Targeted Display Ads: What Are They and Why Do You Need Them?

One of the most common uses of targeted display ads is lead generation. The goal is for viewers to see those ads, click through to a landing page, and purchase. However, targeted display ads can do much more than fill in part of your lead generation strategy! 

They also provide a solid foundation for brand awareness. The more prospective buyers see your brand, especially in a helpful context or when they're shopping for products, the more your brand becomes familiar and stays top-of-mind.  

Brand awareness is integral to any business's long-term strategy for finding and retaining customers with a high lifetime value. Keep reading to see how you can use targeted ads more deliberately, the benefits of using targeted ads for brand awareness, and where you should be positioning them.

What Is Targeted Display Advertising? 

Display ads are banners that show details about your brand or a specific product. The critical part of targeted display advertising is 'target' — you can set triggers, actions, or preconditions to appear to the consumers you want to reach. Businesses create targeted ads that only find ideal audiences based on demographic factors, interests, likely online destinations, and even past shopping behaviors or interactions. This ensures your ads are placed in front of people who will get the most value from them. 

How Do Targeted Display Ads Work? 

Services like Google Ads have interfaces where you select the factors and variables that determine who views an ad. Those ads are then only displayed to people or devices with those characteristics. For example, some ads can only target those shoppers within a specific zip code or city. Other ads will only be shown if your profile indicates you have a special interest or have been shopping for a particular product, such as an office chair.  

The Benefits of Targeted Banner Ads 

The benefits of using targeted banner ads include the following: 

• More specific messaging and ad campaigns: When you zero in on your audience, you create ads and calls to action aligned with their needs or interests. You can set up multiple campaigns at once, each targeting a different profitable audience. 
• Budget control: If you set up your ads to only reach shoppers most likely to be interested in your brand, you minimize the risk of targeting uninterested audiences and wasting your budget.  
• Analytics: Use the resulting data from lead generation and brand awareness campaigns to see which buyers engage most. Then you can refine your buyer personas based on demographic factors, interests, and how much certain types of targeted ads influenced their behaviors. 

5 Display Ad Targeting Options 

There are multiple different methods for targeting consumers through display ads. Five of the most popular targeting options are: 

1. Geo-Targeting: These ads reach viewers based on their location data. Depending on the type of ad, they focus on where a consumer lives or where they are at the moment.  

1. Site Retargeting: Only reach viewers who have previously visited your company's website—generally without making a purchase. These outreach efforts can return users to their abandoned shopping carts or enhance brand recognition. 

1. Search Retargeting: Is based on keyword search histories and behaviors across different search engines. One or two days after the initial search, they appear to remind or reengage shoppers. 

1. Keyword Targeting: Refers to the initial targeting effort; they appear as soon as a consumer types a relevant keyword into a search engine. Search retargeting ads, on the other hand, come later. 

1. Category Targeting: This displays if a user searches for similar or related products, even if the search was for a different product. For instance, a search for an office chair might trigger ads for other office furniture. 

Each of these targeting options can play an important role in brand awareness efforts, especially for larger purchases consumers may spend several days considering. 

Where Do Display Ads Appear? 

Display ads can appear on virtually any channel, including websites, mobile apps, and OTT/CTV streaming channels. With tools like Google Display Network, businesses can diversify which platforms display their ads based on their target market's interests and behaviors. Rather than having to set up ads on each channel, you can operate from a centralized interface. 

Marketers can also place banner ads on native displays, showing up near blog posts and website content whenever relevant. 

Make Targeted Display Ads Part of Your Branding Strategy 

Targeted display ads help with lead-generation efforts and brand awareness campaigns. By layering display ads with other marketing techniques like influencer marketing, content creation, and email marketing, you can grow brand awareness across multiple channels and keep your buyers informed about product offerings, promotions, and more.  

Get even more value from your targeted ad campaigns by working with Mid-West Family Madison. We are your experienced media partner who can help organize and manage your campaigns. Contact us today to see how we can help you ramp up your lead generation and brand awareness efforts.