Display advertising is a form of advertising that incorporates the use of text logos, pictures or images, and location maps in an advertisement. It is fundamentally different from traditional classified advertising in that the classifieds are limited to text only and to a small range of specific typefaces. Print media display advertising includes: billboards, fliers posters tents and even scale models.

Display advertising is a mode of advertising that has been around for over two centuries. Have you ever seen those old ‘wanted’ posters pinned to a telegraph pole in a Western movie of Cowboys and Indians? That is a fine form of early display advertising.

With the advent of the internet, display has been revolutionized and when targeted for the World Wide Web, it is referred to as online display advertising, graphical advertising or digital display advertising. For the web, display advertising is done by the use of ‘banners’. A banner is an image or graphic that is positioned on a web page or next to an email that has content related to the displayed ad. A standard web banner is 468X60 pixels.

There are larger web banners and the cost for placing one is directly proportional to its size.

The internet has not only allowed for better and more exciting display ads through the use of rich media, but it has also allowed for streamlining of display advertising for greater ROI (Returns on Investment). Rich media, also referred to as interactive multimedia, allows for the incorporation of audio, animations and video in display ads.

There are a couple of advantages of online display advertising:

  • Higher control about your adversiting: Streamlining of ads comes through better positioning to ensure that the right people see your ad. While conventional print media display advertising gives you almost no control over who sees your ad, online display advertising only targets a specific demographic of people who are most likely going to be interested in what you are trying to sell. This means a higher conversion rate and greater ROI.
  • Flexible advertising budget: Another advantage of digital advertising is that there are packages even for a limited budget. Traditional print advertising is expensive, but with digital ads you can spend whatever can be spared for an advertising budget, depending on where and how often you want your ad displayed.

Again, with the tools and applications now available, you can quickly take stock of how well your ad is performing depending on click-through and conversion. You can then adjust your ad in terms of demographics depending on this response.

Related topics: Affiliate marketing