Display: Which format for which purpose?

Display advertising offers a wide range of visual formats that allow brands to meet various marketing objectives: awareness, visibility, traffic, lead generation, or conversion. Discover all the goals that display can help you achieve.

Summary of the article: Display: Which format for which purpose ?

1. What is a display ad? - Definition
2. What are the objectives of a display ad?
3. Digital advertising agencies
4. The benefits of the main display formats

Display advertising refers to all online advertisements with a graphic element, such as an image, an animation or a video. It most often appears in the form of display banners shown on websites, mobile applications, or video platforms.

Display ads can be found in various formats within the site that displays them, known as the publisher site. To facilitate graphic creation, the dimensions of display formats are defined by the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau).

The formats used most often on websites are:

• 300 x 250 px
• 728 x 90 px
• 160 x 600 px

While on mobile versions, the preferred formats are:

• 320 x 50 px
• 320 x 480 px
• 480 x 320 px

Display formats come in several categories depending on their size, placement, and level of visual impact. This choice of format must always be aligned with the campaign objective.

Programmatic display

Programmatic display refers to the automated purchase of advertising space in real-time, based on audience data or pre-defined targeting criteria.

Targeting can rely on:

• Third-party data : collected via cookies by third-party companies
• Semantic or contextual targeting: based on keywords and the content of the pages consulted

Programmatic display aims to allow advertisers to reach their target audiences in the best possible way.

Google display 

Similar to programmatic display, Google display can be found on both websites and mobile applications. It allows advertisers to target according to four criteria

• socio-demographic criteria : age group and gender
• geolocation : country, region, department, city
• searched keywords : keywords typed in the Google search bar
• personalized intentions : keywords + similar URLs

>>> Learn more about digital advertising

Display advertising can meet several marketing objectives, depending on the chosen format and the distribution strategy :

• Developing brand awareness
• Strengthening online visibility
• Generating traffic to a website
• Encouraging conversion
• Promoting lead generation

There are almost as many digital ad platforms as there are display formats:

• Google Adwords
• Facebook Audience Network
• Teads
• Sublime
• Awks
• Invibes
• KMTX
• Qwarry
• Etc.

>>> Advertising in programmatic display

>>> Advertising on social medias

1. The medium rectangle (300 x 250 px)

With its dimensions, the medium rectangle is the quintessential display format. It is the format that achieves the best viewability rates in both desktop and mobile displays.

Often placed on the right side of a webpage, it offers better performance when directly incorporated within a text or at the end of an article. The medium rectangle is ideal for awareness and visibility campaigns.

2. The leaderboard (728 x 90 px)

Dominating a webpage without being too imposing, the leaderboard format gives this display ad great visibility. The leaderboard is generally used by advertisers to capture attention and drive traffic to the site.

3. The half-page or wide skyscraper (300 x 600 px)

With its somewhat unconventional dimensions, the half-page (also known as the wide skyscraper) allows for occupying nearly half of a webpage, thus achieving excellent visibility. However, due to its size, the half-page display can be difficult to integrate into certain page layouts.

4. Wallpaper or ad skins

Wallpaper advertising is a background display format that forms an arch around a website page. It is often accompanied by one or more companion formats (half-page, medium rectangle...). Its high-impact format makes it a preferred choice for a brand's event-driven communications.

Image © Studyrama.com