The small business guide to digital display advertising in 2024.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, capturing your audience’s attention is more important than ever. Enter digital display ads – a powerful tool in the digital marketer’s toolkit designed to do just that. But what exactly are digital display ads, and why should you consider using them for your small to medium business in Australia?

What are digital display ads?

Digital display ads are visually engaging advertisements that appear on websites, social media platforms and apps. These ads come in various formats, including banner ads, video ads and rich media ads, making them versatile and adaptable to different marketing goals. Whether you’re aiming to boost brand awareness, drive traffic to your website or generate leads, digital display ads can help you achieve your objectives.

One of the key benefits of digital display ads is their ability to reach a broad audience. With billions of people browsing the internet daily, your ads have the potential to appear in front of countless potential customers. This extensive reach, combined with sophisticated targeting options, allows you to connect with your ideal audience at the right time and place.

Examples of digital display ads.

Let’s dive into some real-world examples to see digital display ads in action. Imagine a vibrant banner ad promoting a new product launch, catching your eye as you scroll through your favourite news site. Or picture a dynamic video ad on social media, showcasing a brand’s latest commercial with compelling visuals and sound. These are just a couple of examples of how digital display ads can captivate and engage audiences.

With digital display ads, the possibilities are endless. They provide a creative canvas to showcase your brand’s personality and message in a way that resonates with your target audience.

RELATED: 5 ways to make sure your display ads deliver.

Now let’s look at how to set a budget for your digital display ads, as well as help you better understand key metrics like CPC so you can confidently navigate the exciting world of digital advertising. Remember, with the right strategy and tools, your business can reach new heights and connect with customers like never before.

Budgeting for digital display ads.

Navigating the world of digital display ads starts with a crucial question: ‘What should my budget be?’ Setting the right budget is essential to maximising your return on investment and achieving your marketing goals. Let’s break it down to help you get started.

1. What is a good budget?

Factors to consider when setting a budget.
When determining your budget for digital display ads, consider the following factors:

• Business size: Larger businesses might allocate a more substantial budget due to their extensive reach and broader marketing goals. Smaller businesses, on the other hand, can start with a more modest budget and gradually scale up.
• Goals: Clearly define what you want to achieve with your ads. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic or boost sales? Your goals will significantly influence your budget allocation.
• Industry: Different industries have varying levels of competition, which can impact how much you need to spend. Research industry benchmarks to get an idea of the average spending in your sector.

Recommended budget ranges for beginners.
For those just starting with digital display ads, here are some general guidelines:

• Small businesses: Consider starting with a budget of $500 to $1000 per month. This range allows you to test different ad formats and targeting options without significant financial risk.
• Medium-sized businesses: A budget of $1000 to $5000 per month can provide more flexibility to experiment with various strategies and reach a broader audience.
• Larger businesses: Depending on the scale and objectives, larger businesses might allocate $5000 to $20,000 or more per month. This higher budget enables comprehensive campaigns with extensive reach and impact.

Remember, these are just starting points. Monitor your campaign performance and adjust your budget based on what works best for your business.

RELATED: Digital displays ads are not just for big business. 

2. Understanding average CPC (Cost per click).

Definition and importance of CPC.
Cost per click (CPC) is a metric that measures how much you pay each time someone clicks on your digital display ad. CPC is a critical factor because it directly impacts your budget and the effectiveness of your advertising campaign. Lowering your CPC while maintaining ad performance can help you get more clicks for your budget, enhancing your overall return on investment.

Industry benchmarks for average CPC.
Industry benchmarks for average CPC can vary widely. Here’s a rough guide to give you an idea:

• Retail: $0.45 – $1.25 per click
• Finance: $1.00 – $3.00 per click
• Travel: $0.30 – $1.50 per click
• Technology: $0.50 – $2.00 per click

These benchmarks can fluctuate based on factors like ad quality, targeting precision and market competition.

Tips for optimising CPC.
To get the most out of your budget, consider these tips to optimise your CPC:

• Targeting: Refine your audience targeting to ensure your ads are reaching the right people. Use demographic, geographic, and behavioural data to home in on your ideal customer.
• Ad quality: High-quality ads tend to perform better, which can lower your CPC. Focus on creating visually appealing and relevant ads that resonate with your audience.
• A/B testing: Experiment with different ad creatives, headlines, and calls to action to see what works best. Continuous testing and optimisation can help you find the most cost-effective combinations.
• Bid management: Monitor and adjust your bids regularly. Use automated bidding strategies provided by ad platforms to maximise your budget efficiency.

By understanding and managing your budget and CPC effectively, you’ll be well on your way to running successful digital display ad campaigns that deliver great results for your business.

In the next section we will delve into the essentials of getting started with digital display ads, best practices and tips for achieving optimal performance. Remember, a well-planned budget and a strategic approach can lead to amazing outcomes for your digital advertising efforts.

Navigating the world of digital display ads.

Stepping into the world of digital display ads can feel like a big leap, but with the right guidance, you’ll be up and running in no time. Here’s a step-by-step guide to launching your first campaign and some best practices to help you succeed.

1. Getting started.

Step-by-step guide to launching your first campaign.

1. Define your goals: Start by setting clear objectives for your campaign. Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website or generate leads? Knowing your goals will help shape your strategy and measure success.
2. Choose your platform: Select the platform(s) where you want your ads to appear. The Google Display Network, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram and programmatic advertising networks are all excellent choices, each offering unique benefits.
3. Set your budget: Determine how much you want to spend on your campaign. Refer back to our earlier section on budgeting for guidance.
4. Create your ads: Design engaging and visually appealing ads. Use high-quality images, clear messaging, and compelling calls to action. Ensure your ads are optimised for both desktop and mobile devices.
5. Target your audience: Use the targeting options provided by your chosen platform to reach your ideal audience. Consider factors like demographics, interests, behaviours and geographic location.
6. Launch your campaign: Once everything is set up, go ahead and launch your campaign. Keep an eye on its performance and be ready to make adjustments as needed.

Key platforms to consider.

• Google Display Network (GDN): With access to millions of websites, GDN is a powerful platform to reach a broad audience. It offers extensive targeting options and supports various ad formats.
• Social media platforms: Platforms like META (Facebook and Instagram), as well as LinkedIn are great for reaching specific demographics and engaging with users through visually rich ads.
• Programmatic advertising: This method uses automated technology to buy ad space in real-time, allowing for highly targeted and efficient ad placements.
  Programmatic platforms have more targeting features and more inventory coverage to allow for ads to be served on specific publishers and placements.

2. Best practices for digital display ads.

Targeting and segmentation strategies.
Effective targeting and segmentation are crucial for maximising the impact of your digital display ads. Here are some strategies to consider:

• Demographic targeting: Focus on specific age groups, genders and income levels that match your ideal customer profile
• Behavioural targeting: Reach users based on their online behaviour, such as past purchases, website visits and search history
• Geographic targeting: Tailor your ads to specific locations, whether it’s a country, city or even a neighbourhood
• Interest targeting: Target users based on their interests and hobbies, ensuring your ads resonate with their preferences.

Designing effective creatives.
Your ad’s design can make or break its success. Follow these tips to create compelling creatives:

• High-quality visuals: Use clear, high-resolution images that capture attention
• Consistent branding: Ensure your ads align with your brand’s look and feel, maintaining consistency across all touch-points
• Clear messaging: Convey your message succinctly and compellingly, using headlines and subheadings to highlight key points
• Strong call to action (CTA): Encourage users to take the next step, whether it’s clicking a link, signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.

Measuring and analysing performance.
Tracking and analysing your campaign’s performance is essential for continuous improvement. Here’s how to do it:

• Key metrics: Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate and return on ad spend (ROAS)
• A/B testing: Regularly test different ad variations to see which ones perform best. Experiment with different images, headlines and CTAs
• Adjust and optimise: Use the insights gained from your analysis to refine your targeting, adjust your budget and improve your ad creatives. Continuously optimising your campaign will help you achieve better results over time.

By following these best practices and staying committed to continuous learning and improvement, you’ll be well on your way to running successful digital display ad campaigns that drive meaningful results for your business.

You should now have more than enough ammunition to go out and create amazing digital display campaigns, but we have included a bonus advanced section that looks at some of the issues that have plagued advertisers in recent years and should definitely be front of mind for your business when building out your campaigns or working with an agency.

Keep reading as we delve into the advanced topics of transparency and fraud, ensuring your ads appear on high-quality sites and your media investments are well-protected. With the right knowledge and strategies, you can confidently navigate the dynamic world of digital display advertising and unlock new opportunities for growth.

Transparency and fraud in digital display ads.

As you gain more experience with digital display ads, it’s crucial to understand the advanced aspects of transparency and fraud. This knowledge will help you protect your media investments and ensure your ads appear on high-quality relevant sites.

1. Understanding the challenges of digital display advertising.

Vast amounts of inventory and the risk of appearing on fraudulent sites.
The digital advertising landscape is vast, with countless websites and apps available for ad placements. While this provides ample opportunities to reach your audience, it also comes with the risk of your ads appearing on fraudulent or low-quality sites. These sites can generate fake impressions and clicks, leading to wasted ad spend and skewed performance metrics.

Impact on impression quality and media investment wastage.
When your ads appear on fraudulent sites, the quality of those impressions is compromised. Instead of reaching genuine potential customers, your ads are shown to bots or uninterested audiences. This not only affects your campaign’s effectiveness but also leads to significant media investment wastage. Ensuring your ads are served on legitimate, high-quality sites is essential for maximising your return on investment.

2. Ensuring brand safety.

Importance of tight brand safety controls.
Brand safety is about protecting your brand’s reputation by ensuring your ads do not appear alongside inappropriate or harmful content. Tight brand safety controls are vital to maintaining the integrity of your campaigns and avoiding association with negative content.

Tools and strategies to ensure ads appear on high-quality, relevant sites.
To safeguard your brand, implement the following tools and strategies:

• Ad verification services: Utilise third-party ad verification services like DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science or Moat to monitor where your ads are being placed and ensure they meet your brand safety standards.
• Whitelist and blacklist: Create a whitelist of approved sites where your ads can appear and a blacklist of sites to avoid. Regularly update these lists based on performance data and industry insights.
• Contextual targeting: Use contextual targeting to place your ads in environments that align with your brand values and message. This method focuses on the content of the web page rather than the user’s past behaviour.
• Programmatic direct: Consider programmatic direct deals, which involve purchasing ad inventory directly from reputable publishers. This approach offers more control over where your ads appear.

Real-world examples of brand safety measures.

Many brands have successfully implemented brand safety measures to protect their reputation and ad spend. For example, a global consumer goods company used ad verification tools to monitor their ad placements, resulting in a 95% reduction in fraudulent impressions. Another case involved a leading fashion retailer that used contextual targeting to ensure their ads appeared only on premium lifestyle and fashion sites, significantly improving their campaign’s effectiveness.

3. Performance and benchmarking.

Aligning performance with industry benchmarks.
To ensure your campaigns are performing optimally, it’s important to align your results with industry benchmarks. Regularly compare your metrics, such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS), with industry standards to identify areas for improvement.

Ongoing inventory analysis to ensure brand content suitability.
Continuous analysis of your ad inventory is crucial for maintaining brand safety and optimising performance. Regularly review where your ads are being served and assess the quality of these placements. This ongoing process helps identify and address any issues promptly, ensuring your brand content remains suitable and effective.

Understanding and addressing the challenges of transparency and fraud in digital display ads is essential for protecting your investments and ensuring your campaigns’ success. By implementing robust brand safety measures, leveraging the right tools and continuously analysing performance, you can confidently navigate the advanced aspects of digital advertising and achieve outstanding results. Stay vigilant, stay informed and watch your digital display ads drive your business to new heights.

Get results with Digital Display ads from Yellow Pages.

Not quite ready to deal with the big guns at Google? Yellow Pages’ Digital Display service is an SMB-focused Aussie alternative. With local knowledge and buying power, we’re uniquely placed to support smaller businesses with their digital strategy.

Get in touch with us to discuss your Digital Display campaign today.