LiveIntent Blog
  • Solutions
    • Advertiser solutions
      Discover a new advertising channel for powering profitable growth.
    • Publisher solutions
      Maximize the revenue generated across email and web inventory
    • Identity data solutions
      Build stronger connections with addressable audiences everywhere.
  • Identity framework
  • Case studies
  • Company
    • Our story
      Learn more about us, our mission, vision, and the people behind it all.
    • Careers
      Grow and develop personally and professionally at LiveIntent.
    • Press
      Read up on how LiveIntent is innovating the digital ecosystem.
    • Events
      Check out our upcoming events and stay up-to-date with all things martech.
  • Resources
    • LiveIntent Library
      Learn how to harness the power of email with our eBooks, guides, and reports.
    • Blog
      Explore martech topics, strategies, and tactics with fun, insightful content.
    • Knowledge base
      Get answers to all your pressing product related questions.
    • Brand assets
      Everything you need to know about the LiveIntent brand all in one place.
Contact Us
LiveIntent Blog
  • Solutions
    • Advertiser solutions
      Discover a new advertising channel for powering profitable growth.
    • Publisher solutions
      Maximize the revenue generated across email and web inventory
    • Identity data solutions
      Build stronger connections with addressable audiences everywhere.
  • Identity framework
  • Case studies
  • Company
    • Our story
      Learn more about us, our mission, vision, and the people behind it all.
    • Careers
      Grow and develop personally and professionally at LiveIntent.
    • Press
      Read up on how LiveIntent is innovating the digital ecosystem.
    • Events
      Check out our upcoming events and stay up-to-date with all things martech.
  • Resources
    • LiveIntent Library
      Learn how to harness the power of email with our eBooks, guides, and reports.
    • Blog
      Explore martech topics, strategies, and tactics with fun, insightful content.
    • Knowledge base
      Get answers to all your pressing product related questions.
    • Brand assets
      Everything you need to know about the LiveIntent brand all in one place.
Log in Contact Us
  • Blog Homepage
  • Programmatic Advertising
  • Email Monetization
  • Identity Resolution
  • LiveIntent Culture
  • Real Time Banter
  • LiveIntentional
  • Subscribe

Display ads: Effective design 101

    • Programmatic Advertising
  • December 15, 2020
Victoria de Leon
Director, content marketing

Let’s face it; capturing audience attention isn’t easy. Not only do advertisers compete against each other for consumer attention, but also across formats, channels, and devices. Email, however, presents a unique opportunity that helps advertisers establish connections with audiences at every stage of the funnel with greater ease and impact. However powerful a media channel, email still requires effective display ads to drive success. In the words of Leo Burnett, “The secret of all effective advertising is not the creation of new and tricky words and pictures, but one of putting familiar words and pictures into new relationships.”

In this blog post, you’ll learn about the three components of display ads—messaging, imagery, and branding—and:

  • Why these elements matter
  • How these elements come together to capture attention
  • How to make the most of these components to drive an effective campaign

Messaging

Your display ads’ messaging includes your ad copy, your call to action (CTA), and landing page. This is the medium by which you’ll communicate your value proposition, what action you’d like your audience to take, and what they can expect if they click on your ad. Avoid the temptation to tell your audiences everything about your product, service, or offering all in one ad unit. You’ll benefit from sticking to a “less is more” approach instead.

A clear CTA aligned with your campaign objective is more likely to drive action than one that isn’t. This small but critical detail can dramatically impact your campaign performance, brand perception, and customer experience.

Imagery

You may have crafted the perfect ad copy, but there’s only so much we can say with words, especially in a tidy little display ad. As fantastic as your copy might be, consider using imagery, especially if the unit affords you the space to do so. Depending on the type of campaign you’re running and its objective, you’ll want to use either a product image or a lifestyle image.

Product images are great for a campaign intended to drive purchases. It enables you to showcase your products, features, or design. For a campaign focused on driving brand awareness, you may want to consider implementing lifestyle images. These images help create an emotional connection between your audience and your brand, a critical component to driving brand recognition and affinity.

Branding your display ads

Whether we’re talking logos, brand colors, or fonts, establishing and maintaining visual hierarchy is critical to effective design. When it comes to display ads, visual hierarchy is your best friend. With limited space and opportunity to tell your audiences what’s important, you have to show them instead. By adhering to a visual hierarchy, you’ll communicate the order of importance of each element in your design, from ad copy to fine print, while maintaining consistency.

Design like the pros

Want to learn more about how to design effective display ads? Check out our eBook. It’s full of in-depth examples of effective ads from savvy brands like Quip, The Farmer’s Dog, and Gilt Groupe. Download your copy today, and you’ll be a regular Don Draper in no time.

0
Tweet 0
Victoria de Leon
Director, content marketing

Must-Read Content

NRF 2023 Retail's Big Show
    • Programmatic Advertising

2023 NRF’s Big Show: Key Takeaways

  • Victoria de Leon
  • January 30, 2023
    • Programmatic Advertising

3 factors that affect email list quality

  • Victoria de Leon
  • January 18, 2023
Email Acquisition
    • Programmatic Advertising

Best practices for running email acquisition campaigns

  • Victoria de Leon
  • January 10, 2023
Learn more about Programmatic Advertising.
3 marketing priorities for 2023
View Post
  • Programmatic Advertising

3 marketing priorities for 2023

  • Mano Pillai
  • December 13, 2022
View Post
  • Programmatic Advertising

Your holiday checklist for campaign success

  • Cassie Parker
  • December 1, 2022
View Post
  • Programmatic Advertising

Email advertising is the key to surviving the next recession

  • Victoria de Leon
  • November 9, 2022
View Post
  • Programmatic Advertising

Native Curated Packages: Driving relevance and engagement for advertisers

  • Jennie Conway
  • September 8, 2022
View Post
  • Programmatic Advertising

Brand awareness: A marketer’s guide

  • Victoria de Leon
  • August 9, 2022
View Post
  • Programmatic Advertising

Why performance marketing alone won’t grow your brand

  • Victoria de Leon
  • August 3, 2022
View Post
  • Programmatic Advertising

Display ads vs native ads: What’s the difference?

  • Victoria de Leon
  • July 6, 2022
View Post
  • Programmatic Advertising

Advertising in email newsletters: Everything you need to know

  • Cassie Parker
  • June 27, 2022
LiveIntent Blog
Think outside the inbox and discover all the innovative ways email can help you grow your business.
© LiveIntent 2022
  • Solutions
    • Advertiser solutions
    • People-Based audiences
    • Publisher solutions
    • Identity data solutions
    • Identity framework
  • Company
    • Our Story
    • Careers
    • Employee Resource Groups
    • Press
    • Events
    • Contact us
  • Resources
    • Case studies
    • Blog
    • Knowledge base
    • Brand assets
  • Legal
    • Powered by
    • Content policy
    • Website privacy policy
    • Services privacy policy
    • Do not sell my info
    • Ad choices
© LiveIntent 2022
Popular topics
  • People-Based Marketing
  • Meet-a-LiveIntenter
  • Email Revenue
  • Identity Graph
  • Subscriber Acquisition
  • First-Party Data
  • Direct-to-Consumer
  • Cookie Apocalypse