Creating a banner ad isn't just about slapping together some bright colors and catchy words. There's a lot more to it than that. Today, there are even webinars solely dedicated to discussions on how to make banner ads work.

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So let's take a step back and discuss the foundation of what makes a great banner ad. Here's what you can find in this article:

• What is a banner ad?

• What makes an effective banner ad?

• How do banner ads work?

• What makes banner ads so effective?

• Create your own banner ads with Glorify

What is a banner ad?

Just like a traditional banner advertisement, an online banner ad is a rectangular display that stretches across the top, side or bottom of a digital property. Online banner ads are embedded onto popular websites to gain traction to your product or service by reaching a large audience.

A banner ad consists of both text and images. It can also comprise of various multimedia objects and hence, be even static or animated.

A banner ad is used as a medium of advertising to promote a brand. It helps get visitor traction to the host website from the advertiser’s website. Clicking on these ads or multimedia objects would redirect your internet browser to the landing page of the advertiser’s website.

For example, you may have seen ads from Spotify on Facebook. Clicking the link on the ad directly takes you to the Spotify download page (or if you already have it downloaded, you land on the app).

What makes an effective banner ad?

Simply put, online banner ads work in the exact same way traditional, physical banners do. A potential buyer sees the banner ad and is captivated by its aesthetic appeal. He is curious about what the advertiser has to offer, and eventually clicks on the banner to land on the host website. Companies usually use banners to display exciting offers and discounts to give viewers more reason to visit their website.

To create an effective banner ad, you need to make sure your design meets four essential criteria. A great banner ad should:

1. Inform the user of your brand and products

2. Notify the user about a new product, service or offer

3. Excite the user and capture their attention

4. Increase brand awareness to eventually build brand recognition

How do banner ads work?

The goal of banner ads is to generate traffic to a company's website by providing a link to it. Let's take a look at how these designs work to generate numbers.

1. Grab consumer attention

With every brand and business out there trying to grab attention, it only makes sense for you to do the same (and more!) for your business.

With easy-to-use design tools such as Glorify, you can create banner ads and social media posts that relate to your viewers. Our ad banner templates provide you with a starting point to create the most attractive advertisements. Place them right in the hub of your target market to gain maximum customer attention for your products as well as your brand.

2. Increase customer traffic

With their very purpose being to encourage visitors to land on the host website, ad banners, like any well made advertisement, increase customer traffic. There are paid services available to monitor the click-through rate (CTR) of your ad. Viewer time spent on a web page, as well as the individual number of impressions made are all data that is available to you before choosing the best site for your banner ad to embed on. 

Companies use banner ads to increase customer traffic in their physical stores around Christmas every year. Planning an ad strategy around a targeted time when potential buyers would be up for spending money is a good way to increase revenue.

3. Generate product sales

Ideally designed and placed banner ads can generate massive sales for your products. For example, a business selling baking equipment would receive the most traction from a bakery related site. This is because the right audience is more likely to visit this site, take an interest in the ad and purchase your products.

Therefore, to generate sales, the banner ad should be placed on a website related to your specific niche. This hands the customer a solution they did not even know they were looking for and increases the chances of them buying your product. 

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4. Work great for announcements

Think about the Black Friday sale! Banner ads are a great way to provide concise and exact information that you know your consumers will love. Sales, discounts, and promotional offers almost always lure consumers into buying and splurging. What better alternative to reach customers than banners on apps they spend most of their time on?

What makes banner ads so effective?

Now coming to the question lingering in your mind: Why do banner ads work so well?

Banner ads work because they are visual pieces of information. Consumers always respond to visuals better, as they’re processed and retained by human beings better than text. For example, when you read the name “Coca Cola”, you immediately picture a chilled bottle of coke because those are the visuals the brand has deeply embedded in our minds.

Create your own banner ads with Glorify

Sure, banner ads are a great strategy to promote your website. However, you need to be wary of banner ad blindness. This is the immunity users develop against ads after being exposed to thousands of them daily.

The trick here is to stand out with your visuals and create something that cannot be ignored or forgotten. Glorify's vast library of templates provides the perfect resources for both beginners and professionals to create captivating banners ads.

Apart from ads, you can access a variety of banner templates for just about any social media platforms. Check out what Glorify has in store for you:

1. Billboard

2. Facebook standard advert

3. GMB banner

4. Half page banner

5. Leaderboard banner

6. Large leaderboard banner

7. Mobile banner

8. Large mobile banner

9. Main banner

10. Small rectangle banner

11. Medium rectangle banner

12. Large rectangle banner

13. Pinterest ad

14. Portrait

15. Skyscraper

16. Wide skyscraper

17. Square banner

18. Small square banner

19. Vertical banner

Once you choose which type of banner you want to create, it's time to get started on your own design. Here's how you can do it:

Step 1: On your dashboard, click on the Adverts tab and select your preferred banner size.

Step 2: The template library will open up. You can either choose a suitable template or start from scratch.

Step 3: Go to the “Elements” tab to personalise your banner. You can include shapes, icons, lines and graphics and illustrations.

Step 4:  Select the text and navigate to the Edit tab to customize your it. You can access a variety of fonts from Glorify's font library.

Step 5: Use your brand kit or the element tab’s predefined color palette to change the color of the background, shapes, lines and icons.

Step 6:  Download your final image.

Conclusion

Banner ads are one of the most popular methods of traffic generation and marketing. However you need to make sure your ads stand out so that viewers will not simply scroll past it.

Glorify is the ideal tool to help you create your own stunning banner ads. You can choose to work with a professionally designed template or even start from scratch. If you're ready to get your creative cogs turning, get started with Glorify!

What is a banner ad and how does it work? - FAQs

1. What do banner ads have? 

Banner ads contain eye-catching graphics and an embedded link. Viewers who click on them are redirected to the website of the advertiser. 

2. What are banner ads in marketing? 

Banner ads are rectangular or square advertisements on the top, sides or bottom of a website. They are used to capture the attention of potential customers browsing the web page and redirect them to the website of the product or service being displayed.

3. How does a banner ad work? 

It attracts traffic from one website and directs it to another through the use of eye-catching graphics, compelling consumers to check out the product, offer or service.

4. What is a standard banner ad? 

Banner ads are designed to embed graphics onto a host web page. The advertisers pay for space on the website in exchange for clicks that redirect viewers to their own page.

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