Anatomy of a High-Performing Display Awareness Ad

Not-so-shocking news: the advertising landscape is evolving, technologies change, and user preferences shift. Yet, one constant remains: the necessity for effective display ads that capture attention and drive action.

Crafting a high-performing display awareness ad is a piece of cake. Don’t let the phrase confuse you, we’re not pointing to the ease of creating an ad. We’re referring to the nature of baking — sticking to a recipe, weighing your ingredients and being as precise as possible when following the instructions.

Let’s bake the perfect high-performing display awareness ad.

1. Saliency

According to research by Jenni Romaniuk and Byron Sharp, brand salience is a “brand’s propensity to be noticed or come to mind in buying situations”. It's the ad's magnetic force that draws the viewer's attention.

• Visual distinctiveness: Effective ads possess unique visual elements that differentiate them from the surrounding content. This could be through the use of vibrant colors, dynamic shapes, or intriguing imagery.
• Emotional resonance: Ads that evoke strong emotions – whether joy, surprise, or nostalgia – tend to stick in the viewer's mind. The key is to ensure that the emotion aligns with the brand's message and identity.
• Relevance: An ad's content should be relevant to its audience. This can be achieved through targeting, but also by ensuring that the ad's message aligns with current trends and events.
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2. Strong CTA

Every effective display ad should culminate in a compelling Call to Action (CTA). It's the bridge that transitions viewers from passive observers to active participants.

• Clear messaging and less clutter: A CTA should be direct and unambiguous and not be drowned in graphics or content. As reported by VWO, Open Mile experienced a remarkable 232% increase in conversion rates following a redesign of their CTA, which involved eliminating unnecessary elements and incorporating more white space..
• Positioning and size: Place your CTA in a prominent location within the ad, ensuring it's large enough to be easily noticed, but not so dominant that it overshadows the ad's content.
• Urgency and incentive: Encourage immediate action by incorporating elements of urgency ("Limited Time Offer!") or offering incentives ("Get 10% off your first purchase").
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3. Interaction

To enhance interaction with the ad, incorporate elements like video, audio, and interactive features to engage users in a more immersive experience.

• Interactivity: Allowing users to interact with your ad – be it through a quiz, a slider, or a clickable hotspot – increases engagement rates.
• Dynamic content: Videos and animations can tell a story more effectively than static images, capturing attention for longer durations.
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Mobile optimization: Ensure that your rich media ads are optimized for mobile viewing, considering the majority of users access content on-the-go. According to research by Adnami, by 2025 it is predicted that 72% of consumers will consume data exclusively on mobile. Moreover, if a consumer engages with an ad through touch, spontaneous recall increases to 28%

4. Size & layout

The dimensions and layout of an ad play a crucial role in its effectiveness. While there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer, there are best practices to guide your design decisions.

Ad dimensions: Popular sizes like 300x250 (Medium Rectangle), 728x90 (Leaderboard), and 160x600 (Wide Skyscraper) tend to perform well across platforms. According to Insider Intelligence, mobile ads that cover 80% of the screen receive 6.6 seconds of attention from the average smartphone user. That’s more than 2X the attention received by ads with 50% screen cover and about 8X that of ads covering less than 10% of the screen.

Hierarchy of elements: Prioritize elements based on their importance. Typically, the logo, main message, visual, and CTA should be clearly distinguishable.

5. Layout/logo

Your ad's layout and the placement of your logo are pivotal in reinforcing brand identity and ensuring brand recall. A recent post at Neurons showed that almost 50% of ads were placing the brand in the "corner of death." This area is well known to be a place where nobody pays attention.

If you have more questions on how to create a memorable ad, the Eskimi team is more than happy to help with ideas, execution, budget and anything else you need to get eyeballs on your brand.

First impressions matter‍

Making a good first impression is more challenging than ever. Neurons ran the world’s most extensive consumer neuroscience study on mobile devices alongside the Mobile Marketing Association & the Advertising Research Foundation, and the results are riveting.

• It only takes 700 milliseconds to trigger an emotional response
• Only 67% of ads are seen
• Only 10% of ads create an emotional response
• >50% of ads create a memory response
• 95% or more of your ad viewers will likely miss whatever you show at the lower right-hand corner

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To create a memorable ad, your ingredients and execution should be as close to perfection as possible. If you need even more insights on putting together a high-performing display awareness ad, feel free to contact our team.