Yes marketers you should be using display ads, video targeting and PPC as part of your campaigns. They’re always there, ever-present, insistent, and keeping the companies they promote top-of-mind.  AND they can be a very cost effective way to gain awareness, improve conversions, and increase sales…..if done correct.

Below are our top DO’s and DON’Ts  for display ads, PPC and video ad targeting.

Define the Goals of the Campaign – Not all campaigns are created equal, so they should each have a clearly defined goal.  Looking for awareness? A display campaign will be perfect with bulk media buys and goals related to targeted impressions instead of clicks.   Looking for sales? Then setting a goal for sales will be your friend, with Pay Per Click instead of Display ads being a smarter ad buy.

Design a Custom Landing Page – Create a landing page that carries the the same messaging as your video, PPC, or display ads. Think about it, if the ad says one thing but your landing page says something else…it’s probably not going to be a good fit.  And, don’t overthink the design of a landing page. Ideally a good landing page design should look like any other page on your website. Just make sure it has sharp messaging.

Have a Clear CTA – You have to tell folks what to do.  If you’re running a video pre-roll, tell the consumer to call, or click (and tell them what to expect.) If you don’t give any guidance you’ll get no action out of the target.

Use Data to Target Audiences – If you’re making ad buys on your own, do the research to make sure you’re reaching the right audience.  When you use data to target your audience, you are making sure your customers are interested in your product.  And while they may not necessarily click on your ad, targeted ads have gaze duration 5x higher and recall that is 4x higher.  Which is a boost for your brand. If your confused or don’t have the time, hire a reputable firm (like V3 Media,) to help you with your ad buy.

Don’t Make Click Through Rate (CTR) Your Definitive Metric – Who cares if someone clicks on the ad.  What you want is a sale (or interest.)

• 10,000 video views with a CTR of 2% and conversion rate of .25% is good (25 sales.)
• 5,000 videos views with a CTR of 1% and a conversion rate of .75% is great ( 37 sales.)   

This is even magnified more if the 10,000 impressions cost twice as much as the 5,000 impressions.

Don’t Point Users to a Generic Page – The lazy approach can be to take clicks to a home page.  Which is fine in some categories. But, if you’re targeting a niche area (such as Real Estate Law,) make sure the page you are sending people to speaks to that niche (Real Estate Law.)

Don’t Cram too Much in Small Space – Most display ads are restrained to fixed sizes And most video ads need to be concise and clear.  Make your message clean and simple. If it’s a video, and you have more story to tell, then make the video longer.

Don’t Limit Your Reach – It’s easy to target an audience within a vertical.  Say you sell to moms, so you want to buy ad space and video pre rolls in a parenting website.  But, buying in a niche vertical is both time consuming and more expensive. Get some help from an ad buying company (like V3 Media) that can bundle multiple publishers into one campaign, and work on lowering your cost per conversion over time.  Almost all clients end up saving money through improved conversion optimization.

Want to discuss? Reach out and we can help guide you in the right direction.