Pros & Cons Of Responsive Display Ads – An In-Depth Analysis

Responsive display ads are simple to develop and effective in digital marketing, but they also come with drawbacks just like any other ad type. You should figure out whether responsive display ads campaigns are worth your efforts and time before diving deeply into them.

Do responsive display ads’ advantages outweigh their drawbacks for you? Is this the ideal strategy to help you achieve your campaign goals?

In this article, we will discuss all the advantages and disadvantages as well as other relevant information about using responsive display ads for your business. You will be able to identify if your business is perfect for responsive display ads or if it would be just a waste of resources.

Learn more about the Google Display Network's default ad type to evaluate whether it's the best fit for your display advertising campaign.

Brief History Of Responsive Display Ads

In 2018, responsive display advertisements replaced non-responsive ads as the standard for display business owners. They are suitable for usage in both Traditional Display ads and Smart Display campaigns. Google's display advertisements, known as Responsive Display Ads, include both visual and textual features.

As a business owner, all you have to do is provide assets, and Google will automatically produce them for you. To make Responsive Display Advertisements, you just supply the pictures and text you want to use, and Google will mix and modify them according to the requirements of the Google Display Network.

Google's responsive display advertisements are an excellent method of reaching consumers when they are using a wide variety of Google services, including web, YouTube, Gmail, and mobile applications. These advertisements are "native," meaning they look and feel like they belong on the publisher's site.

To better suit ad slots on the Google Display Network, Google will automatically optimize the file size, design, and format of your content.

There are a few different types of text that can be used in responsive display ads.

• Brief title
• Long headline
• Business name
• Business description

In addition, it might have the following visual components:

• Business logo
• Advertisement photo/film

There was a great deal of supply for text ads, but people often ignored them since they lack visual appeal. Many online text adverts disappeared into the design of their host pages. By switching to Responsive Advertisements, Google has increased CTRs for ads on the Google Display Network, which is excellent news for both ad networks and the business.

Pros Of Responsive Display Ads

Do responsive display ads seem like the ideal solution for businesses? Google's data suggests that responsive display ads boost the success of display advertisements, but you need to dig deeper to make sure they're meant for your brand.

Finally, responsive display ads are a Google-made product that gives the company extensive sway over advertising campaigns running on the Google Network. It's vital for businesses to treat Google's excitement for responsive display ads with care, given the company does not provide them with specific information regarding the success of their campaigns.

How will you know whether responsive display ads are appropriate for your circumstance? For what advantages can you use them, and what pitfalls should you be on the lookout for?

Consider the following RDA benefits:

1. Setting Up Responsive Display Ads Is Fast And Easy

There are more than 20 distinct ad sizes available on the Google Display Network. It's excellent for reaching prospective buyers, but on the other hand, it could be a resource and time-consuming fight for business owners that lack designers and web developers to create the same, or at least comparable, advertising in all of these essential requirements.

If you use Responsive Display Ads, you won't have to worry about fixing the problematic aspects of your site.

In order to utilize responsive display ads, you must first provide Google with the desired media (photos, logos, and videos) and the accompanying text. If your materials meet GDN requirements, Google will automatically combine them for use across a wide variety of content categories, device sizes, and display resolutions.

The performance of your ads is taken into Google ads account by Google's machine learning algorithm to identify the ideal mix of assets to use for each ad slot.

Be wary, however; you won't have a say in how the pieces are put together, so double-check that any images or text you post will work together. Producing catchy designs and effective advertisements for your RDA means that you also increase the value of your online business.

Responsive display ads are useful if you believe you lack the resources for personalized display ad development and you are satisfied with the standard, unbranded advertising Google will make for you.

However, following the first template creation process, utilizing a template with a content management platform can be as fast and straightforward as producing generic display advertising for your business.

2. Responsive Image Ads Are Personalized

The more your selection of ad sizes, the greater your potential audience.

When you use responsive display ads, your ad will automatically adjust to the dimensions of any available ad space throughout the Google Display Network. Your responsive display ads will appear in both dynamic text and native ad formats. The effectiveness of your outreach, though, will be affected as a result.

Having your advertising appear in less crowded areas will give the impression that they are viewed by more people. And there's a good reason why digital marketers don't like such adverts so much: they don't convert on the GDN.

Therefore, responsive display ads can be a smart choice if you want a greater CTR and cheaper CPC for your campaign but are less concerned with the quality of the traffic you get.

Personalization, along with extensive testing, proved to be far more effective for optimizing marketing campaigns and providing the greatest results for a strongly niche-based and credibility-based brand like a kid’s face mask shop. Customers prefer personalized products like this compared to traditional products.

You are the face of a company whose top priority is maximizing profits while minimizing advertising costs. Increasing the ROI of your advertising initiatives is your primary objective.

Cons Of Responsive Display Ads

After putting your assets onto the system, you will have minimal control over your display advertising because responsive display ads are built automatically by Google. You entrust Google's algorithm with your campaign in exchange for the ease with which you can create advertisements in a variety of sizes.

There are a few sides to this that need serious thought:

1. Campaign Performance Data Will Be Harder To Analyze

Responsive display ads can be vague. Ads using Google's Responsive Display Ads are put through a brief A/B testing period when you launch a campaign. Thereafter, Google keeps displaying the most effective advertisements based on its algorithm.

The effectiveness of each asset is summarized for you, but the data Google gives is fragmented. When gauging your ad's success, the network provides you with just four options: low, best, learning, and good.

You have to rely on Google's discretion when it comes to ad serving since it provides no information on the ad sizes, combinations, or formats that were actually displayed.

2. No Branding Will Appear On Your Display Advertising

When employing Responsive Display Ads, all of your advertisements will appear the same, just like every other business's advertisements. All responsive display ads start with the same standard architecture.

Google does not treat your advertising any differently than it does those of your rivals. It might be challenging to differentiate various brands in online advertising, especially in text format.

Responsive display ads might do more harm than good if you already have or are working to establish a strong brand identification. Reduced conversion rates are a long-term effect of poor branding. Ads that look generic don't help retargeting efforts, and terrible branding makes people think the product is of inferior quality.

3.  Less Control Over Your Advertisement Combinations

In addition to a lack of branding, you will have no control over how your graphic and textual elements are combined. Because of this, your sentences can be arbitrarily combined with photos, leading to combinations that won't convert or make sense.

Advertisements that don't reflect your brand's identity or that use odd asset combinations can be avoided by switching to personalized display ads from responsive display ads.

How To Make The Most Of Responsive Display AdsIn spite of the fact that business owners have only a limited amount of control over the Google Responsive Display Ads they purchase, the following 5 proven pieces of advice should help your campaigns achieve greater success.

1. Check Out The Results On Google's Ad Strength Scorecard

Google has just recently released its ad strength scorecard, which is designed to help you anticipate how well your Responsive Display Ads will work before they have even gone live.

You need to make sure that your image sizes, aspect ratio, and image placements are appropriate for better performance results. Google will give you advice on the optimal length of your text, the size of your images, and the number of assets you should upload.

In addition to this, it assigns a ranking of average, below average, or above average to each of your advertisements. It is also able to propose specific ways in which your adverts could be improved. Therefore, keep an eye out for the scorecard that is located in your dashboard.

II. Include Supplementary InformationIf your advertisement is dynamic, you have the opportunity to potentially enhance engagement and conversions by including promotion wording, such as:

• First order
• Limited offers
• Buy one, get one free
• Free one-day shipping

great example for this is BrakesToYou, an auto repair company that is offering affordable services to entice their customers. It tactically added a free offer, the estimate, as the CTA to get potential clients to take the first step in doing business with them.

3. Align Your Advertisements And Landing Page

Increasing conversions and return on ad spend can be accomplished by ensuring that the language, tone, images, gifs, pixels, and color schemes on your landing page are all compatible with the ad assets you are using. Your audience will experience fewer confusions as a result of this, and the path to purchase will be more streamlined.

For example, MarketBeat uses images and messaging directly related to stocks and investment to get the initial perception on point with what the brand is for. This increases brand awareness to people with interest in financial data and investment schemes.

4. Incorporate A “Buy It Now” Button

After a visitor has gone through to your landing page, you have the option of using a tool called Where to Buy to present them with a number of different purchasing choices. You are more likely to make a sale if you give customers the option of checking out on Amazon or Walmart in addition to your own eCommerce site.

Additionally, this assists buyers who are dealing with your brand for the first time develop trust and confidence in your business. When you use these Buy It Now buttons, you can additionally collect in-depth information about the customer journey, which is information that cannot be obtained through Google Ads.

5. Look At Successful Advertisements To Get Ideas

Recently, Google established what it calls its "Creative Inspiration Hub." This section presents the best sample assets from prominent businesses that are now utilizing advertising on Display, YouTube videos, and apps. This makes it possible for business owners to find creative assets that might serve as a source of motivation for their own campaigns.

Speaking of creative assets, 3wishes uses the right models for your products to drive more sales. This leads to a drastic increase in brand awareness and good impression to their customers.

If you want more ideas, there are digital marketing certificate programs you can take to get to know more about other types of effective marketing you can do for your business.

6. Be Strategic With Your Text Combinations

The fact that responsive display advertising provides you with extra text fields to deal with is one of the most important advantages they provide.

However, there is a catch: not all of the text will be shown at the same time. This is a positive development since it expands the scope of your creative options and makes it easier for you to convey your message. Make use of responsive search ads to create an advertisement that can be modified to provide your clients with information that is more pertinent to their needs.

You need to be aware of which text combinations are shown simultaneously in order to write responsive display advertising that is successful. In this respect, the following effective methods should be helpful to you:

a. The Headlines Are Not Presented Together

This makes things simpler for you since headlines are never shown simultaneously. You can produce a variety of iterations without the need to worry about repeating yourself.

b. Both Types Of Headlines Allow For The Display Of Descriptions

Your descriptions should be seen as an expansion of your headlines, and descriptions are never presented on their own without a headline. This indicates that descriptions can be presented with either lengthy or short headlines.

Because of this, you should make sure that the descriptions you write are unique and do not include any redundant information from the content.

c. There Are Times When Headlines Are Presented Without Their Associated Descriptions

Google Ads will occasionally just show headlines when there is not enough room to provide details of the products being advertised. Because of this, you need to compose headlines that are captivating enough to provoke a click without the assistance of a description that provides additional context for the information being presented.

You should also construct your lengthy headlines in such a manner that they incorporate a call to action. This will help encourage readers to do the desired action.

d. Excessively Wordy Headlines And Summaries Will Be Cut Short

Because text boxes have a maximum number of characters, your message can be abbreviated if you go over the limit that has been set. Important information should be presented first whenever possible so that your point will be understood.

It is much simpler to optimize the content used in your responsive display ad campaigns when you have prior knowledge about which text field combinations are most likely to appear together.

If you have a long description for your products or services and you want to expound on your expertise to build credibility, you can do podcasting instead of relying on RDA. Learning how to start a podcast is easy with the right equipment and content to start on.

Conclusion

Responsive Display Ads can be a great alternative for businesses that are strapped for time but yet want to expand their brand's reach. Using Google's own product to increase your visibility is a smart move.

However, for many companies and business owners, just expanding their audience is not enough. Responsive display ads aren't the ideal choice if you're an established company looking to maximize conversions while maintaining editorial control over your creatives. Be careful of the restrictions on advertising intelligence and the lack of authority over your brand's graphic assets.

While responsive display ads will seem like a fast and cheap fix to display advertising, they really have a number of drawbacks that will have a significant impact on the success of your campaign. Business owners with objectives beyond brand recognition might benefit more from highly tailored Display Ads that provide deeper insights.

Creating unique and catchy advertisements for each of your display campaigns should not be a time-consuming ordeal. ManyPixels will scale up your creative content production with reliable and hassle-free design service.

If you want to discover the quality and reliable freelancers that can boost the success of your campaigns, sign up for a free trial now or book a call with one of our graphic designers.