Display ads

Display ads are visual banner ads with imagery, text and sometimes movement that you show on websites, apps and videos within advertising networks. Unlike search ads, here you address people who are not actively looking for you, but who do fit your audience.

What do you use display ads for?

Display is mainly about visibility and awareness. You reach a broad audience at a relatively low cost per thousand impressions, which is ideal for building a brand at the top of the funnel. The strongest application is retargeting: visitors who already know your site you follow with banners as they browse further, so you stay top of mind during a long B2B decision journey.

Display vs. search ads

The difference lies in intent. With search ads you capture someone with a concrete question, with direct buying intent. Display interrupts people while they are doing something else, so the conversion rate per impression is lower. That does not make display weaker, but rather a different instrument: it works on awareness and repetition, not on direct harvesting. Judge it by the wrong metric and it will always seem too expensive.

Why we use display honestly

Display is prone to vanity numbers. Millions of impressions look impressive, but say little about customers. At Customer Impact we deploy display selectively, with sharp audience definition and exclusions, and we measure it on its actual role in the journey toward revenue. For a B2B service provider, a handful of qualified leads is worth more than a pile of cheap impressions. We build it in as support, not as a goal.