Creating Effective Banner Ads for Your Clients

<p>Banner ads are one of the best forms of marketing used in today’s online world. All companies use them in one form or another because they’re an affordable, measurable, and effective way to increase brand awareness.</p> <p>Need a free Photoshop alternative? &nbsp;Try <a href="https://pixlr.com/editor/">https://pixlr.com/editor/</a>.</p> <p>Every day we are tasked with taking client information and turning that into effective radio campaigns. We should put just as much effort into their banner ad creative.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Here are some tips and general guidelines for designing effective banner ads.</strong></p> <p><strong>Stick to Standard Banner Ad Sizes: &nbsp;</strong>Research has shown that wider ad sizes tend to outperform their taller counterparts. &nbsp;Much of this may have to do with placement above the scroll and because it is more comfortable to read from left to right, rather than stacked text. Here are the sizes you should consider first:</p> <p>728 pixels by 90 pixels leaderboard<br> 300 by 250 medium rectangle<br> 300 by 600 half-page<br> 320 by 50 mobile banner</p> <p><strong>Maintain the Essentials: </strong>Every banner ad needs three elements: Branding, message, and encouragement to click. The challenge is that you don’t have much room for this but all three of these elements are essential.</p> <p><strong>Use Only One Message Per Ad: </strong>Banner ads should never be a lengthy rotation of messages. Animated gifs can be used to grab focus but should NOT be used for displaying endless ad copy. Nobody but you and the client will read it all. If a single static ad doesn’t fully get across the essentials mentioned above, try offering the client multiple ads that rotate separately.</p> <p><strong>Include a Great Call to Action: </strong>The goal of a banner ad is to get clicked. A good call to action does this. What are users supposed to do next and what’s the payoff?</p> <p><strong>Make sure the ad design is consistent with the client’s branding: </strong>Make sure it looks consistent with