Advertisement fatigue and banner blindness are two common, and highly detrimental problems in the world of display advertising. Where banner blindness describes a users' tendency to ignore ads because they have grown used to the same old format, ad fatigue refers to the decline in click through rate and conversion after banners have been left to run for a certain amount of time. The truth is that no matter how exciting your creative may be when you first design it - after a while it will lose its novelty, and users will start to lose interest
So what can you do to make sure that your advertisements stay engaging for as long as possible? The following 5 tips should help you to kick start your advertising campaign, and avoid the strain of banner ad fatigue.
First of all, if you want your banners to be effective, then you need to make sure that they're dynamic, relevant, and exciting. Consumers don't like to feel as though they're being bombarded with constant sales pitch that shows up everywhere from Google, to their Facebook newsfeed. The aim should be to provoke action from your viewers with your creative. This means using words that spur them to action, alongside colors and pictures that inspire the emotion you want to provoke. For example, try encouraging your reader to do something as soon as they start reading with words like "Picture this", or "Imagine", and you'll receive a better click through rate than if you simply used the standard sales verbiage.
Many people forget that there's an art to creating a truly great advertisement. If you're in charge of the marketing strategy for your company or business, keep a notebook in your pocket like you would if you were writing your own book. You'd be surprised at how often ideas can present themselves to you when you least expect it. The more you brainstorm new ideas, and think outside of the box for the ways that you can present your brand to people, deliver new banner ads, and come up with exciting new creative - the more likely you are to create something that really catches your audiences' attention.
One of the simplest ways to avoid banner fatigue, is to make a habit of constantly changing, editing, and adding new banners to your advertising campaigns. Whether you're targeting or retargeting customers, it's important to remember that the longer you leave a banner to stagnate, the more likely it is to generate ad fatigue. At the same time, while you're switching out banners to keep your creative fresh, you'll have the perfect opportunity to engage in some useful A/B testing. After all, by simplifying your message, restructuring words, or even changing the colors that you use within your banner, you might find that you begin to see substantial changes in your click-through rates. Over time, you'll be able to learn which of your ads perform the best, and then you can rotate those ones to ensure they remain fresh.
One of the biggest mistakes that companies make when it comes to ensuring their creative remains fresh and exciting online today - is that they start off by researching their audience, then stop after making their first banner. Even if you think you've generated a pretty good understanding of your target market, that doesn't mean that you should simply sit back and give up all the hard work. The chances are that the needs and preferences of your audience will change and evolve over time. That means that if you want to make sure that your banners remain relevant and engaging, you'll have to work to keep your finger on the pulse.
Finally, if you think you've gotten the hang of delivering consistently fresh and engaging banner ads, make sure that you don't use this as an excuse to give up monitoring. The most important part of advertising is analyzing the results that you see from each piece of creative that you put into the digital world. The more you watch for changes in metrics such as traffic and click-through rate, the more you will be able to enhance your reach, improve your conversions, and deliver advertisements that appeal strongly to your intended audience. Frequently assessing your marketing strategy may not seem like fun - but it is essential if you want to avoid banner ad fatigue, and maximize success.