When we talk about banner ads we should go a little beyond the already known theory “Let’s run some display advertising to sell our products” and we should believe that banners can tell stories. What do I mean by stories? Banner advertising is not just for selling?
Yes it is, but who said that you can’t tell stories with banners? Who said that you can’t do more with a banner than just “Buy now” or “Click here”?
We talk more and more about the storytelling concept and content marketing trends. Every day we work a lot to create content that needs to be distributed on different channels. Every day we make an effort to create content for the next day to attract more readers and possible customers. But if we talk about “content marketing” and most of our time we focus on creating content when do we have time to market? And sometimes we forget that the other half of “content marketing” is marketing. We need a 50% ratio to create content and 50% ratio to market our content.
So this is why I think that banner advertising is not only for the e-commerce or selling tickets for conferences/concert or maybe a holiday in Bahamas. Banner advertising can be, and it should be used, for blogging (you can read the 5 reasons why bloggers should use Bannersnack) forums, even websites where moms tell their baby stories or corporations that are looking for their next employee.
This is why I came up with 13 types of stories for banner advertising. Check them out:
1. Informational
Consider this: you spent the whole day doing research for a content that you need to put out (even if it’s a blog post, a video film, infographic or presentation) and the next day you created it and work all day for that beautiful piece of content. So now you can create a banner to be a little teaser – “Did you know that…” and make a display advertising campaign targeting your content consumers. And this is also the “marketing” from “content marketing”.
2. Promotional
You are launching new products and you need to get rid of the old ones. So what are you going to do? Promotions and discounts. And you want to let your customers and possible customers know about your products, your new prices and some words about why this product is so good. Now imagine that you can put all of the 3 things in a banner and you also can create a call-to-action button. And if you don’t know how we can help you.
3. Helpful
Did you know that you can create short tips&tricks banners? Tell me in one sentence a trick from your field that I can apply right away and in the future, if I need more help in that field I will certainly come to you. Let’s say that you have a restaurant and you show me in a short tips&tricks banner how to make the best omelet. This is a simple and helpful banner that you can create to advertise your company.
4. New stuff
I don’t think there is any business on this planet that does not always want to be the first on the market or to tell everyone about new products / services they have. Why not communicate through a banner ad that from now on you will find this “new stuff” at our company? More than that, tell me about this “new stuff” and why I will need it. Be short and specific!
5. Offering a job
Who said that only job websites can announce new jobs? You could create a banner ad where you announce that you are looking for a new colleague, and if you target the right “customers” you can get your next employee. But make it short, simple and a kick ass copy that will make the user to click on you banner. And by the way, don’t forget about the landing page.
6. Testimonials
First time I saw this kind of banner on Neil Patel’s blog and I said “hey, this is awesome! I think that more companies should make this kind of banners”. So, if you have a happy client why don’t you show everybody how thankful he is for what you did for him? A happy customer testimonial banner. But what if you don’t have happy clients? Then start making them happy.
7.Funny
Sometimes we need funny things to make people laugh and sometimes we can make funny banners. Maybe you can write a simple joke or a banner with an infinite click… because you can. And who said that sometimes banner ads can’t help you relax? The sky is the limit for funny banners. And by the way, you can make it dynamic or static. It’s your choice.
8.Courageous
I never thought that I will read a 18,000 px banner from BMW. But I did and it was pretty interesting. But why did BMW create this courageous banner? Why didn’t they write an article on an automobile website? You know why? Because courageous banner brings a lot of earned media. Case in point, I’m still writing and thinking about that banner. So, be courageous and make interesting banners.
9. Interrogative
Conversations are often divided into two parts: questions and answers. Ok, sometimes it’s going to be some answers that will lead to longer stories and will require additional stories. But who said you cannot start a conversation with your potential customers or readers with a question asked through a banner? Exactly. Ask a question with a banner and link it to the answer. The more creative the question, the higher is the click rate.
10. Wishful
If the greeting card that you sent through emails or Facebook looks so well, you can make some adjustments and create a simple and classy banner ad.
11. Webinars and courses
If you do webinars and courses you can advertise them with a banner ad. And if you are looking to get more students and participants then you need to target them. Make your banners trustworthy with your professional services and easy to read. And don’t forget the call-to-action button.
12. Books
Did you write a book you want to be read by more people than your parents, grandmother and your uncle’s poker friends? Then share the news using a banner ad. You can make it very simple: use your book cover and explain in one sentence why we should read your book. Keep it simple and short but full of impact!
13. Branding
It can be a simple banner with only one background color with your logo and statement. A lot of companies are afraid of this kind of banner but trust me when I say that sometimes you need just a simple brand awareness campaign to attract consumers.
So, here are my 13 types of stories for banner ads that you can try out right now. And if you made other types of banner ads let us know in the comments section!