Display advertising helps businesses reach customers online. Knowing how it works makes a big difference when looking to advertise a new business online, and yes, creating endless, highly customizable design variations and running lots of ads can feel overwhelming at first. However, as more people browse and shop online, display advertising keeps finding better ways to help businesses.
Whether you run one ad or hundreds, you can make display ads work for you without the stress. Today, we’re going to walk through the benefits of display advertising at its finest—in a mix of automation and creativity.
Maximizing your ROI: Major benefits and features of display advertising
Understanding display advertising basics
What is display advertising in digital marketing? At its core, it’s all about the visual ads that appear across websites, apps, and social media platforms. They combine engaging images, clear messages, and smart placement to connect with potential customers. As David Ogilvy said, “A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.” This shows why display ads work—they fit naturally into what people are already looking at.
Display advertising types have grown a lot since they started. From traditional banner ads to rich media experiences, each kind helps reach different business goals while keeping the main benefits of display advertising. Modern platforms offer diverse options, including responsive display ads that automatically adjust to available space while preserving message clarity or dynamic ads that change their content according to preset parameters. This has clearly transformed how businesses can maintain their brand consistency.
Top features and advantages explained
1. Market reach and impact
As Demandsage revealed, display ads reach more people than old-style ads ever could. They found that 45% of small businesses use display ads on their own, while 55% use them along with other marketing. The Google Display Network reaches 90% of people who use the internet worldwide, giving brands huge chances to get noticed.
What is one of the major benefits of display ads? It’s how many people they can reach. More than 1.2 million businesses use Google Ads because it works so well—small and medium-sized companies especially like using it. About 65% run pay-per-click ads and get good results.
Display ads work because they can reach lots of people but still target precisely who you want to reach. Companies can start by showing ads to many potential clients and then narrow down to those who seem most interested. This makes display ads great for growing your business while watching your spending.
2. Smart targeting tools
The advantages of display advertising are unquestionable when it comes to how well they can target specific people. Location targeting lets businesses show ads only in certain areas, cities, or neighborhoods. This means you spend money showing ads only to people near your business. It works much better than old ads that showed up everywhere.
Age, income, and interest targeting makes ads even more focused. The platform analyzes user behavior patterns, then it shows ads to people who already like similar things. This means less money wasted on showing ads to those who won’t be interested.
3. Enjoy creative freedom
Display ads have changed dramatically since their early days. The first display ad came from AT&T, using simple text that worked because online ads were new. Today’s viewers expect much more from their advertising experiences.
Modern display ads combine several essential elements. Visual design with strong images or backgrounds grabs attention instantly, while every visual element supports your message and brand identity. Compelling headlines must stand out clearly and speak directly to customer needs, while call-to-action buttons need careful positioning, as their color and placement significantly affect click rates.
Making creative ads doesn’t require complexity. Simple, well-planned designs often achieve the best results. The right color combinations make messages pop, while clear, direct language builds trust better than fancy words. Adding movement through simple animations captures attention more effectively than static images, engaging viewers without distraction.
Tools like Creatopy simplify the creative process with one-click animation features. You can quickly test different looks and movements to find your winning combination and the platform’s recent updates provide even more ways to make ads stand out while maintaining professionalism and effectiveness.
This approach to creativity in display advertising focuses on smart design choices rather than flashy effects. By combining strong visuals, clear messaging, and strategic animation, ads can attract attention and drive results without overwhelming viewers.
4. Helps you build your brand
Can you use display advertising to build brand awareness? Yes, display ads help you reach the right people without spending too much. Robert Fleege said it well: “An ad is finished only when you no longer can find a single element to remove.” This means every element serves a specific purpose in driving brand recognition and engagement.
The benefits of responsive display ads help save money too. These adaptive formats automatically adjust to available ad spaces, ensuring visibility while maintaining brand consistency. This flexibility eliminates the need to create multiple versions of the same ad, saving time and resources while reaching people on all their devices.
5. Makes A/B testing easy
Testing different ad versions helps you find what makes people click. Many campaigns start with one version, then discover it’s not working well. Instead of starting over, smart testing saves time and improves results.
The best way to test is running two versions of your ad at once. This lets you see exactly which changes work better. You can test simple things like:
- Button colors: Different colors can change how many people click. Testing reveals which colors catch attention best.
- Background images: The right image makes a big difference. Compare different backgrounds to find what connects with your audience.
- Ad copy: Words matter in advertising, so test different messages to discover what convinces people to take action.
- Call-to-action text: Small changes in your CTA can lead to significant differences in results. Try different phrases to find what drives more clicks.
Creatopy makes testing easy by letting you create variations quickly. For example, you can make two versions of the same ad with different CTA button colors. Running both versions shows which color gets more clicks. This simple testing leads to better-performing ads over time.

6. Tracking what works
As Colorib found, display ads get clicked 0.60% of the time, while search ads get 4.10%. But display ads have a different job. They help people know and remember your brand rather than just getting immediate conversions.
Modern analytics platforms offer detailed insights into performance tracking:
- Impression monitoring and analysis: You can find out exactly how many people see your ads and which websites give you the most views. Understanding these patterns helps you place ads where they’ll get the most attention.
- Click-through rate optimization: Track how many people click your ads compared to how many see them. This information helps you improve your ads’ design and placement to get more clicks from interested viewers.
- Conversion tracking implementation: Follow what people do after clicking your ads, from signing up for newsletters to purchasing. This helps you understand which ads lead to real business results and why they work.
- Engagement measurement tools: See how long people interact with your ads and what features they use most. This knowledge helps you create more engaging ads that keep viewers interested longer.
7. Supports creative automation
Modern tools make display advertising so much easier to run. Ad scheduling, for example, works automatically to show your ads at the best times. The system tracks when target audiences are most active online and adjusts ad delivery to match these peak times.
Even more, it can change your ads based on:
- Current inventory and prices: Your ads always show the right products and prices, so customers don’t get frustrated by seeing things that aren’t available
- Deals and offers: The system changes promotions based on what’s working best, keeping your offers competitive
- Seasonal changes: Your ads update automatically for different seasons and holidays without you having to do it manually
- Performance updates: The system checks how ads are doing and makes them better automatically
Your team can focus on big-picture planning instead of daily tasks. This means better results with less work, precisely what you are getting when learning to take advantage of Creatopy’s creative automation.
8. Brand memory and recognition
As Wordstream showed, people are 155% more likely to search for a brand after seeing its display ads. This big jump shows how well display advertising helps people remember brands. Display advertising examples from successful campaigns prove that when ads look the same and say the same things over time, people remember them better.
They start to know you when you show your brand the same way in all your ads. They see your ads while browsing, so, over time, they learn to trust your brand more because they often see it in places they have already visited.
9. Smart retargeting
The advantages of display advertising also apply to retargeting. While some people might see ads too often, retargeting works great when done right. It helps you stay connected with people who already like what you sell.
Retargeting works best with a clear plan. First, find where customers interact with your brand and then create messages for each step of their journey. Finally, set up your ads to show up at just the right time.
For example, when someone leaves items in their cart, display ads often remind them to finish shopping. Such reminders might include free shipping or special deals. This can bring back up to 25% of almost-lost sales. You may also show ads to people who visited your website. These ads match what they looked at before, making them more personal. This works better than regular ads because the message fits what people want.
How display advertising keeps getting better
The benefits of display advertising grow stronger every day as new tech makes ads work better. When looking to advertise a new business online, these new tools make a big difference in campaign success.
Machine learning now makes the benefits of display ads even stronger. AI tools examine how people interact with ads and learn what works best. They can predict which features of display advertising will connect best with different groups of people, making ads more effective.
Privacy has also become very important in modern display advertising. New rules about collecting data have pushed advertisers to think differently. What is another major benefit of display ads in this new privacy-focused world? Well, they can now target based on what’s on the webpage instead of personal data, which benefits Google display ads while respecting user privacy.
As for the latest interactive formats, they show the advantages of display advertising in exciting new ways. Instead of just looking at ads, people can now play mini-games in the ad itself, take quick quizzes about products, or click through product features. This helps brands connect better with customers while maintaining display advertising best practices.
How different businesses win with display ads
Different types of companies have found their ways to use the features of display advertising to their advantage.
When looking to advertise a new business online, display ads fit any need. Online stores efficiently use Google display ads to show live catalogs with real-time prices and inventory. Responsive display ads help these stores keep product information current, automatically updating when items sell out, or prices change.
Service businesses show another side of what makes display advertising powerful. They use educational content to build trust and show expertise. Their ads might teach viewers something useful about their industry or offer helpful tips. This helps them connect with people who need exactly what they offer.
Local shops and restaurants use display advertising in yet another clever way. They focus on bringing nearby customers into their stores with location-specific deals and offers, easy-to-follow maps and directions, special promotions for local events, or time-sensitive discounts.
These real examples show the advantages of display advertising at work. Whether you run a big website or a small shop, display ads can fit your needs and help you spend wisely.
The power of display advertising
As online marketing changes, display advertising remains essential. Its benefits extend far beyond immediate sales. They help you reach the right people when they’re ready to buy, build lasting connections with customers, grow steadily, and have a strong place in the market.