How to Make Your Display Ad Standout in the Advertising Clutter! - #holidaymarketing

As we get closer to the biggest shopping season of the year - Christmas, every brand, every service provider and every company bids for the attention of the consumer and potential clients. In this global world where information floats across the clouds, e-commerce has replaced 'old' commerce and shipping companies are more reliable, convenient and inexpensive; marketers are threatened by both local and global competition.The quality and pricing of goods and services will always be key determining factors in purchases but the only way to get people to perceive the value and the comparable pricing of your products and services is to first become known, create a desire and then remain remembered.So the big question is how do we make our brands noticeable, desirable, unforgettable and irresistible to shoppers? Here is a list of my top ten picks to achieve this handsome task.Be Disruptive and Grab Attention: Everything regular will be unnoticed when everybody is advertising. This is the season to be extra-ordinary and a little quirky. Take a risk with the content so the viewers have to take a second look due to their shock or awe. Be Different! Difference should be used in all manner including the content, message, platform – everything! Difference can vary from an incredibly unforgettable face to a really absurd looking person, or a product in a place that no one would think of finding it… sky’s the limit with marketing (just remember the ethical and legal boundaries)! The ad format can range from native ads, pop-up, interstitial, interactive banners, and other forms of rich media ads. Why not start a web series for the twelve days leading up to Christmas?Be Relevant: The website and pages we choose to display banner ads should have content that is relevant to the advertisers’ target group. Also, all the relevant information you need your customers to know should be included in the ad. I get so disgruntled when I see an ad without a telephone number, ticket price or address. My question is always; do they really want to increase sales or just play a game of hide and seek? Why should I go search for your contact details, you are the one who wants my money, right?Have a Strong Brand Identification: people should easily know the brand and the product that is being advertised. The logo and product should be predominant throughout the digital display ad.Careful & Clear Messaging: Ads should include the unique selling proposition and clear call to action for the receivers. So they saw your ad, what should they do or believe next? Was that message clearly communicated?Choose the Right Platform: We first need to know our customers/target audience in order to choose wisely. How old are they? What sex are they? What are they interested in? The more a marketer understands their target, the easier it is to choose the appropriate place for the digital banner ads. Also choose the right time that your ad should appear.Emphasize the Persuasive Techniques: These techniques include proof of value/quality, a little humor, sex appeal, repetition and limited time offers.Use a Famous Ambassador: The power of “influential people” should never be underrated. Include ambassadors to get “buy-in” from their true followers and also ride the high of their popularity and brand image.Creative Matters: OMG! Creative artwork is just as important as the message. People need to relate and associate themselves with the colours, images and people in the ad. As a rule ads with bolder colors and animated engaging people usually stand out.Know the Competition: Analyse the marketing efforts of your competitor and ensure that the marketing material (design sound, feel etc.) is different. It’s also good to ensure that you buy more frequent and prominent ad places than they do.Support Banner Ads with a Great Landing Page: too often people see a great digital display advertising, click on the ad and it takes them to a generic website with a million and one information and web pages when they only clicked to get the information on the sale that was advertised on the banner ad. Having a landing page connected to the message of the banner ad gives the best results especially if the landing page includes e-commerce capabilities or sales lead generation. This is an easy way to track how banner ads directly contribute to sales.Well, there are several other tricks, marketing tactics and advertising strategies that can be used but based on my marketing research, if marketers follow my top ten picks above, we’ll all enjoy a number of noticeable, desirable, unforgettable and irresistible banner advertising in the remainder of 2015 to entice us all to shop some more… Hey, and who doesn’t like shopping?