Creative banner ads: where to start?

An advertisement is a piece of content composed of images, sounds, video or text that aims to capture the attention of a specific audience, encouraging the purchase of a product or service. Learn more about what types exist and how to create one for your brand.

From the days when advertisements were shouted on the streets, through newspaper, radio and television ads to mobile applications, these pieces of content are used to arouse the interest of a potential buyer and generate needs for consumption.

In this guide, we tell you what advertisements are through practical and very creative examples, with the aim of encouraging you to create striking advertisements for your brand.

If you already sell online or are starting to do so (taking advantage of the !), these tips will help you creatively spread the attributes of your products or services and thus show the world what you are capable of doing. Let’s go! 🚀

What is an advertisement?

We can define an advertisement as a piece of content created with the intention of promoting a product or service, encouraging its purchase by creating a need in the consumer.

It is a brief message built through images, sounds, video or text that seeks to capture the attention of the recipient, generating curiosity about what it announces.

Here we leave you a clear example of an advertisement.

Later you will discover to which classification this piece of advertising belongs and how to create such an ad.

What are advertisements for?

Banner ads can be great tools to encourage sales and get more people interested in your brand or products. These are some of the features of banner ads.

1. Generate notoriety about a brand, product or service.
2. Create a need in the audience.
3. Inform about the characteristics and functions of a product or service.
4. Keep a brand in the mind of the consumer.
5. Help close a sale by persuading the potential customer.

Let’s look at each point in detail.

1. Generate notoriety about a brand, product or service

One of the benefits of advertisements is that through creative text or images and videos it manages to capture the attention of a specific audience, differentiating the product from the competition.

2. Create a need in the audience

Through the message and the images, an advertisement manages to delve into the psychology of the consumer so that, possibly, it can be satisfied by the product or service that is advertised.

Take a look at this Head & Shoulders advertisement where the phrase with which the commercial opens points to a need of the audience: to have strong and healthy hair.

3. Inform about the characteristics and functions of a product or service

Another of the functions of advertisements is to publicize the benefits and, talking about their properties and those aspects that differentiate them from the competition.

4. Keep a brand in the mind of the consumer

If you have a certain position in the market and the consumer already knows your brand, advertisements can help you stay as a leader in the sector through a memorable piece.

5. Help close a purchase by persuading the potential customer

Giving the potential customer reasons to make a purchase is like an advertisement supporting the closing of a sale. It is probably the most important function that can be translated into profits that an advertising piece can provide to a brand.

I continued reading about the advantages of advertising:

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What are the characteristics of a good advertisement?

A good commercial has certain peculiarities that make it differentiate a brand and stay in the mind of the consumer. These are the 7 characteristics that distinguish a good advertisement. Take note!

1. they are brief
2. reflect a brand identity
3. they are flashy
4. They provide valuable information
5. Convey a specific idea
6. are persuasive
7. they are memorable

We will expand on each of these concepts below.

1. They are brief

Whether you publish it on television, radio or social networks, to broadcast an advertisement you have a limited number of seconds of attention from the audience.

In fact, a , an American company specializing in research on digital marketing, warns that if your advertisement is focused on millennials, you only have 5 or 6 seconds of attention, in contrast to traditional television, where you have 30 seconds. Therefore, keep it short!

2. They reflect a brand identity

Each advertisement or advertising piece must reflect the . It can be through the colors or the way in which the people who appear in your advertisement are portrayed.

🎨 Do you need help defining the colors of your brand? Use our free, differentiate yourself from your competition and capture the attention of your audience.

3. They are flashy

If successful advertising pieces have something, it is that they capture our attention in a few seconds, either at first glance at a bus stop or with a funny tone in a radio ad.

4. They provide valuable information

Effective advertisements often provide valuable information about the product or service they provide. It happens more often with items that are being introduced to the market, drugs or services that are not easy to understand at first glance.

5. They convey a specific idea

A successful advertisement knows that it is better to convey one concrete idea than ten unclear messages. Having little time, it is essential to prioritize the communicative intention, so that the most important thing remains in the mind of the potential buyer.

6. They are persuasive

Its function is to convince a certain audience that they need to buy or hire something. For this reason, a good advertisement encourages you to acquire that product or service, persuading you of the need to try it in order to benefit from its characteristics.

7. They are memorable

Surely you remember a commercial that stayed in your mind. What was he announcing? How was it? Maybe it had a catchy song or a particular scene.

Good advertisements stay in the mind and it is difficult to stop remembering them, precisely because they have some element that “clicked” with us.

Take a look at this and be encouraged to make a memorable announcement.

What are the types of ads that exist?

Not all advertisements are the same or have the same characteristics. We share a list of the most common types of advertisements and examples.

• print ads
• digital ads
• outdoor ads
• radio ads
• TV commercials

print ads

Print ads are among the oldest in existence. The first published in newspapers and posters date back to 1470, 20 years after the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg. However, there are records of pieces prior to that date, such as the .

Example of a print ad

digital ads

Technology opened up a world of possibilities for advertising, providing new spaces and ways to advertise products. Both in social networks, search engines, websites, applications and even in email it is possible to find advertisements, adjusted to the dynamics of each platform.

Take advantage of our specialized guides and learn more about digital ads:

Example of a digital banner ad

outdoor ads

When walking down the street, it is possible to find advertisements in high-traffic places such as highways, bus stops, subway or train platforms, or on trucks.

Another name that this advertising receives is “Out of home” referring to advertisements that the consumer finds outside the home.

Example of an outdoor advertisement

radio ads

Currently, radio takes advantage of the streaming music format and services to reach a certain type of audience, often those who use public transport or spend a lot of time commuting.

Example of a radio commercial

We share with you a journey through advertising creativity on Argentine radio, prepared by Télam and with the accompaniment of Raúl Manrupe, publicist and audiovisual researcher:

TV commercials

Television remains a great advertising medium for brands to get closer to consumers. Television ads are characterized by being brief, impressive and repetitive, so that they can stay in the mind of the potential buyer and reflect on the purchase intention.

TV ad example

Elements of an advertisement

Now that you know what an advertisement is and some of the most common types, we will show you what the parts of an advertisement are.

The main elements of an advertisement are:

1. brand name
2. Message
3. creative concept
4. call to action
5. Images or video

1. Brand name

It is vital to mention the brand or show the logo of your company to associate it with the message that is presented in the advertising piece. Within the best practices, it is recommended that it be shown in the first seconds of the commercial, so that it is recognizable by the audience.

💡 If you are in the initial phase of your business and you still haven’t found the ideal name for your brand, use ours for free and turn your business idea into a reality!

2. Message

It can be sung, spoken or written and, no matter how it is delivered, it is the central part of the piece, the one that will stay in the mind of the potential buyer and that will encourage them to make the purchase of the service or product that is being advertised.

3. Creative concept

The creative concept is that narrative line that links your entire advertising campaign. It can be a specific phrase or idea, but everything that a message intends to convey to the audience is concentrated in it.

Know more:

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4. Call to action

Advertising advertisements usually encourage consumers to perform an action, buy a product, subscribe to a service, schedule an appointment, visit a branch, etc. Regardless of what the action is, this invitation must be clear and precise.

5. Images or video

Although these elements may not be part of the advertising piece if you intend to make an announcement on the radio or by telephone, for other channels the images and videos are essential for the piece to look complete and deliver the message to the audience.

How to make an advertisement?

In this section we share with you how to make a creative and effective advertisement step by step.

1. Define the purpose.
2. Limit the audience.
3. Decide the medium and the budget.
4. Choose the message.
5. Design the piece.
6. Post the ad.
7. Carry out an analysis of what was obtained.

1. Define the purpose

What do you want to achieve: brand awareness, launch a new product or…