In Google’s presentation this week on display advertising they mention that their top 1,000 advertisers increased their display ad spend 75% from last year.
Yet other research tells us that the percent of people who click on a display ad is 50% less than what it was in 2007.
So which is it? Is display advertising getting more effective or less?
The answer lies in what you call effective. Traditionally most display ads have acted much like outdoor billboards. They distract us and annoy us because they’re not relevant to us while we drive around that information highway a little lost. Sure, occasionally they’re funny but they don’t have anything to do with where we’re going.
However, for the smart marketer who designs them correctly, online display ads can build the fame of a brand and most research has shown a lift in transactional pay-per-click ads when a banners are also running to boost awareness. Makes sense right? The more aware I am of a product the more likely I am to click on an ad. And most online marketers will have also enjoyed better performance the richer the display ad is. Something Google brings to the party with YouTube in their back-pocket. My own experience with video display ads combined with embedded functionality from my brand’s website allowed me to leave those fractions of a percentage point behind often associated with most display ads and move on up to the solid single digit numbers.
Google AdWords, on the other hand, have more of the quality of directional signage. They’re more relevant to us because we’re actively trying to find something and they can point the way because of their amazing technology-based contextual content.
So what happens when you put the two together?
The contextual relevance and analytics of Google combined with the storytelling visual power of YouTube?
I suspect some very good things.
Particularly for marketers who value the power of getting fame and getting found and measure both.
