The Difference Between Banner Advertising and Pay-Per Click

Ever since the internet marketing boom began, marketers have been scrambling to figure out the most effective ways to connect with consumers on the web. One of the most prevalent forms of internet marketing has been display advertising (outbound advertisements on websites). Generally speaking, there are two types of display ads that exist: banner advertisements and pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements.

However, marketers often fail to see the difference between the two. To help clarify things, we are going to explain to you the difference between PPC and banner advertising, as well as the pros and cons of each.

What is banner advertising?

A banner advertisement is an online display ad posted on a website. This is usually paid for upfront and remains on a website for a predetermined amount of time.

What is pay-per-click advertising?

Much like a banner ad, a PPC ad is an online display advertisement posted on a website. Unlike banner ads, however, they are paid for based on the number of clicks that they receive.

How do the above differences affect each type of display advertising?

Cost

Banner advertising

With banner advertisements, you know exactly what you are paying upfront. However, it is very easy to overpay for banner advertisements, since you are guessing at how much you need to invest in an online display ad space.

PPC advertising

With PPC ads, your investment is more valuable, because every dime spent is the result of a consumer interaction. There are also management tools that allow you to keep a PPC campaign within your budget. Because of the powerful analytics tools often connected with PPC advertisement solutions, it is also easier to optimize your investment, based on real-time data. However, you need to approach data analysis correctly, you could mistake bad clicks for sales lead opportunities.

Context

Banner advertising

With banner advertising, context is 100 percent guesswork. If the website you decide to post your banner on does not attract your target audience as well as you thought it would, then you have wasted your money.

PPC advertising

This is where PPC advertising starts to use some elements of inbound marketing to connect with your target audience. This is due to the fact that powerful PPC engines such as Google AdWords display PPC ads to people based on the context of the search they are engaged in or the website they are visiting. What’s more, PPC ads have no drawbacks regarding context.

Control

Banner advertising

Outside of initially choosing the website and location of your banner ad, you have very little control over it. As such, they do not allow you to take advantage of the real-time data that analytics tools can provide you with.

PPC advertising

PPC ads allow you to alter the location, positioning and topics of your PPC ads instantaneously. For larger campaigns, many PPC advertising resources also allow you to create multiple accounts under a single umbrella for easier management.

Future outlook

Banner advertising

Due to the fact that they often lack context, banner ads have been the target of much derision from both marketers and consumers. In fact, some consumers are even taking steps to block out banner ads entirely.

PPC advertising

The marketplace for PPC advertising is growing fast. It is opening up new ways to engage marketers, including large support communities that feature global marketing leaders and partnerships with monolithic entities such as Google.

PPC marketing is the future of display advertising

Pay-per-click advertising outclasses banner advertising in just about every way. You get more value out of every marketing dollar and it is supported by massive marketing machines like Google.