Digital Advertising and Banner Ads for Mobile Campaigns

Whether it is the entire digital landscape as a whole or mobile marketing, banner ads are one of the first ad formats that advertisers used for their digital campaigns. Even today, banner placements are among the most sought-after digital and mobile ad formats, thanks to their high-traffic and high-visibility placements at the front, bottom, or sides of a webpage.

As banner ads have been around for so long, and with a rather fixed range of common banner ad sizes and positions, users have started expecting and, either consciously or subconsciously, ignoring banners automatically. This is referred to as “banner blindness”, which is one of the biggest concerns in banner advertising for marketers today.

Banner ads do not come cheap and with phenomena like banner blindness, marketers stand to lose out on a lot of revenue. Marketers need to get creative with their campaigns and strategies if they want to overcome banner blindness. Using a well-equipped banner ad builder that provides real-time metrics for analyzing consumer behavior, so you can modify campaigns in real-time, utilizing rich media elements in your display ads, coming up with unique and engaging ad campaigns that foster interaction, etc. are things that marketers are already striving to include, but in all this, it’s common to skip over the basics at times.

Experimenting with the Banner Ad Size

There is a range of standard banner ad sizes that a marketer must comply with in order to have their ad placed. Experimenting with different display ad sizes and placements can prove to be quite helpful for gaining a better understanding of what works for your brand and what does not.

Your Guide to Common Banner Sizes

The banner ad size plays a significant role in how many clicks the ad gets, its visibility, and its impact. Here are the most common banner sizes that you should know about:

• 468 x 60 Pixels: The Banner: This is the original banner ad size that marketers have used and is referred to as “banner” simply because it is one of the very first ad units used in banner advertising. 
• 728 x 90 Pixels: Leaderboard Banner: The first content a user sees on a page, these ad spots are large and enjoy high visibility, making them one of the most popular banner ad sizes. 
• 970 x 250 Pixels: Large Leaderboard: A relatively new addition to the list of standard banner ad sizes, it comes with a very high possibility of being noticed.
• 320 x 50 Pixels: Mobile Leaderboard: One of the most popular banner ad sizes in mobile marketing, it is generally placed at the bottom of the screen but can also be placed at the top of the page or in the middle of the content. 
• 250 x 250 Pixels: Square: One of the most commonly used digital ad sizes, this can be used in digital as well as mobile marketing campaigns.
• 200 x 200 Pixels: Small Square: Another banner ad size that can be used across digital and mobile marketing campaigns alike.
• 300 x 250 Pixels: Medium Rectangle: With a distinct design and clear CTA, these are placed in the middle of the content on a page and are among the most effective display ad sizes today.
• 336 x 280 Pixels: Large Rectangle: Another one of the popular display ad sizes, these ads perform best when placed in-line with the content on the webpage.
• 120 x 600 Pixels: Skyscraper: A slim, vertical banner ad size, these cover a decent area across a webpage and can be placed on either sidebar of the page.
• 160 x 600 Pixels: Wide Skyscraper: Almost the same as the Skyscraper, just with bigger dimensions.

Commonly Used Digital Ad Sizes for Mobile Devices:

• 320 x 50: Standard Banner: Popular ad spot in gaming apps, this is placed at the top or bottom of app content.
• 300 x 250: Medium Rectangular Banner: Appears in-line with app content.
• 320 x 480: Mobile Interstitial: Serves between screens during mobile app navigation.
• 468 x 60: Full-Size Banner: Used for advertising on tablets.

Among these standard banner ad sizes, the mobile leaderboard, medium rectangle, leaderboard, and wide skyscraper digital ad sizes are considered to be among the top performing. Other popular digital ad sizes for mobile campaigns include adaptive and smart banners. Adaptive banners are ads where the width of the ad unit is standardized, but the height is adjusted based on the device where the ad is being served in real time. In smart banners, on the other hand, both the width and height of the ad unit are dynamic and are adjusted in real-time based on the user’s device.

Tips Regarding Display Ad Sizes for High-Performance Mobile Campaigns

Being aware of the standard banner sizes being used today should be followed by an understanding of how they should be used in order to maximize the potential of your mobile campaigns.

Rich Media Ads

Counted among the most interactive and engaging ad formats, rich media ads offer a lot of benefits, which you can avail by keeping these tips in mind:

• Understand the difference between interactive and intrusive.
• Keep the animations subtle.
• If the ad placement involves full-screen coverage, ensure the exit button is clearly visible.
• Do not force interaction.
• Videos account for a major part of consumer traffic. Consider integrating videos.

Banner Ads

The most popular placements can be seen everywhere, from websites to streaming devices and apps.

• Experiment with different ad sizes and placements to find what works best for you.
• Avoid placements that are prone to accidental clicks. It may lead to higher CTRs, but it will also increase your Bounce Rate.
• Do not place ads too close together and do not place too many ads on a single page.

Mobile Native Ads

• Optimize ad creatives to mimic organic content.
• Deliver a clear message and avoid clickbait.
• Be prepared for traffic. Do not forget to optimize your landing page/website for the traffic the ad may generate. A smooth UX is as important as ad engagement.
• Use an ad builder platform to create reusable templates to reduce the efforts involved in mobile native campaigns.

Mobile Video Ads

Whether displayed in-line with the video content or shown individually, video ads are the most popular ad format today, regardless of the platform.

• Optimize ad units for connections with low bandwidth as well.
• Provide value.
• Do not lose yourself in the details and maintain focus on a single objective.
• Do not overload the user with too much information.
• Include a clear CTA.
• Keep it short and to the point. 
• Try to maintain an “organic feel” in the content.

Ensuring that certain best practices are followed in your advertising campaigns can go a long way in helping you avoid the common pitfalls and improper ad implementations of campaigns.