Banner ad blindness is a phenomenon brought on by advertisement over-exposure. As digital ads became part of our daily lives, people recognized their typical shape and location on a webpage. As a result, website visitors started to ignore and skip over banner ads. People want to accomplish their goal when visiting a site, whether it’s reading an article or buying a new shirt, and ad blindness is categorized as a form of selective attention where people only spend time on the content that interests them.
Banner ads are valuable real estate on a page, but your institution needs to think creatively to attract attention. Below we’ll share five tips on how to cure ad blindness for your institution.
An eye-tracking study by Nielsen Norman Group found that users skip past typical ad placements and ignore content at the top of the page or along the right rail. If you’re wondering why this is important, researchers predict that mobile banner ad spending in the United States is expected to grow from $43 billion in 2020 to $65 billion by 2025.
Companies still view banner ads as a valuable way to advertise their products and services, and they are investing their marketing dollars toward this ad format.
Stray From Stereotypical
One of the reasons for ad blindness is that consumers’ eyes are trained to avoid typical ads. If you want to increase viewership and click-through rates, it can’t hurt to try something different. People are more likely to stop and spend their time on something that’s new and interesting.
We recognize the traditional ad placements, sizes, and colors, so it’s worthwhile to try mixing one of these factors up to see the impact it has on the success of your banner ads. You can try placing banner ads in a different space such as the middle of text, or your FI can experiment with interactive features and video to encourage visitors to click on your ad because it’s something they haven’t seen hundreds of times before.
Design With a Mobile-First Mindset
Many digital ads are viewed on a smartphone, and ad spend reflects this notion. Banner ads for mobile have less space, so it’s important to create an ad that includes CTA and only high-priority copy that’s necessary to get your message across. Beyond quality images and video for your ads, some businesses add animated features and dynamic data feeds that catch users’ eyes and keep ads up-to-date on relevant offerings.
Try Native Content
Many people view banner ads as disruptive or annoying, so native ads are embedded into the overall content of the page to create a cohesive flow. Less is more in this case, and instead of designing a bold, flashy ad that stands out, you can attract viewers’ eyes naturally as they skim the page.
Find Relevant Placements
A general theme among our tips is that your banner ads should be unobtrusive and avoid irritating consumers. This is why it’s a great idea to place your ad on a webpage where it becomes relevant and useful to its readers. Although finances come into play in all aspects of our lives, your institution’s products and services might be of more interest on financial-related websites or articles where people are actively searching for advice, trends, or the latest news in financial services. To see an increase in your click-through rate, you can place your ads in locations that make sense and connect to your ad’s offering.
Always Test
One of the most important steps to cure ad blindness is testing. We recommend A/B testing for many facets of your institution’s marketing, and banner ads are no different. By comparing various ad fonts, colors, or placements, you can see which ad makes your target audience stop, hover, read, and click. By utilizing A/B testing, you can put your best foot forward and increase conversions for your banner ads.
Personalization and customization aren’t strictly related to testing, but these concepts are similar in the way they require multiple versions of the same ad. A key factor in increasing engagement and triggering responses from your audience is to communicate in a way that resonates with them. This is why it is important to tailor your ads to your target audience.
Tools such as Prisma help you create multiple variations of the same banner ad based on the consumer data you already have. For example, you can choose a different color palette depending on the age range, propose a new featured product they haven’t taken advantage of yet, or offer specific services based on their latest credit card purchases.
As users get more exposed to technology and digital media, you need to find more creative ways to capture their attention and speak to them in a one-to-one fashion.
Learn what Prisma’s marketing automation software can do for your financial institution, and visit Prisma’s blog posts for more useful marketing tips and strategies.
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