8 Benefits of Responsive Display Ads

Are you curious about an advertisement type that’s very helpful for advertisers and easy to show ads in as many places as possible? If you answered yes, we’d like to introduce you to responsive display ads (RDAs)! 

These innovative ads automatically adjust to fit a wide range of formats and display opportunities, allowing headlines, text, and images to appear wherever there’s available space. Leveraging RDAs within the Google Display Network helps advertisers reach a broader audience. Thanks to their “automation,” which seamlessly handles the process of adapting ad assets without requiring manual intervention, RDAs can quickly generate multiple versions of an ad to fit various display opportunities. This automation saves time, reduces the need for constant adjustments, and enhances campaign performance by ensuring that the most effective ad combinations are shown to the right audiences. 

Now that we’ve covered the basics of RDAs, let’s explore the specific advantages they bring to your campaigns.

Advantage #1: Optimizes Conversions

RDAs allow advertisers to display relevant and personalized content for their target audiences. They use dynamic and static formats based on ad feeds and creative assets, with Google automatically testing different combinations to identify the high-performing ones. This helps advertisers prioritize the most effective copy and designs. 

RDAs are designed to participate in more auctions and match more queries, resulting in more impressions, clicks, and significantly higher conversion rates. 

Advantage #2: Maximizes Ad Reach at a Lower Cost

With their ability to adjust sizing based on the viewer’s screen, RDAs are accessible to a wide range of people on different types of devices. Their flexibility also cost-effectively broadens advertisers’ reach. For example, a well-known news outlet, Bloomberg Media, reduced its cost-per-action by 8% and cost-per-site-visit by an impressive 81% after leveraging RDAs. The company achieved this success by uploading and optimizing its assets, including images, logos, videos, etc., allowing RDAs to automatically generate optimal ad combinations. 

Advantage #3: Enhances Branding

RDAs are a great way to help advertisers stand out from competitors and ingrain their company image and values into the minds of their target audience. They display eye-catching banner images with high-quality visuals to pique the interest of potential customers in real time! In addition to improving branding, RDAs can also reach competitors’ customers due to their uniqueness and attention-grabbing nature compared to other ads. 

Advantage #4: Refines the User Experience

With the help of Google’s AI algorithms, advertisers using RDAs can easily reach their target audience by analyzing internet user data for more precise targeting. RDAs automatically reshape to fit any browser, making them more engaging and relevant to audiences instead of bothersome. Another great benefit of RDAs is their rapid loading times, which improve the overall user experience by ensuring seamless and fast browsing. 

Advantage #5: Boosts Productivity With Ease

Advertisers are constantly looking for ways to save time and enhance efficiency, and RDAs serve as a solution. With RDAs, advertisers can streamline their workflow by reducing the time spent managing separate ads within each ad group. This allows them to prioritize brainstorming strategy ideas and other important tasks that enhance their digital marketing performances. 

Advantage #6: Increases Click-Through Rates

By leveraging machine learning to automatically test and analyze the various display ad types, RDAs can lead to higher click-through rates (CTRs). This innovative technology makes the Google Display Network (GDN) —a network connecting advertisers with people while they’re browsing millions of websites and apps—more accessible and effective. The GDN allows advertisers to examine different ad creative combinations in real time, increasing the number of clicks they receive. 

Advantage #7: Showcases Videos Across the Display Network

Did you know that videography can play an important role in convincing online shoppers to purchase a product or service they see in an advertisement? Videos help potential customers visually connect with what they’re considering buying. RDAs support the use of videos within the display network, establishing them as a valuable element for advertisers to include in their advertising strategy. Leveraging videos’ dynamic features, such as sight, sound, and motion, can enhance ad performance. 

Another advantage of using Google is its ability to suggest videos over images when it believes a video would better resonate with the audience. Google allows advertisers to include up to five videos in their ad campaigns, making their ads more effective. 

Advantage #8: Hassle-Free Setup

The final benefit we’d like to highlight is how easily RDAs can be created and installed. Creating ads to meet specific requirements can be tedious, but with GDN supporting over 20 ad sizes, Google simplifies the creation process. Advertisers simply provide images, logos, or videos to Google, and it will combine these assets to fit within the network's standards. Google handles all the heavy lifting, making it easier for advertisers to succeed. 

Best Practices to Keep in Mind When Using RDAs

Now that we’ve addressed all the benefits of RDAs, it’s time to focus on best practices. First, follow the image guidelines, leverage the provided insights, and lastly, make full use of headline and text variations.

Reference the guidelines for images  

Let’s review what advertisers should consider throughout the RDA creation process. It’s best to use images that are easy to interpret, even at their smallest size. Make the images as clear as possible. Advertisers should ensure their ads are designed to fit every available size and format since forgetting to do so can result in missed opportunities to showcase their products or services. By creating ads that fit into all possible combinations, they can remain confident that their ads will always be showcased wherever there’s available space. We advise against incorporating copy within images since other parts of the ad, such as the headline and text fields, are opportunities to include messaging. Our final recommendation is not to overprocess the images—avoid using any filters.  

Leverage the insights

We talked a little bit about this earlier, but we’d like to highlight the fact that RDAs offer insights that help optimize advertising campaigns. As advertisers develop more RDAs, they can get a sense of the ad combinations, whether the headlines, descriptions, or images resonate with the audience and those that don’t. These insights allow them to prioritize creating high-performing ads. 

Advertisers can also use these insights for retargeting purposes. By leveraging these insights, advertisers can ensure they effectively engage with customers who have previously interacted with their business.

Review the text parameters 

Advertisers should be familiar with the text parameters for RDAs on the GDN. The short headline, which is the first line of the ad, allows 30 characters, and advertisers need at least one, but can have up to five. The long headline has a limit of 90 characters, as does the description, of which advertisers must provide at least one, with up to five allowed. 

The business name, which has a 25-character limit, should be spelled and capitalized correctly. Advertisers should include a clear call to action (CTA) in the long headline to ensure the main message is conveyed, even if what all viewers are shown are the headline and image. 

Be clear and assertive 

If you’re an advertiser needing some inspiration for effective CTAs that you’d want to incorporate into your RDAs, you’re in the right place! We have plenty of tips to help guide you. 

First, keep it straightforward. An effective CTA won’t necessarily be a complete sentence but rather a concise phrase within four to seven words. Next, offer something clear to the audience. This can be free shipping, a one-time deal, or even a discount code. Offering a special incentive will encourage the audience to engage with your company. 

It’s also important to incorporate a sense of urgency into the CTA by using action-oriented words such as “buy” or “subscribe” and including a deadline. We discovered that the best CTAs feature red, green, yellow, and orange colors, while brown, white, and black should be avoided. Make sure to consistently A/B test your CTAs! 

Utilize RDAs with Confidence 

We recommend advertisers incorporate RDAs into their advertising strategy because they help advertisers quickly identify the best methods for their company and allow campaigns to reach valuable customers throughout the internet.

If you’re an advertiser ready to enhance your marketing strategy with RDAs, AdRoll is here to help! Get started today and solidify your company’s advertising efforts. 

Last updated on September 6th, 2024.