Useful Tips for Creating Effective Banner Ads

No one who spends time on the Internet could fail to notice the small rectangular ads that appear on almost all web pages. These are called banner ads, and they are one of the most popular forms of online advertising. What makes banner ads so effective is that any visitor who clicks on them is taken to the advertiser’s website. Banner ads are actually hypertext links or HTML codes inserted into a webpage. Almost all companies, irrespective of whether they are big or small, use banner ads because they are the easiest and the most affordable means of promoting a product or service. The following are some pointers on creating successful banner ads:

• Since banner ads have limited display area, it is always good to keep it short, simple and to the point. Cluttering it with details can do more harm than good. Advertisers have only a few seconds to attract the attention of visitors, and if the banner ad looks cluttered nobody will read it.
• Avoid wordiness, but the words used should be good enough to create a positive impact.
• Use large fonts and a small file size. Large fonts make it easy to read while a small file size helps banner ads load faster.
• Make changes to banner ads depending on the sites where they will be displayed. Because webpages will also have other banner ads, changing font size, color and, if possible, the message can help your banner ad stand out.
• Advertise banner ads on the right websites. Study the audiences of the websites to ensure that you are targeting the right audience.
• Make the banner ads attractive by using interesting images or animation, catchy phrases and bright colors to grab the attention of readers.
• Always include a strong ‘call to action’ in banner ads.
• Make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors.
• Ensure there is a powerful heading that grabs visitors’ attention.

Most people do not consider banner to be an effective lead management technique but rather a tool that helps enterprises and organizations in getting themselves or their products and services known to the people. That is, they are more of a promotional tool than a lead generation tool. But the fact of the matter is that, if implemented properly, they can be leveraged to generate quality leads. For instance, if by clicking visitors are directed to a query section where they can fill in details to get solutions to their problems, it means a lead is generated.

For more info - lead nurturing, lead scoring, lead intelligence

Measuring B2B Marketing ROI

One of the key factors for performance measurement while implementing marketing automation software for B2B marketing is Return on Investment (ROI). Whether we like or dismiss it, ROI measurement is a deciding the performance of marketers and marketing agencies. Here are a few reasons on why ROI measurement can actually be a boon for a marketer.

Helps optimize marketing campaign resources
Since B2B marketers use multiple campaigns and multiple channels to promote these campaigns – knowing which campaigns or channels are bringing in the leads or business enquiries can help optimize the company’s resources and spends on those campaigns and channels that are yielding the desired results.

Increases the risk-taking quotient
If marketers can track their performance and the way their efforts yield results, they will become more comfortable taking risks and checking out new avenues and methods of marketing, than the tried and tested formula. By measuring returns marketers can limit the company spending when marketing efforts are not responding as expected.

Improved Budgeting
Investing marketing budget on the right channels can ensure that the company can get maximum out of investments, but deciding on which channels are more popular with target audience can be tough decision to make. During such times, ROI data can show the marketing channels that are most receptive, thereby helping top management to make a quick decision.

Better Prospecting
Measuring the ROI helps companies to predict and prepare for the future. How a company has been performing in the previous years, how much did marketing contribute, what were the pitfalls and achievements, etc. become the ground for estimating and evaluating on what the company can safely expect in future from their marketing activities.

Fodder for marketing collaterals
Measuring marketing ROI will provide enough fodder for the company’s marketing collaterals like, case studies, blogs and whitepapers that can be used for lead generation.

Better strategizing
ROI analysis helps to evaluate and analyze a new marketing strategy or improve the overall marketing strategy, add different elements, make it more dynamic, yet practical. This helps to create a clear roadmap that ensures more productivity and better performance by marketing teams.

Some B2B companies do not measure ROI thinking that it may disclose the faults with a campaign or highlight its pitfalls. On the other hand, the fore sight that ROI measurement provides is invaluable to marketers, which should not be avoided at any cost.

How Marketing Automation Helps
Marketing ROI can largely be enhanced if prospect intent is deduced early in the sales funnel. By introducing marketing automation software for lead generation, marketers can:

·         For Lead Generation - Track visitor behavior and measure their intent and interest levels.
·         For Lead Management - Empower the sales team with superior lead intelligence and ample prospect information that can help close deals faster and shorten the sales cycle.
·         Easily measure ROI using integration and analytics features

Also read on - Lead nurturing best practices, lead scoring