Get the Most Out of Your Banner Ads

Affiliate marketing is dependent on several factors in order to be successful. The success of an experienced affiliate can be measured mainly by how often a visitor clicks on the merchant's banner or text link that they have placed on their site with the intended goal of referring traffic. Many factors are involved in contributing to this success and in so doing, squeezing the highest conversions out of an ad campaign. In this column, I will address the point of influence over the visitor, the advertisement itself, and more specifically, jpeg and gif banner ads.



The most difficult aspect to designing a banner ad is using your given space wisely. If an advertisement is too vague, it is unlikely to convert. On the contrary, if it is crammed with information, it will not attract the attention of the visitor. One must strike a delicate balance between providing sufficient information for the visitor to recognize the offer, while at the same time avoiding a cluttered appearance. It is also important to leave some information untold in order to entice the visitor to click on the ad. Even larger banners provide limited work space and in most cases, the merchant will prefer to provide more information than is possible.



A simple way to determine what information to include on a banner is to use “who, what, why and when” as a guideline. The “Who” question, refers to the demographic to which your ad is targeted. Frequently, this information is provided simply by including a picture. For example, an advertisement for a multi-vitamin for the elderly may include a smiling, healthy-looking older woman; where as, an ad for a fitness supplement may show a professional cyclist.



The “What” question refers to the product being offered. By providing the visitor with this information, one can ensure a higher conversion rate, because the visitor knows precisely what the advertisement is offering, and will therefore be more likely to purchase after the click. Also, it is advisable to provide the features and benefits of the product or service being offered. This creates a clear sense of advantage over competing products.



“Why” tells the visitor precisely why they must try this product or service. This can be supported by testimonials, guarantees, and other facts that add to the validity and value of the product or service. “When” is simply a call to action, such as “click here,” and can also include a sense of urgency, such as “while supplies last” or an expiration date for the offer.



The most difficult part of including all or most of this information is creating a design that will not clutter the given space while also maintaining eye appeal and visibility. One way in which to do this is to separate unrelated text as much as possible. This can be done by sectioning off the creative with an image, or by changing the color of the text and its background color.



I will now apply the above suggestions to an example. Pretend that the merchant is a website containing answers to common medical questions. Firstly, consider the demographic, otherwise known as the “who”. For this banner, a good choice would be a picture of a doctor, or possibly a patient. The banner could then ask a simple question such as, “Should I get a flu shot?” In this example, envision this as white text on a black background. Considering the recent flu shot shortage, this headline would attract the attention of a very large audience. Just below the headline a call to action could be placed on the banner such as, “To find out who should be receiving flu shots, click here”. This time we'll use black text on a white background. The contrast of colors creates separation of the banner, making it easier to read and more likely to capture the attention of the visitor.



The above banner could also make reference to the overall purpose of the site, such as “Search over 10,000 medical questions and answers”. Also, it is necessary to provide an offer that is related to the headline. In this example, we may offer a “free guide to conquering the flu”. This creates an even greater incentive for the visitor to click on the banner.



Banner design may seem simple in nature, but can become complicated when one is trying to include all of the pertinent information in one advertisement. This difficulty arises when deciding what information to include on the banner, and what information to reserve for the landing page. If it is impossible to include enough information, or if one desires to catch the visitors' attention more thoroughly, animation may be used to present additional information.



However, one must beware! Animation has the potential to sabotage your click conversion if it is implemented improperly. Use the animation for two purposes only: To either capture the visitor's attention, or to provide supporting features and benefits. At any given time, the visitor should be able to see the “who, what, why and when.” Animation should be used solely for additional benefits that will add validity or value to the offer. This ensures that the visitor will understand the offer even when viewing only part of the animation and will still be likely to click on the advertisement. One should, at all times, avoid using rapid animation or continuously looping banners that do not have a pause of four seconds or more between cycles. Not only can these banners be annoying to the visitor, but affiliates are also less likely to deploy them.



Though the preceding guidelines are rather simple, they are of the utmost importance for producing advertisements that convert well. Even the most experienced designers can take this advice into consideration and should cross-reference all of their banner work with this simple advice.