Since the beginning of Webdom banner ads have the been a zit on the face of web. Whether rapidly changing color like a horny cuddle fish, jumping out at you from nowhere or maybe just hanging out in the corner, these attempts at grabbing your attention most often lead to nothing.

I was inspired to write on this topic after seeing a small banner ad for bake mix of some kind (brownies I think) making a sad plea for my time. It was apparently the wrong size because a quarter of it was being cut off and the part that was visible simply showed me a picture of the product packaging, a tag line and a button that said “Click Me.” Day-um. Even if I had been interested in brownies I wouldn’t have clicked that banner. It was trying too hard (but keep trying). By attempting to communicate too much the message was lost all together.

The question they should have asked themselves was “What do I want to accomplish with the ad?”
Was it a click? Are you going to convert a brownie sale right there on the web? Doubtful. If you want brownies you’ll go to the grocery store. Likely the best you can hope for with a web ad for brownies is brand and/or product exposure. Maybe they’ll think of you next time their shopping. So why waste all that real estate with a tag line and button.

A more effective option would be to infuse the ad with humor, that way It’s more likely to be memorable and I, the viewer, would have received something from the ad.  A laugh can be very valuable and I’m likely to reward them with a purchase later on.  Admittedly humor can be difficult to achieve so a simpler approach might be to simply use all the banner real estate to communicate the product.  Fill the banner with the brownies and eliminate the tag line and button, no one will click it anyway.

If you have realistic expectations of what the banner can accomplish you’ll reap a greater reward.