The digital advertising landscape is so vast that experts predict that the total global digital ad spend will surpass $220 billion by 2022. However, not all ads were created equal; some types of ads have been dominating the online world for a while now. Undoubtedly the most popular tool of many digital marketers by far is display ads.

Due to their visual nature, these ads have proven to be perfect for the digital realm. But what are display ads, and why are they so effective?

Display advertising entails using text-based or visual ads on websites or social media networks to attract people to take action or simply raise brand awareness. The prices of these ads are most often calculated following a CPC model. That means you will be charged a specific amount whenever someone clicks on your ad.

Although display ads are most commonly used in programmatic advertising, brands also like to use them in their retargeting campaigns. That means they use display advertising platforms to target users who have previously left their websites without purchasing anything. That way, you entice them to come back and reconsider.

But despite their various uses, display ads remain particularly suitable for targeting potential customers still in the awareness stage of the marketing funnel. The reason is that the users seeing display ads aren’t searching for specific products and services. If they were, they’d be using a search network. That means their search intent isn’t transactional, but informational.Because of that, very few display ad impressions end up in a conversion.

As we’ve already mentioned, there are several different types of display ads. Here are a few of the most common ones:

These types of display ads are the most well-known ones. They appear at the top or the sides of websites, and they got their name because they resemble banners.

These ads are like the pop-up ads of old. An interstitial ad is an advertisement that appears before you can access a site’s landing page. Most users dislike these ads because they prevent you from opening a website before closing the ad. Also, these types of display ads are most often used on mobile devices. — These are interactive ads that can engage users in different ways. For instance, rich media ads might be an interactive video, poll, a button, or similar.

Video advertising is all the rage in the digital marketing world nowadays because videos offer an interactive experience for the users and plenty of possibilities for advertisers. There are two most prominent video ad formats: in stream and out stream video ads. The former appears in the shape of pre-, mid-, or post-roll ads on videos, whereas the latter usually manifest in the form of a video player appearing somewhere on a website.

These are interactive ads that can engage users in different ways. For instance, rich media ads might be an interactive video, poll, a button, or similar.

We cannot emphasize enough the importance of display advertising, because display advertising provides outstanding benefits for your business. If you don’t use them, you’ll miss out on a cheap and effective way to grow your brand.