• 09/02/2023
• By wizewebsite
• 431 Views

Ten Commandments to prepare efficient brand formats<

Brand campaigns are now more important than ever. There are more and more brands on the market, and the number of e-shops that need to build their name has also grown significantly on the Czech internet during the pandemic. And that's exactly what brand campaigns can do. We therefore bring you basic practical recommendations for the production of branded advertising banners and maximizing their effect. Additional tips will also be heard at the Seznam.cz forum 2021 conference. It will take place online on October 14 and you can participate for free. Registration is possible at michaela.pazderova@firma.seznam.cz. The number of places is limited.

1. You must impress now. The competition is high

Keep in mind that people are exposed to a large number of advertising messages every day. According to foreign estimates, it can be on the order of ten thousand. It is therefore advisable that the brand banner catches the user's attention right from the first impression. The ideal is to appeal to people with an idea, to be distinctive and to communicate the brand clearly and legibly.

2. Focus on engagement, not clicks

If you've worked with performance campaigns before, you're probably used to focusing on cost per click. However, it should not be the primary criterion for brand campaigns. In order for the effect of the brand campaign to be as high as possible, you should primarily aim to reach the largest possible relevant audience. Therefore, we recommend rather to set the cost per thousand impressions (CPT) and work with the display of ads in such a way that you achieve the desired reach of unique users with an effective frequency.

3. Ensure sufficient visibility of banners

Choose visible advertising formats. It must be taken into account that almost every banner is only seen and not clicked on. However, a good banner conveys the message and impresses the user. In the Seznam.cz RTB network, we also have advertising positions with a visibility of over 80%. Clients can always recalculate CPT to "visible CPT" across the market for comparison.

4. Brand banner performance will improve brand awareness testing

Don't forget to test. In this way, you will find out what your potential customers are interested in, or on the contrary, not interested in, even before you inefficiently waste money on inappropriate advertising. Qualitative research and self-testing of brand knowledge will help you. Thanks to this, you will know exactly which target groups you have gaps where they do not know your brand, and you will be able to subsequently adapt the form of the banner to the interests of the users.

5. Video advertising is very effective for brand building

It is effective to use so-called outstream video advertising, which is displayed in the normal content of the page (for example, in the body of the article between paragraphs of text). It is cost-effective and has the greatest impact compared to other video formats. It is advisable to subsequently combine it with a more premium in-stream video advertisement (which is displayed in the same player as the content played by the viewer). If you have a limited budget, we recommend targeting a narrower audience that has interests related to your product or is interested in buying a product in your category.

For video creative in an online environment, it pays to show your product right at the beginning of the video and generally capture the viewer's attention in the first seconds. Even if the user subsequently closes the ad, you still gave him an important message - he got to know your brand. In the case of television or more expensive commercials, the logic is often reversed - the essential message of the advertisement is revealed to the viewer at the end so that he watches the commercial the entire time.

6. Use bold colors or eye-catching color combinations

Always choose colors that are iconic to your brand. Avoid competing colors so that people clearly associate your brand with the creative. It is worth looking at the environment in which the banner will appear, so that it does not fit in between the messages and the content, but instead stands out in its form.

7. Don't forget a catchy claim

If your brand is not well known, always accompany the logo or name with a short sentence or so-called claim. It should best characterize your campaign and business. And if for any reason you decide to use animations, keep the logo in the banner clearly visible for the entire duration of the animation. Also try to create an advertising message that resonates with your target group. In the case of video, we recommend creating a typical jingle for your brand. Research shows that sound is one of the most effective tools for brand recognition.

8. Everything should be related

Individual elements in the banner should be related to the message, this also applies to the optional accompanying high-quality photo. This should best describe the typical product or service of the company or correspond to the topic that the company deals with. Also think about connecting communication with other brand channels even offline. This will help people in equipping other messages associated with the brand. The entire communication should be connected, uniform and connected thematically and visually. Don't forget to check the consistency of communication on the packaging of the product itself, in stores or establishments, and check company materials and presentations. Everything should be connected. This will increase the overall effect of the campaign.

9. We recommend not to overcrowd banners with text or images

It pays to leave space for both. The form of the message should not prevail over the content itself. In this case, less is definitely more.

10. Don't miss the next steps and be ready to reap the fruits of your campaigns

If users are interested in your brand, it is important to have a landing page ready for them‒ an introductory web page where they can learn more about you. It is ideal to verify its functioning on a control target group. Do not forget that the page on which the user clicks must be understandable for him. The user should be able to easily understand what are the next steps they could take.

Keep in mind that it doesn't end with brand awareness or recognition. It is necessary to take into account the continuity of further communication and messages, for example according to the popular marketing methodology STDC or see-think-do-care. Know that after your potential customers see your brand, they will start thinking about it. It is therefore worthwhile to address them subsequently with appropriate advertising. Targeted, for example, using retargeting or re-approaching.

It is also appropriate to use advertising in Search. We also recommend monitoring whether the brand campaign has an effect on higher traffic on the website. If people have remembered the message well, you will usually notice a higher number of search queries. On the website, be prepared to continue working with people and have optimized keywords. With the increased number of Search queries that a campaign can generate, you need to be prepared to guide visitors through the shortest possible route to your website.

Text author: Eva Kouřilová, senior marketing manager Seznam.cz|