Are your online media ads suffering from Banner Blindness? According to an eye-tracking study conducted by the Nielsen/Norman Group, most people are ignoring your banner advertisements. No matter how splashy, bright or exciting they may appear, people are not looking - and therefor not clicking. In fact, click rates on banner media have be steadily decreasing.
"Banner blindness means Internet users focus on the content on a page and ignore the advertisements."
Don't despair, banner ads still remain an effective channel, just more challenging. Keeping things simple is one cure, as text ad's tend to outperform graphical ones.
Kara Pernice Coyne (Nielsen Norman Group Director of Research) said graphical ads with text and contrasting colors, like white text on red, is less likely to be disregarded. "They're looking at them if they're text," she said. "I hate to sound boring, but [it is best] if you can make sure your ad is something simple, text or a recognized logo, and it needs to be relevant to the page."
We at Think-ebiz believe that this is a clear case for MVT testing; a strategy for uncovering what triggers what motivates a coveted click - rather than ignore - your online advertisement. What can overcome banner blindness, in terms of motivating the click through behavior? Is it the color, the image or lack of an image, is it a Flash based motion or simplistic text? Is it an strong message or a compelling call to action? Is it a great offer? MVT, multi-variable testing is the key to unlocking this knowledge, the insights that lead to a higher click through rate... and thus a possible cure for the banner blindness affliction.