How to create dynamic display ads that count

You can have the best display ad media strategy in the world but if the creative around it is underwhelming, you’re not going to see the results you hoped for. The best ideas stand out from the barrage of other ads individuals see each day. They use humour, emotional appeal, and functional messaging to leave a lasting impression on those who see them while browsing online.

How to make your display ad stand out from the crowd

One part of brand building is to separate your brand from your competitors. To do that you need to know who you are up against. Who are your competitors, what are their u

Creating ads that generate results requires a combination of powerful copy and visuals. Eye-catching ads are essential for keeping up and being noticed in a sea of online ads. In this article, we’ll explore how to make your promotions stand out.

Before you start creating copy, you must have a clear goal in mind for your display ad campaign. You might use your display ads to meet a variety of goals:

• Generate more leads
• Increase subscriptions
• Highlight special offers for your products or services
• Build brand awareness
• Share updates and new offerings

Consider the action you wish readers to take, and use this to help select the words and visuals of your ads to connect with the relevant audience demographics.

It’s also important to consider the platform your ads will appear on. Since you can create display ads on several platforms, place them where they have the highest potential of engaging your target audience to get the highest return on your investment.

For example, in social media advertising you will find that younger customers are often found on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, while more mature audiences can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

5 useful creative tips to boost your ad performance and ROI

1. Use compelling visuals

Each display ad example in this article uses interesting visuals. The images are simple and tell the story with minimal complexity, making it easy for the viewer to understand what’s going on instantly, which is important when they might be scrolling through feeds or pages in a hurry.

Colour is a critical factor to convey mood and personality, so choose carefully. Warm colours like red, orange, and yellow generally convey a sense of energy and enthusiasm. Blues and purples more often connote poise, wisdom, and stability. Green, of course, makes people think of action and growth. Select your colours based on the immediate impression you want to give a potential customer.

2. Write copy engaging copy

Before you start shaping your brand’s identity, investigate market trends that will

Once you’ve chosen your display ad campaign’s goals and visuals, you’ll need to consider the copy itself. When you create ad copy, it’s crucial that you understand your audience. How they speak is especially important – tone and style matter – the copy must resonate with your audience.

People won’t read lengthy ad texts online. Long paragraphs will turn them off. Keep it short and punchy so viewers can take in everything straight away. You might find it helpful to write a few versions and A/B test them to see which works best.

3. Use humour where appropriate

People love laughing, and humour is one of the best ways to connect with your target audience. Don’t be afraid to go a little left-field with your visuals and copy. The payoff can be huge if you get it right. Just ensure that it feels authentic to your brand, respectful, and acknowledges a common experience they’ll recognise.

4. Solve the audience’s problem

Most consumers have learned to zone out ads that don’t help them solve a problem. If your ad provides something of value and tells the reader useful information, they are more likely to actually see it.

The key to a great ad is to remember that everyone has problems – your message has to instantly address and solve it. A creative brief should always have a clear problem that the consumer has, and a clear solution that the product/service provides. You have a problem. We have thea solution.

5. Include a clear call-to-action

Be direct in telling your audience what you want them to do next, and do it in such a way that grabs their attention. Whether it’s “Buy Now” or “Claim Your Offer,” using a strong action verb directs your audience to the next step.

A good way to make this desired action distinct is to use a contrasting colour that grabs your audience’s attention and stands out from the rest of the ad visually. As long as it still aligns with your overall visual identity, this can be useful in securing clicks, shares or other types of engagement.

3 examples of great display ads

The North Face

The North Face doesn’t just produce everyday winter coats, and this piece of collateral has done an excellent job of conveying this fact by creating an effective brand awareness campaign using a visually captivating story coupled with strong ad copy.

Why it’s effective:

• Strong colours and relevant images.
• The pictures and text tell a captivating story that’s hard to ignore.
• This ad sends a memorable message about The North Face brand.

Microsoft

Microsoft’s Azure platform competes in one of the most competitive IT markets – enterprise cloud app development. This ad takes the typical “free trial” offer to a new level by giving their readers full control over the length of the trial period. The call-to-action delivers real value and solves a problem, instantly making this ad more click-worthy.

Why it’s effective:

• Bright blue and contrasting white colours demand attention.
• A unique and compelling free trial offer that stands out.
• The clear and simple call-to-action button tells you exactly what you get.

Semrush

Semrush’s attractive promise to solve your biggest business problem in seconds is hard to resist. Even if their audience scrolls by, that enticing offer will echo in their heads and help further collateral stand out when they encounter another piece of Semrush collateral down the road.

Why it’s effective:

• Bright contrasting colours and rich media helps this ad stand out on the page.
• The ad promises very specific and attractive results.
• “Competitors’ top products and offers” is a captivating result for business owners.

Create dynamic display ads efficiently with smart templates

Whatever your marketing message, you need to get it out in the world quickly in order to retain relevance and context. The ability to change graphics, layouts, frames, text, transitions and more, all without compromising on style or quality, can be a huge asset for brand consistency in the fast-paced world of marketing.

What’s more, building, previewing and publishing visuals from one central place can also help accelerate the efficiency and speed of content creation.

BAM by Papirfly™ allows all of this and more, enabling marketing teams to produce digital ads faster so you can take advantage of opportunities when they emerge, rather than lose precious hours, days and weeks on designs, proofs and revisions.

Give your teams worldwide the ability to maintain consistency across your digital display assets, customising offers and incentives whenever demand arises. Produce marketing materials in a simpler, more cost-effective way, and increase the volume and frequency of collateral to gain a competitive edge in the increasingly crowded landscape of digital advertising.

Everything your team needs in a single online portal. BAM provides the freedom to create consistent print and digital display ads without agency support – and a lot more:

• A single brand portal for all the latest documents, information, fonts and guides.
• Adjust permission levels to restrict who can use which assets.
• Keep your brand consistent and accessible for everyone – wherever they are in the world.
• Build on your asset collection as new creations are made.

Discover the power of our smart templates and the wider possibilities of BAM by booking your free personalised demo.