Why do Display ads create value even if they’re not clicked on?
Many small business owners are sceptical about the worth of running display advertising. After all, what good are impressions without clicks?
The fact is it’s worth buying display advertising, despite lower click rates compared to Search because display advertising is great for raising brand awareness. Even if users claim they aren’t noticing your ads, they absolutely are, whether they’re conscious of it or not. The high number of impressions generated across display ensure that your ads are being seen by people across a wide variety of sites. These impressions aren’t worthless, even if they don’t all result in clicks.
While a user might not click your ad the first time they see it, brand trust is being built with every ad impression. When a user sees your ad, they are becoming more familiar with your business. Familiarity with your business means that when a user finally decides to search for a service or product you offer, they will be more likely to choose your business because they have seen you on a number of occasions previously. This is often referred to as the “as seen on TV” affect.
Re-targeting takes familiarity a step further. By using cookies we can track a visitor after they leave your site. The cookie remembers what part of your site someone visited. This in turn allows us to place ads related to that page across a range of sites and apps the user visits after visiting yours. Re-targeting is successful because visitors continue to see your ad relating to an offer they are interested in, while simultaneously building trust through familiarity.
So whilst clicks are a useful measure of how engaging your ad is, don’t forget there is significant medium to long term value in building brand familiarity.