Search Advertising vs Display Advertising: Which delivers best returns?

Whether you’re a beginner or an expert in marketing, it can be challenging to determine whether you should use search advertising or display advertising for your marketing campaign. Making the wrong choice can have a negative impact on the success of your entire campaign.

We, at Brandistry use methods by which we can help you decide which option is best for your business and which will generate the highest number of conversions.

Display advertising

You come across display advertising everywhere online. When you visit websites, you’ll notice ads displaying various products. Additionally, you may have seen the same ads repeatedly on your social media feeds. This is because display advertising utilizes user behavior’s tracking to present relevant ads to the appropriate customers. Display ads are also referred to as banner ads, such as the one shown above.

Increased brand recognition

To effectively make use of display advertising, it’s important to grasp its purpose. In essence, display ads are effective for boosting brand awareness because they are typically placed where potential customers are likely to be present. For instance, if a customer is browsing a website dedicated to vegetarian recipes, they might encounter a display ad promoting a healthy food store. This ad serves to raise awareness about the store, which the customer may not have been aware of previously. Marketers gather this information by analyzing customer behavior’s, demographics, and past search histories.

Behavioral advertising

If a user has visited your website but hasn’t made a purchase or taken any desired action, display ads offer the opportunity to re-engage those users through retargeting. By displaying targeted ads, you can remind the user about your brand and increase the likelihood of them converting. Retargeting is a valuable strategy that aims to bring back users who have previously shown interest. 

High visibility 

While display ads effectively promote your brand to the appropriate audience, they also offer high visibility. When using display ads, they are displayed not only to your target demographic but also to customers who may not have actively searched for your products or services. This means that even if you are not specifically targeting a particular audience, your business will still be visible to them.

Search advertising 

Search advertising, also known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, provides a straightforward and cost-effective method to target the desired audience. It allows you to have control over who sees your ads and delivers almost immediate results. The PPC ads are displayed directly on search engine websites when a specific keyword or phrase is searched for.

Qualified leads

A well-executed PPC campaign can increase the number of visitors to your website and lead to more conversions. This is because customers actively search for keywords that trigger your PPC ads, as long as those keywords align with your product or service. PPC ad campaigns typically generate higher click-through rates compared to display ads because they attract qualified leads.

Analytical data

Google AdWords serves as a convenient platform to establish your search advertising campaign and enables you to effortlessly monitor its performance. By accessing your AdWords account and navigating to the Campaigns tab, you can select “Keywords” to obtain precise insights into how customers are responding to your chosen keywords and phrases.

Budget-friendly

If you’re new to advertising or working with a limited budget, PPC can offer the best value for your money. In a PPC campaign, you only pay for ads when a user clicks on them, hence the name. This means that if you carefully select and bid on keywords that are relevant to your product or service, the users who click on your ads are likely to be qualified leads, leading to higher conversion rates. It serves as an excellent method to test what works before delving into more time-consuming marketing strategies like SEO and content creation.

Determining factors

Having understood the key distinctions between search and display advertising, it is crucial to consider several factors before making a decision. Take into account the following considerations before choosing the most suitable advertising approach for your campaign.

Search volume

It is essential to understand what your potential customers are searching for and whether they are actively seeking the products you offer. Google AdWords can be helpful in this regard by assisting you in determining the search volume for your chosen keywords. If you find that relevant keywords for your business are classified as high competition, starting with a PPC campaign is advisable. Let’s consider an example using the keywords “health foods.”

Awareness

Brand awareness is a crucial factor to consider when making a decision. It is important to assess the current level of awareness about your brand. If your goal is to enhance brand awareness, display ads are the most suitable option. However, it’s worth noting that a search campaign can also contribute to brand awareness, especially when targeting brand-specific keywords.

Type of services or products

The immediate return on investment (ROI) may vary for different types of products or services when it comes to advertising. For instance, services such as towing, locksmiths, and doctors, which fall under the category of “urgent” services, are typically sought after by users who require immediate assistance. In such cases, using a display ad for advertising may not provide the highest benefit to potential customers in their time of need. However, it doesn’t imply that these services wouldn’t benefit from a display ad at all; it just means that the customer’s immediate needs may not be as effectively addressed through display advertising.

Mobile first

It is interesting to note that nearly 60% of searches are conducted using mobile devices. In handling mobile searches, search ad campaigns are usually more effective. For instance, when users search for a service on their mobile devices, they are less likely to scroll through a website and are more inclined to click on the first ad that appears, typically a PPC ad.

Core understanding of advertising

When embarking on a new campaign, determining the appropriate type of advertising to utilize can be challenging. Factors such as budget, search volume, and primary objectives need to be carefully considered before making a decision. In some cases, it may be advantageous to leverage both platforms simultaneously to maximize return on investment (ROI). By employing both search and display advertising, you can effectively target customers at different stages of their journey, leading to potentially significant gains in the long run. At Brandistry, we have seen promising results when combining search and display advertising strategies for our clients.