@ Toni Petrovič | 3. 7 2020

It all starts when your potential customer is browsing the internet and may be interested in exactly the product or service you are offering. How you appear on banners on Google, social networks and other websites is very important. This is your first impression! The goal is to create ads that will be a magnet for clicks of online users redirected to your site, from where you will lead them all the way to the desired conversion ( online purchases, increase website traffic, gain new leads, ).

What is a banner ad?

Design of advertising banners or. Web banners are one of the most prolific forms of marketing. We’re actually talking about frames of different dimensions with multimedia, marketing content that sells. All web banners have the same basic function. When you see an interesting ad, you click on it and the browser takes you to the advertiser’s website.

Which guidelines are good to follow for a more responsive banner

Simplicity is the key

The rule “less is more” still holds true here. We include more elements and texts in the creative, we move further away from the essence and we confuse the potential buyer more. We need to ask ourselves what we really want to communicate and how to continue to serve content that will not be confusing. It may sound simple at first glance, but a simple advertising banner requires quite a bit of knowledge and experience. “Advertisers”, “content” and “graphic designers” are always involved in the process of creating an advertising banner.

Readable font

We do not use fonts that are difficult to read. The ads are much smaller and the human eye only pays attention to them for a few seconds. When we attract a web user, they need to get essential information in less than 10 seconds, so headlines and important information can be highlighted to stand out. Let’s pay attention to the contrast. When the background is light, use a darker font and vice versa.

Visual elements are added value

Use visual elements to support the content part. Until you have a specific product, it is more than welcome to use photos, illustrations and videos from stock portals.

Animations attract

Dynamic ads with animations are great, as during the flood of all ads in the digital world for the human eye, they were quite noticeable and stand out. Of course, we have to choose the right amount of animation. Exaggeration with various effects is not recommended. Minimalism always wins.

Creating a creative with a corporate graphic image – Stylistic matching

The vast majority of companies have their own CGP (corporate identity), where the DNA of the company’s visual image is clearly written. We also follow this when designing web banners and take care of stylistic matching, thus maintaining brand recognition. If the company does not have its own CGP, the design can be adjusted according to the website where the web user lands when clicking on the advertising banner.

No deception

When someone clicks on our ad, they expect to get exactly what was highlighted in the ad. The last thing we want to do is serve misleading information to potential customers.

Call to action

“Call to action” is usually a part with a phrase such as “order now”, “download catalog”, “sign up”, “check offer”… These phrases give online users clear instructions on what to do to do and what awaits them when redirected to our site. An indispensable component for a banner is a signpost, which is usually displayed graphically as a button.

Choosing the right colors

In digital marketing, each color has its own meaning. Colors have a strong influence on our emotions and perceptions. Color is known to strongly influence our behavior and decisions. This knowledge is already very well used in marketing. Color can often be a reason for someone to buy a product, as most customers are focused on the look and color of the product.

What dimensions are “top performers”?

According to Google Adsense the following 5 dimensions respond best:

A good banner design is only a third of the entire ad campaign!

Even if we make an ad according to all the guidelines, it does not mean that we will achieve the desired conversion and sell our product or service. How we outline the overall strategy of an advertising campaign at the outset is very important. We pay a lot of attention to the initial phase of ad planning. The last indispensable third is the landing page, where the web user lands after clicking on the ad. The “landing page” must be reasonably composed, offer the right amount of content that will convince the site visitor to place an order, download the catalog, leave your information in the online form,

Sometimes an A/B test is required

When we have more good ideas and want to “feel” which ad responds better and which responds worse, the advertising team takes the A and B test. It means making two different creatives for the same product or service and testing both. The one that gives better results, we continue with that until the end of the advertising campaign.