What You Need to Know About the Google Display Network
Ever wondered how businesses get their ads displayed on different websites and platforms? It might seem like a challenging and expensive task, but with Google Display Network, it’s much easier than you might anticipate.
Google Display Network has over two million sites and reaches over 90% of the people on the internet. With such a wide reach, advertisers can meet their goals and get their ads seen by the people who are most likely to covert.
What is the Google Display Network?
Just like Google Ads, the Google Display Network is designed to help your advertisements reach your target audience. With an array of targeting options, advertisers can strategically show their message to potential customers at the right place at the right time
Along with traditional search advertising (Google Ads), there’s an opportunity for advertisers to place their ads on a variety of websites across the internet.
The collection of websites, which varies from news sites to YouTube, is referred to as the Google Display Network.
How does the Google Display Work?
When users are on the Google Display Network they may not necessarily be in ‘searching’ mode. Instead, they are casually browsing the internet (reading blog posts, watching a video, checking their Gmail account etc). Unlike advertising on search engines – where users are typically in shopping mode – ads on the Display Network must attract user’s attention and engage them enough to click through to your site, abandoning the content they were originally looking at.
Attracting users with display advertisements is no easy task – it’s an excellent opportunity to promote brand awareness and its wide reach is appealing to advertisers looking to expand their website visitors. Google Display Network gives the excellent chance for businesses to expand their visibility – whilst also generating website clicks.
Interested in Display Advertising?
Get in touch with Different Gravy Digital and discover how we can make display advertising work for you.
Contact us for a free, no obligation consultation:
Book a meeting: michaelgoldman.co.uk/
Telephone: 0161 706 0004
Email: contact@differentgravydigital.co.uk
Search Vs Display Advertisements
Before you decide whether Google Display Network could work for you business, you need to know the difference between search and display.
Search is the most popular form of PPC advertising, and the ads are displayed directly in search result pages. Display ads are ads that are shown on website that are not search engines. These styles of ads are commonly referred to as banner or image ads.
We’ve discussed in detail search advertising before – you can catch up: How Does Google Ads Work?
Display advertising has a more passive role. Exposure to the advertisements is more external – and it’s a very similar user experience as seeing ads in a magazine or newspaper. Users are much more likely to scan around them or just take a quick glance. Because of this, advertising on the Google Display Network requires a different mindset and unique goals to that search advertising.
4 Effective Goals for Display Advertising
1. To Raise Brand Awareness
If you’re looking to familiarise people with your brand, then display advertising is excellent strategy to increase brand awareness. The Google Display Network allows businesses to place their ads on websites that are popular amongst their target audience to boost their exposure.
2. To Keep Your Brand Top of Mind
If you sell a product or service that consumers are not likely to buy immediately (like an expensive product or one that requires decision making and research) then display advertising is an excellent way to keep your brand at the front of their mind when it comes to making a purchase.
3. To Attract Attention to a Product
Display advertising is great for businesses who sell visually appealing products or those who have an irresistible offer. It depends mostly on distraction – how good your ad is at taking away consumers from what they were originally doing. If your advertisement is eye-catching, then consumers are much more likely to give it another glance!
4. To Engage with a Video Campaign
If you’ve invested time and money into creating compelling videos, then why not maximise their exposure? The advertising potential on YouTube is ginormous (almost 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube every single day!) and video is a powerful way to connect and influence your target audience.
Targeting Options with The Google Display Network
The Display Network will help you capture people’s attention early in the buying cycle. Place your ads in front of people before they have started searching for what you offer, which can be fundamental for your overall advertising strategy.
So, how are your ads shown to the right people? On the Google Display Network, you can get your ads seen by certain groups of people or in certain contexts or content.
Focusing on Certain People: you can aim to get your ads seen by certain types of people, like those who have previously visited your website, people that are likely to be in the market for a certain style or product, or by demographics (gender etc).
Focusing on Context or Content: by focusing your targeting on a certain moment, you can select keywords or topics to get your ads seen in the context of kinds of content (like a gym advertisement on a healthy eating blog) or on specific websites.
Display Ad Formats Available
With display advertising, it’s all about attracting new customers with eye-catching and engaging content. For your campaign to be successful and for you to reach your goals – it’s paramount that you are selecting the right ad style.
With a variety of formats and sizes with text ads, static and animate image ads, rich media and video ads, there are plenty of options for businesses to tailor their targeting to the people they want to reach. There are 4 styles available:
1. Text Ads
The same as an ad on Google Search, advertisers have a headline, two lines of text (35 characters each) and a URL to utilise.
2. Image Ads
Advertisers can feature relevant images, customised layouts and background colours.
3. Rich Media Ads
Are image ads with interactive elements, animations or other aspects that can vary depending on who is looking at the ad and how they interact with it (like a carousel of products).
4. Video Ads
An ad with a video embedded directly within it – YouTube is included on the Display Network too!
Ready to Get Started?
The Google Display Network has incredible reach. But, monitoring placements and ad performance is a vital part of running a successful campaign.
As always, expertise and time is key! Different Gravy Digital can work with you to optimise, plan and run your display campaigns to maximise your results.
Contact us for a free, no obligation consultation:
Book a meeting: michaelgoldman.co.uk/
Telephone: 0161 706 0004