help end-of-season sale or a although you might think that you get started. ridiculously good-looking display advertising is reserved travel destination tucked away for big brands, the reality is on your favourite website? you don’t need to have a huge You guessed it: display ad. budget to see great results. 02 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Contents.

Digital display advertising 101...... 2 How do display ads work?...... 3 Display advertising pricing models...... 4 Digital display advertising in Australia at a glance...... 5 Display advertising by industry...... 5 Ad types and sizes...... 6 Basic ad types, sizes and uses...... 6 Other types of ads...... 8 Best practices...... 9 Effective display ad examples...... 10 Pinpointing your target audience...... 13 Targeting options...... 14 Measuring the success of your ads...... 15 Goals and KPIs...... 15 In a nutshell...... 16 03 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Digital display advertising 101.

Simply put, display ads are the ad network providers, which We handle the entire set-up, boxes you see on websites are companies that act as ad design and performance that are ads! They can appear intermediaries between monitoring process, which at the top of web pages as advertisers (i.e. businesses is great for small businesses banners and in side columns, like you) and publishers (i.e. who don’t have a lot of digital or as larger text billboards websites, apps, videos and know-how but want to be and smaller boxes. Unlike email clients). reaching new customers text-based ads you might see online cost-effectively. on Google or other search One of the biggest engines, display advertising Plus, our media buying power providers is Google includes elements like images, means small businesses have AdWords, which serves audio and video. access to a wide network of ads across more than publishers and can have ads two million websites These types of ads appear appear on the same websites, as well as apps, videos on sections of the websites apps and so on, as Australia’s and Gmail. that are specifically reserved biggest brands. for paid advertising (we’ll talk more about ad types a little Yellow Digital Display also later on). functions much like Google AdWords except we use our How do display local media buying power ads work? to push digital ads for small Most of Australia’s digital businesses to relevant advertising inventory across websites, mobile apps and all devices are bought through Facebook for much less than other providers. 04 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Digital display advertising 101.

Display advertising pricing models. There are three primary ways you can choose to set up and pay for display advertising:

1. Cost per thousand impressions (CPM). Cost per thousand impressions advertising means you pay per thousand potential customers who view your ad. The “M” in CPM represents the Roman numeral for 1,000.

CPM advertising is usually most effective when you’re confident your ad will get a better click-through rate OR higher click-through rate brand awareness or aren’t sure complete a specific action (such as when you have an if your ad will get many clicks, after clicking on your ad, such unbeatable sale). CPC is a good starting point. as purchasing a product or signing up for a newsletter. 2. Cost per click 3. Cost per (CPC). acquisition/lead This is a good option once (CPA/CPL). you’re more familiar with With CPC ads, you only pay generating and handling when your ad is clicked on. If With CPA ads, you only customer leads. you’re running an ad to drive pay for clicks when visitors 05 Digital display advertising for small businesses Digital display advertising in Australia at a glance.

The Australian online advertising revenue, while advertising isn’t just for big advertising market grew a video advertising is rapidly players – 45% of small-to- whopping $799 million to increasing its share, up 49% medium-sized businesses reach $7.6 billion in the 2016- to $0.9 billion – a third of the in Australia use online 17 financial year – an 11.7% total display market. advertising.2 increase over the previous financial year.1 So, what does that mean It just goes to show that for you? Digital is now a display advertising empowers One major driving factor well-established and rapidly- businesses of all sizes to build in this growth is the rise of growing advertising medium a brand online and connect mobile display advertising. that should be a part of your with potential customers In fact, mobile makes up marketing approach. through genuinely engaging more than half of display More specifically, display visual content.

Display advertising by industry.

Automotive Real Estate Retail Entertainment Finance

18.5% 12.1% 10.5% 7.0% 6.9% Share Share Share Share Share

1. http://www.business.vic.gov.au/marketing-and-sales/increasing-sales-through-marketing 2. https://www.sensis.com.au/asset/Reports/eBusinessreport/Sensis%20eBusiness%20Report%202017.pdf 06 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Ad types and sizes.

Basic ad types, sizes, yourself, it’s good to know the sit and how it will look when and uses. basic appearance and sizing it goes live. Here’s a quick of each type of ad so you can rundown of basic ad types Although you probably won’t visualise where your ad will and sizes. need to design any ads

Ad type Size & use Text Display Mobile text ads ads & display ads

MREC 300px x 250px Performs well when embedded within an article or at the end of articles. View actual size.

Large rectangle 336px x 280px Performs well when embedded within text content or at the end of articles. View actual size. 07 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Ad types and sizes.

Ad type Size & use Text Display Mobile text ads ads & display ads

Leaderboard 728px x 90px Performs well if placed above main content, and on forums. View actual size.

Half page 300px x 600px One of the fastest growing sizes, which indicates a trend where businesses are preferring more visually impactful ads. View actual size.

Large mobile banner 320px x 100px Also known as the “large mobile banner”. Can be used as an alternative to the 300x250. These ads offer advertisers twice the height of standard “mobile leaderboard”. View actual size. 08 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Ad types and sizes.

Other types of ads. them or pop-up videos that ads are commonly used to autoplay when a page loads. encourage newsletter sign-ups Not all display ads fit into These types of ads are often or other actions on-site. the categories above. Other used for movie trailers and common formats for both other video content. static and video ads include: Overlay ads. These ads are similar to Interstitial ads. Rich media ads. interstitial ads – both pop These are full-screen ads that up and must be closed There are a few types of media pop up in between actions, like manually to see a page’s ads, but the ones you’ll see clicking from one page to the content. However, an overlay most frequently are ads that next or scrolling to a certain is transparent and allows expand as you scroll over point on a page. Interstitial you to see what’s behind it. 09 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Best practices.

Great display ads can boost and annoying. As you 4. Have a creative brand awareness, loyalty, probably know from first-hand call-to-action. promote your products experience, getting stuck on Gone are the days when and services, expand your ads that won’t let you do what good-old directives like “Buy customer base, and, ultimately, you want to on a website is now!” were satisfactory for ads. sell more. But here’s the catch: likely to give you a negative In a digital environment where your ad has to be effective impression of the advertiser and people are being served ads to do any one of those things. lead you to avoid clicking on all day long, it’s important to the ad. With that in mind, stick stand out with a personalised Here are five best practices to tried-and-tested basic ad message that intrigues the to keep in mind when you’re types unless you’re confident user and creates a sense conceptualising display ads you have an exceptional offer of urgency. For example, if for your business: that customers won’t mind you’re running a special offer, being interrupted for. 1. Be visually your call-to-action might look something like “Get your 25% engaging but not 3. Link to dedicated off voucher today only”. overwhelming. landing pages. When it comes to display If you have a special offer or 5. Test, test, test. advertising, less is more. Avoid product launch coming up, Finally, there’s no magic the urge to cram as much info consider creating a dedicated formula for the perfect display as you can into a tiny space; landing page on your website ad, and one that has ho-hum instead use simple, clear and linking to that page from results for another business messaging and stick to three your display ads. This helps might be highly effective for or fewer colours in your design. ensure people who click on yours. While it’s always wise your ad get the information to follow the best practices 2. Avoid being too they need immediately above, don’t be afraid to try interruptive. without having to navigate different approaches and see your website. There’s a big difference what works best over time. between being eye-catching 10 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Effective display ad examples.

Here are some examples of businesses that have put display ad best practices into, well, practice (with great results).

Eye-catching but Cohesive design Catchy messaging. doesn’t interrupt the across all ad sizes. main page content. 11 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Effective display ad examples.

Simple but effective Enticing image. Engaging tagline. colour scheme. 12 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Effective display ad examples.

Testimonial lends Simple colour scheme. Clear call to action. credibility. 13 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Pinpointing your target audience.

Growing your customer base Create an audience Identify your is all about reaching out to persona. audience’s motivations the right people and the same Once you’ve got a good and problems. goes for your digital display grasp on your general campaigns. Before you dive As you build up a profile for customer base, put together in though, it’s important to your typical customer, it’s a comprehensive description understand what defines time to get inside their head of your target customer. the “right people” for your and begin to outline their business. Here’s how to do motivations. This is important Creating a detailed profile just that. because it’ll allow you to of the exact person you’re build an advertising approach targeting will give you a clear Look at your current that engages your specific goal when making decisions audience and offers solutions customer base. about who to target with your to their problems. One of the surest ways to display ads. understand future customers For example, if your target is to look at the customers Include as many details audience is new mums, they’ll you already have. What type as possible, such as the probably be looking for ways of people use your business following: to save time and cut down on and what do they come to • Age their workload. Knowing this, you for? Analytical data – be • Gender you could create a display ad it from email subscriptions, • Job with the message “Get two Google Analytics, sales data, • Hobbies hours back in every day”, or market research or anything • Location something similar that relates else – is invaluable in defining • Marital status to your business and solves what your target market looks a customer problem. like based on age, gender, location, preferences and interests. 14 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Targeting options.

Depending on which provider you choose to run your Typically, these targeting options fall into display ads with, you’ll be the following categories: given a series of options for • Interest targeting – As you might expect, this involves targeting different audiences targeting by interest (let’s say “sausage rolls” for the sake of based on your typical types this tasty example). of customers. • Keyword targeting – If you target the keyword “sausage rolls”, your ad provider might serve your ad on the same page as an article about how to make the world’s best sausage rolls. • Placement targeting – You could choose to target people by the sites they visit, such as sausagerolls.com.au. • Demographic targeting – An advertiser can also target by age, gender, marital status, parental status, etc. • Audience targeting – You can also target custom audiences based on who has already visited your website (known as ‘remarketing’ audiences).

Working with an Australian they’ll have an in-depth provider who can assist with understanding of the local display ad set-up and targeting market and how to connect is a good idea because you with your ideal audience. 15 Digital display advertising for small businesses

Measuring the success of your ads.

Refining and improving on your display ads means Once you have a good idea of your ad goals, knowing when they’re you can start measuring your success by a performing well! number of metrics: • New site visitors – The number of new visitors who This comes down to setting came to your site after you run an ad. This KPI helps you goals for your ads, tracking understand how successful your ads are at building brand your KPIs (key performance recognition and overall site traffic. indicators) and ultimately, measuring your success. • Engagement – Metrics such as the time spent on your site, or the number of pages viewed per user is a good indicator Goals & KPIs. of the quality of new traffic to your site, i.e., how likely they are to engage your business. First thing’s first: What are you trying to achieve • Number of conversions – A “conversion” is anything with your display ads? Is it that tells you a person is moving from initial awareness of building awareness about your business towards being a customer. You can define a your business? Getting new conversion however you like, but some common indicators customers to buy your product include email sign-ups and account creation. or service? Reconnecting • Cost-per-acquisition – This is calculated by the total amount with old customers who may you spend on your display campaigns divided by the total want to engage your business number of new customers or sales you’ve made as a result. again? Understanding your objectives is key to crafting ads that serve a purpose. Keep in mind that if you have a provider helping you with your display campaigns, you won’t have to worry too much about the metrics above. For example, Yellow tracks and refines ad campaign performance for businesses like you, so you don’t have to. 16 Digital display advertising for small businesses

In a nutshell.

Now that you’ve got your head wrapped around all things digital display, we hope you feel more confident exploring your options for growing your business online.

Combining your knowledge with the technical and marketing expertise of a small business focused provider will ensure you get the best results for your business and budget.

To wrap up, follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to digital display success: • Stick to best practices for ad Click through to see how • Define your target audience. design and messaging. Yellow’s buying power, along • Set goals for your ads. with an expert team, allows • Measure your ongoing you to create an affordable • Choose a display ad pricing success against your goals. digital display package that model that suits your goals. • Work with a digital features on a range of popular • Test different variations to professional who sites. Or talk to us on 132 489. find out what works best for understands small and your business. medium business’s needs. Digital display ads actual sizes.

MREC: 300px x 250px Half page: 300px x 600px

Large rectangle: 336px x 280px

Leaderboard: 728px x 90px

Large mobile banner: 320px x 100px