What are Display Ads?

Display ads are usually visuals at the top of the website page, an app, or social media platforms.

Usually, they contain an image and text that should encourage the visitors to engage with the ad further. The other name for display ads is a banner ad.

Why Should You Use Display Ads?

Display ads are a great way for businesses to reach their target audiences. 

With the right design and placement, these ads can be incredibly effective and bring in more sales. 

You can use display ads to:

• Increase brand awareness and familiarity, as well as to promote products or services,

• Drive traffic to your website, and increase your customer base,

• Customize your campaigns and make them suitable for different audiences. This ensures that your ads are more relevant to your target audience and more likely to result in conversions,

• Track and measure the success of your campaigns.

Therefore, display ads are a formidable tool to raise brand awareness and reach your target audience.

But let’s see what makes an effective display ad.

What Makes A Great Display Ad Design?

A great display ad design is impactful. Furthermore, it stands out and is attention-grabbing. 

Unfortunately, this is easier said than done because there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to designing a display ad. 

It depends on the type of product you are selling, the target audience, and what kind of message you want to convey. 

However, there are elements that are crucial to have, and you're about to see them.

1. Use High-Quality Images

High-quality images are the key to turning your display ads into scroll-stoppers. They are one big piece of the puzzle you need to fit to make the audience click on your ad.

In reality, it isn’t just about the image itself but also what kind of message it conveys and how meaningful it is to your audience. 

For example, you can show product scenarios in your display ads. They show how your product or service can be used in the real world and how it can help them.

Therefore, they can help paint a more vivid picture of the user’s experience with your product, and as a result, they can increase click rates.

If you sell footwear, a product scenario could show a person using your product and transforming their life by walking more comfortably and confidently, etc. 

This way, they also help paint a picture of your product beyond the name and design. 

2. Reinforce Your Display Ads with Color

Color is a powerful way to reinforce the meaning of your display ad. 

You can use the color of your CTA, the product featured in the ad, and the background to reinforce the core message you want users to take away from the ad.

Moreover, each color triggers the audience in a certain way. 

For example, blue is linked to calmness, stability, and security, whereas red color emphasizes warmth, passion, confidence, etc.

There is a whole psychology behind the use of colors.

Thus, if you want to find out more about this interesting topic, our blog on How Color Palette impacts marketing results will be a perfect read for you, then.

When it comes to choosing the right color, you should also think about your audience’s age. 

If you're targeting a younger audience (ages 18-25), you'll want to make sure your design is flashy and eye-catching, with bright colors that will attract their attention.

In addition, match your brand colors with the colors in your ad to raise brand awareness.

Another important aspect to consider is contrast.

Contrast is the difference between the darkest and lightest areas of a design. 

When designing your display ad, the most important thing to keep in mind is the area where you ask users to interact with the ad. 

The “click area” is the button or link that drives users to your website after clicking on the ad.

It’s important that this area stands out from the rest of the ad and has a strong contrast. If the rest of the ad is predominantly dark, then the click area should be extremely bright.

And vice versa. 

If the ad is largely light-colored, then the click area should be a dark color. 

By increasing the contrast of the click area, you can make it more obvious and encourage more clicks from users.

Furthermore, you should make click areas large and highlighted.

Remember, the goal is to make the clicking area obvious and easy to interact with.

You can do this by placing it on one side of the image while leaving the rest of the image blank. 

All these clicking areas bring us to the most important click area on your display ad, and that is the CTA button.

3. Never Omit a CTA Button

You should never omit a CTA button. As the name suggests, “call-to-action” (CTA) refers to the prompt you ask the user to respond to. 

Therefore, your audience needs to notice your CTA immediately. 

Since you do want your audience to take action, active and energetic verbs like come, visit, learn more, try out, etc. are a good choice.

Furthermore, if you sell services and not physical products, it is much better to use Learn More or Find Out More than Buy or Subscribe. 

It is unlikely that visitors will immediately pay for your service unless they find out more about it.

There are other little tricks you can use when designing your CTA button.

One is to make the font size of your CTA noticeably large.

Another is to use a color that stands out from the rest of the ad. A dark or bright color can help a small font stand out.

4. Use Effective Typography

No matter how visually striking images you use, it can all go down the drain if your typography isn’t effective. 

The most common mistake is that people try to cram too much information, making their display ads overcrowded. 

And that is the last thing you want your ad to be.

Instead, be succinct and straightforward in your text. The average text shouldn’t exceed 2-3 sentences.

In addition, it should be legible, so make sure you use legible fonts and sizes. 

The font choice will depend on your brand’s general message and the way you want your brand to come across.

Beside visuals and content, fonts help tremendously in setting your brand’s voice and the tone. 

For more examples on the best types of fonts for banners, hop on to our blog Cool Fonts For Banners: 35 Best Fonts To Make Attractive Banners.

What can additionally help you to achieve the effect of neatness is using white spaces.

This aspect is often overlooked, but by leaving some areas of your display ads blank, you can make your message more effective and clickable.

Let’s do a quick recap before we move on to show you how easily you can create display ads nowadays thanks to graphic tools.

So, in order to create an engaging display ad, you should:

• Use high-quality images

• Show product scenarios

• Pay attention to colors and contrast

• Make your CTA immediately recognizable

• Make the click area large and highlighted

• Use legible and effective fonts, and

• Don’t forget about the white space.

Brainstorming on the best ways you can include all the elements is definitely time-consuming and nerve-wracking. 

Luckily, the process of creating them doesn’t have to be. Let’s find out how.

Glorify Your Display Ads

Glorify  is a graphic design tool that helps create converting and engaging visuals.

Its features best show its versatility and how it covers many industries with a special focus on eCommerce.

So what are some of Glorify’s features that are relevant to display ad design?

• Photo editing tools that allow you to resize, tweak, remove BG, change colors and contrast, change fonts and sizes, add shadows and reflections, etc.

• Brand Kit that allows you to store brand assets and logos in one place so you can use them across all campaigns and platforms. 

And it only takes a few clicks. When you click on the + button in the left-side panel, you will see a Brand Kit Option.

Once you click on the Color Pallete within Brand Kit, you will see your previously saved color combos and the suggested ones. You can of course tweak those further or create new ones.

However, if you don’t need further edits, just a click on any of them incorporates the colors to your design. 

This is what happens when you click on the Sunset option, for example.

Every further click on the chosen color combo changes the order of the colors till you find the perfect one for you.

• Highlight product feature that you can use for showcase scenarios, for example, because it enables you to highlight your product’s main features.

• Marketing campaign transformation provides template bundles that you can use for all of your campaigns such are paid ads, email marketing, etc.

And the list of Glorify’s features goes on and on.

Another area where Glorify excels is its intuitive dashboard which hosts professional and advanced design tools but is tailored to make it perfect for non-designers.

It means that with a few clicks you can make any edits and addition you like.

Furthermore, with new technologies and industry tools like Glorify, it's easier than ever to design and optimize a display ad that will get the best results for your business. 

With the right design tool, you can reach more of the right people, build your brand, and increase your ROI.

Wrapping It Up

Keeping the display ad design best practices outlined above in mind will ensure that your display ad campaign is profitable and proven to work with your brand’s target market.

There is no one right way to design an effective display ad, but these best practices can help you achieve more clicks in 2023. 

Do you want to know how to create display ads to your advantage? 

Sign up to Glorify today and find out how to create clickable display ads that actually convert.