Today advertisements jump out at people from virtually everywhere, especially when online. This makes designing these same banner ads a great challenge because it is extremely difficult to make your own piece stand out amid this kind of “noise”.

Ads which can get noticed must be designed not only to impress but to impress in all the right ways. This means that the first thing you must focus on is your target audience. What exactly do these people like? What will attract their attention?

With these questions answered, you need only to design an ad which will grab the attention of these specific people, based upon their interests. The following tricks will help you make your ad design more effective for generating sales.

Structure your ads correctly

What exactly do you put into the ad? Provide too little information and it won’t be effective. but provide too much and people won’t bother reading it through.

A good ad must have only four core elements:

  • Value proposition
  • Call to action
  • Product image
  • Company logo

The most important element is the value proposition (the thing that sets the product apart from competitors and CTA). This must be the most prominent feature of the ad to make sure the reader sees it first.

Product images should not overwhelm the message, so to speak, so place them with this in mind. The exception is when the product itself is the value proposition. In this case, it should feature in the center to draw immediate attention.

Brand logo design is an essential element of the business’ success, which is why you need to make sure it’s as perfect as you can make it. But whilst this element itself is important for branding, it should not be distracting in an ad. For this reason, if this particular advertisement doesn’t promote the brand itself, place the logo at the top left corner and make it smaller than the other elements whilst still noticeable.

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Use visuals for metaphors

A designer’s task is to make your ads not only eye-catching but also memorable, and multiple studies show that the human mind memorizes visuals better than words. Therefore, making visuals which are messages in themselves is key to achieving both your goals in one go.

Using visual metaphors, like veggies turned into deadly weapons from Elter advertisements, is a great example of this. No-one will look at a mushroom in the same way again after having seen it portrayed as a destructive mushroom cloud. Images like this are guaranteed to catch the attention and require closer reflection because the brain is distracted by the fact that the images it sees (a bomb and a tomato, for example) do not synchronize.

Tricks of this kind will make consumers focus on your ads by appealing to their subconscious, which in turn increases memorability.

Use helpful design services and templates

Today it is not necessary to pay a small fortune for exclusive top-quality designs as there are multiple services that can provide exactly what you need. You can use platforms like Vexels for ready-made designs and templates which can be easily adjusted to suit your needs. The trick is to decide exactly what you need so you can pick a solution that will suit you best.

Such platforms are the best solution for everyone with a limited budget or a need to acquire a wide range of designs quickly. They can provide the most efficient templates designs, so you need to do very little to turn them into ads that work.

Read more about how to use Design Templates for your Ad Campaigns here! 

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Have the right kind of color scheme

The color scheme can make or break your ad, so you need to choose it with utmost care. Of course, the brand’s color scheme will be the basis for the design. However, in some cases you will need to develop a separate one for the campaign itself.

The best color scheme for ads is based on complementary colors because they help create a dramatic effect, which catches the viewer’s eye immediately. One of the most popular design trends today is using a lot of white space, known as minimalism. You definitely should apply this technique when designing ads to make the product images as well as your CTA button stand out. Be careful though to not make the design appear tacky, and remember that it must fit the overall brand style.

Have the right kind of color scheme

The color scheme can make or break your ad, so you need to choose it with utmost care. Of course, the brand’s color scheme will be the basis for the design. However, in some cases you will need to develop a separate one for the campaign itself.

The best color scheme for ads is based on complementary colors because they help create a dramatic effect, which catches the viewer’s eye immediately. One of the most popular design trends today is using a lot of white space, known as minimalism. You definitely should apply this technique when designing ads to make the product images as well as your CTA button stand out. Be careful though to not make the design appear tacky, and remember that it must fit the overall brand style.

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Make an emotional impact

Making your ads stand out by having them appeal to emotions rapidly increases their impact and memorability. And it is not only positive emotions which invoke this kind of response. According to HubSpot, ads that are designed to induce sadness and anger are becoming more popular because they make a stronger impact. Moreover, ads that trigger anger and outrage also generate more shares.

Therefore, the emotion you want to appeal to depends on the purpose you want to achieve with the ad.

Final thoughts

Designing ads is a challenge, but there are many tricks you can use to increase the impact of the simple visual. And maximum impact on a clearly-defined niche audience is exactly what you need if you want your ads to increase sales.

Bio: Kate Bregovic is a wife, mother, freelance writer and fitness enthusiast. She covers many topics – from business management trends to fitness regimes. When she’s not writing, she’s planning outdoor activities for her family, cooking or working out at the gym.  Follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mrs.kate.bregovic