The Success of Banner Ads

Written by Helen Porter - New Media Marketing Consultant

Further to my post yesterday about the value of branding online, I wanted to explain why banners are far from a dying format and they should be considered as a brand-building channel both now and in the future.

A recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that banner ads not only register with users on a subliminal level, but that the effect is positive.

More and more companies are justifying their online media spend through old metrics like CTR and sales. The new research backs up that just because a user didn't click on a banner ad, doesn't mean the ad was wasted. The researchers found that an increase in the exposure rate lead to a corresponding increase positive feelings toward the brand.

The average CTR on a banner is now less than 0.2% leading many marketeers to believe that banners can no longer reach consumers. We are now in the age of interactivity leading generic flash banners to be thrown out and new concepts to be developed. Banners should be used to build a relationship between a consumer and their brand, banners have moved on from simply being a traffic driver.

As consumers interact with ads they can be measured. Marketeers need to co-ordinate campaigns more effectively. The banners need to encompass rich media allow them to be more personal, timed and relevant to the audience. Interaction rates, time spent engaged with ads, video play rates and completion rates are all new ways to really measure your campaign effectiveness.

Here are some benchmarks




In short banners are not dead and can build brand and retain consumers.