Banner advertising can be used to drive traffic, increase brand awareness, or drive product sales.

Banner ads can be used in PPC, however, they refer to a specific type of ad — a graphic ad, rather than a text ad. Banner ads show up on websites, not the search results.

What Makes an Advertising Banner Successful?

Before digging into creating a successful banner ad, we need to talk about what banner ads do.   There are two primary goals for banner advertising: impressions and clicks. 

Impressions refer to how many people actually see your banner. While these people may not actually click over to your website, impressions help increase brand awareness. 

With click-throughs, your goal is to get people to click through to your website or to a landing page. You may generate leads, capture email sign-ups, make sales, or other specific engagement goals. In this case, you will be tracking how many clicks you get on your ads. 

You might also be thinking about retargeting. Retargeting helps you target someone who already visited your website or engaged with you in some way. You can think about these people as a sort of warm lead. 

They interacted with your brand at some point, and this is your chance to draw them back in. For this purpose, you’ll be interested in both impressions and clicks, as you make people more aware of your brand and entice them back to your website. 

Let’s talk about what makes them work and how you can emulate some of these elements in your own advertising banners.  

Ashley Homestore Successful Banner Ad

They have a clear message here. You can trust their products to be stylish and affordable and make your living space feel like home, they argue. With an evocative image and a clear call to action, you know exactly what to do next if you want that experience. 

Also, the neutral color palette makes it ideal for a range of website placements. 

Nutrisystem Successful Banner Ad

Nutrisystem is betting on the idea that you’ll find that price point alluring. They’ve made it really bold so that even when your eyes are looking at something else on the page, you can’t miss the “$249” message. 

The other really bold items are the yellow jacket on the smiling woman and the orange “Shop Sale” button, which implies you’ve got a limited time to act. 

Visible Successful Banner Ad

There is a bit too much text on this ad, but the bold text grabs you with a big promise. The bright blue background and white text makes it stand out on the page. The “Learn more” button is clear and enticing.