Where does display advertising fit in the sales funnel?
Display advertising can fit anywhere in the sales funnel, from initial awareness to conversion.
There are so many digital marketing channels that it can be difficult to determine which is the right fit for your business.
Display advertising is an integral component of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. If you’re wondering how display advertising fits in your sales funnel, keep reading to learn more.
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What is display advertising?
Display advertising is a paid digital advertising strategy that features visual media on websites and apps. Commonly, display advertising is done through Google Ads, so we’ll be focusing on that today.
Types of display ads in Google Ads
Google Ads has two primary types of ads: image ads and responsive display ads.
Image ads
Image ads, also known as banner ads, are various-sized graphics that feature images, text, and design elements that represent the brand and convey the ad’s message.
It’s best practice for these ads to have a call-to-action button on the image to entice users to take an action. That could be, “Learn More” “Request a Quote” or anything else you’d like the user to do after they see the ad.
Responsive display ads
Responsive display ads are a type of display ad that features an image, headline, and description.
To create a responsive display ad, you can upload image assets, headlines, descriptions, and even video. Then Google’s AI tests combinations of media, headlines, and descriptions to optimize your ads.
Not only do responsive display ads tend to elicit stronger results, they also don’t require any graphic design experience, making it easier to get started.
Where does display advertising fit in the marketing and sales funnel?
Now that we’re clear about what display advertising is, the next question is probably, is it right for me?
So where does display advertising fit into the sales funnel?
Display advertising has so many opportunities that it can fit anywhere in the marketing funnel, from awareness to conversion, based on your goals.
While the placement doesn’t change, we’ll discuss how we will choose our audience, messaging, and landing page based on your goal.
Top-of-the-funnel marketing
Top-of-funnel marketing casts a wider net to attract interest and awareness among a target market. Let’s talk about how you may use display advertising to build the top of your marketing funnel.
What’s our top-of-funnel goal?
When building the top of your marketing funnel, our goal will be to develop brand awareness through impressions or views on your ads. To measure the success of these campaigns, your KPIs will be impressions and click-through rate (CTR).
Audiences to consider for top-of-funnel display ads
- Custom segments: Target your audience by including the keywords, URLs, and apps your target market is using.
- Life event audiences: Target users based on their unique life milestones.
- In-market audiences: Target users based on their recent purchase intent.
- Detailed demographics: Target users based on their unique demographics, like location, age, and more.
- Affinity segments: Target users based on their interests and passions.
What kind of messaging speaks to a user at the top of the funnel?
When crafting ad copy to speak to top-of-funnel users, consider your main value proposition as a business. Since these users are being exposed to you for the first time, you’ll also want to include your brand logo to help them remember your company name alongside your value proposition.
Middle-of-the-funnel marketing
Middle-of-the-funnel marketing captures users who are in the research and information-gathering stage. They are aware of your business. They have likely been to your website. That said, they probably have not taken the next step to provide their email or contact information.
The middle-of-the-funnel is really important because it’s where a lot of users tend to drop out of your marketing funnel if you are not engaging with them strategically. So, let’s talk about how to use display advertising to engage with users in the middle-of-the-funnel.
What’s our middle-of-funnel goal?
When building the middle of your marketing funnel, your goal will be to generate traffic to the website and engage those users.
You may also have micro-conversions on your website. A micro-conversion may be a white paper, checklist, guide, or webinar. This is a great place to send targeted middle-of-funnel users that are looking for more information but may not be ready to complete the final conversion, like a demo or quote request.
To measure the success of these campaigns, your KPIs will be click-through rate (CTR), engaged users, and any micro-conversions you are targeting.
Audiences to consider for middle-of-funnel display ads
- Custom segments: Target your audience by including the keywords, URLs and apps your target market is using.
- Remarketing audiences: Target users who have previously engaged with your website as a whole or select portions of your website.
- Detailed demographics: Target users based on their unique demographics.
- Customer match lists: Upload a list of your marketing contacts that have completed micro-conversions like gated content on your website and target those users as they browse the internet.
What kind of messaging speaks to a user in the middle of the funnel?
A user in this stage has engaged with your business before and has not yet completed your key conversion, like a sale or lead form to speak with your team.
These users know your key product or services and need a little push to take the next step. Consider using ad messaging to highlight the pain points they’re likely facing and how your product or service can help ease their burden.
Bottom-of-the-funnel marketing
Bottom-of-funnel marketing seeks to nudge users who are close to purchase or our final conversion to take the next step. These users have likely spent time on your website, engaged with your key service or product pages, and may have completed a micro-conversion.
Let’s talk about how to use display advertising to target the bottom of your marketing funnel.
What’s your bottom-of-funnel goal?
When targeting the bottom of our marketing funnel, your goal will be to convert these users into leads for your sales team or a purchaser in an ecommerce environment.
To measure the success of these campaigns, your KPIs will be engaged users and your ultimate goal, whether that is a lead form or an ecommerce transaction.
Audiences to consider for bottom-of-funnel display ads
- Remarketing audiences: Target users who have previously engaged with your website as a whole or select portions of your website.
- Customer match lists: Upload a list of your marketing contacts that have completed micro-conversions like gated content on your website and target those users as they browse the internet.
What kind of messaging speaks to a user at the bottom-of-the-funnel?
First, what sets you apart from your competitors? When crafting your ad messaging to speak to bottom-of-funnel users, consider what will ultimately make the user choose you and your business out of all of their other options.
Users in this stage are shopping around, so you’ll want to get your unique selling propositions in front of them through ad messaging.
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Looking for help using display advertising to support your sales process?
Display advertising can provide value throughout your marketing and sales funnel. Selecting your audiences and messaging based on your goal will help you develop an effective display advertising strategy.
If you’re looking to develop a comprehensive display marketing strategy to nurture leads into sales, WebFX is here to help. As a Google Premier Partner, our team of Google Ads Certified consultants is ready to help create a display advertising strategy that meets your goals.
Ready to get started? Contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist about our PPC management services!
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Kelsey is an Internet Marketing Consultant at WebFX. She specializes in paid advertising campaigns and ongoing strategy development. Kelsey is Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Microsoft Ads certified. In her free time, she enjoys taking care of her plants, baking sourdough, playing pickleball, and reading. -
WebFX is a full-service marketing agency with 1,100+ client reviews and a 4.9-star rating on Clutch! Find out how our expert team and revenue-accelerating tech can drive results for you! Learn more
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