6 ways to avoid banner blindness in your ads

A complete Content Marketing plan should include some form of advertising strategy, whether in the

form of Google Ads, social ads, or paid ads hosted on other websites.

However, as the advertising space continues to fill with people, not all ads receive equal attention. In

fact, it seems that some ads are ignored entirely.

A phenomenon called banner blindness is growing among digital media users and can have significant negative impacts on the effectiveness of your advertising strategy.

In this article, we will discuss the theory of banner blindness and explain the tactics you can

implement in your advertising strategy to overcome the effects of banner blindness and significantly improve your campaigns.

What are banner ads?

Before we can begin to understand bolivia phone number list what banner blindness means, we must first understand what a banner ad is .

The first distinction to make is that a banner ad is not a pop-up. Pop-ups are ads that have an “x” that

you can click to remove the ad from your screen, and are usually blocked by an ad-blocking plugin in your browser .

Banner ads are advertisements that are embedded by an ad server on a website and displayed at the

top, center, or bottom of a web page.

They are sometimes referred to as digital billboards , as they are usually static advertisements

intended to attract enough attention in a reader to cause them to click away from the website and head to the advertiser’s site.

While any website can have a banner ad embedded on its pages, they are most commonly found on news sites or aggregator sites.

These ads are different from sidebar ads, as a banner is meant to attract attention before the reader scrolls down the page.

This type of banner can also be included on a page by the brand itself to promote a product, event or rich material.

For example, if one of our blog posts will talk about Content Marketing best practices, we could include a banner on this ebook:

So what is banner blindness?

Think about the last time you really such details are important to get a complete paid attention to the

sound of your refrigerator running or your heating system turning on.

While these sounds were initially prominent when you moved into your home, after a while you

probably got used to hearing them and now tend to tune them out during everyday life.

Banner blindness works in a very similar way and while it can refer to a deliberate refusal to

acknowledge an advertisement, it is generally used to describe an unconscious form of selective attention .

Let’s review the last time you visited your favorite news site.

• Was there a banner ad at the top of the page?
• Did you notice?
• Or did you already start scrolling down to the content before you realized what it was, or maybe even before it had fully loaded?

If a reader expects an ad on a website, they will likely eventually get used to scrolling halfway down

the page to get to the content they want to see without even looking at the ad.

After a while, the banner ad on the site becomes useless, as surfers do not even look at it directly, let

alone click on it.

What can you do to avoid banner blindness?

Banner blindness can affect any  cnb directory advertiser and its impact can result in lost ROI , lost

revenue, and decreased conversions .

At worst, your brand’s reputation or trustworthiness may suffer if the ad is seen as an annoyance or

distraction from the content the viewer wants to see.

To combat banner blindness, digital marketing experts must be very discerning about the appearance

and design of their ads.

Below we will tell you 6 tactics that will help you avoid banner blindness in your advertising campaigns :

1. Avoid making it look like an ad

Banner blindness is closely related to ad fatigue.

When a website visitor is bombarded with ads every time they open a page, they will not want to

interact with them, click on offers, or even visit the website at all, as they will feel invaded, which

means they will have a bad browsing experience .

To stand out from the sea of ​​banner and sidebar ads on websites, your ads should look different and

not appear like an ad at first glance.

This can generate interest in your brand message without appearing overbearing.

Here are some tips to help you avoid looking like an ad.

Try different color combinations

While a bright, colorful ad can help you stand out in some areas, readers already expect the banner

areas of web pages to be busy.

Try a subdued palette , a dark background, or simple images to grab attention.

Try non-traditional sizes

If your ads always have the same dimensions, try changing the shape of your ad. This can catch the

reader’s attention as it is something different from the monotony they are used to.

Invest in design

If your ads aren’t getting clicks or views, try investing in a new design . Find simple, yet effective elements, contrast the native content on the page, and make your CTA stand out prominently.

2. Test video ads

Video and moving visual content can capture a reader’s attention and draw their attention to your ad more than a static image or design. A video ad can also communicate more information to viewers than an image.

Be careful with this approach, though, as a boring video ad can feel like an annoyance or pop-up ad to readers.

Make sure your video is engaging, informative and entertaining. A poor quality ad can damage your brand’s reputation.