What Is Display Advertising?
Display advertising is a form of digital advertising that uses visual ad formats — such as banners, images, and rich media — placed on websites, apps, and other digital properties to build awareness and drive engagement.
Display Advertising, Explained Simply
Display ads are the banners, images, and visual units you see across websites and apps as you browse the internet.
They can be bought directly from publishers or through programmatic platforms that place ads in front of specific audiences based on data and targeting criteria.
For B2B marketers, display advertising is often used to build brand awareness, support demand generation, and stay in front of target accounts throughout their buying journey.
Why Display Advertising Matters
Display advertising remains a foundational channel because it can:
- Build awareness across a target audience at scale
- Reinforce messaging alongside other channels
- Support full-funnel strategies, from awareness to retargeting
- Be targeted precisely using B2B data and audience segments
- Provide measurable performance data for optimization
When paired with strong audience data, display becomes far more than generic banner advertising.
PAULA'S PERSPECTIVE
Display advertising gets dismissed sometimes as outdated, but that's usually a targeting problem, not a channel problem.
Generic display, aimed at a broad and undefined audience, will always underperform. Display advertising built on a well-defined B2B audience, with the right accounts and decision-makers targeted, can be a highly effective part of a demand generation strategy.
The format hasn't lost its value. What matters is whether the audience behind it is precise.
— Paula Chiocchi
Display Advertising in Practice
- Step 1Target Audience Defined
- Step 2Programmatic Buy
- Step 3Display Creative
- Step 4Awareness & Engagement
- Step 5Retargeting Follow-Up
A B2B company launching a new product can use display advertising to build awareness among its ideal customer profile across relevant websites and industry publications.
As prospects engage, the company can layer in retargeting to keep the brand top of mind through later stages of the buyer journey.
KEY TAKEAWAY
Display advertising uses visual ad formats across digital properties to build awareness and support demand generation, and its effectiveness depends heavily on the quality of the audience it targets.
Related Glossary Terms
About Paula Chiocchi
Paula Chiocchi is the Founder and CEO of Outward Media, Inc. and host of B2B Influence: Spotlight on Industry Game-Changers, with decades of experience in data-driven marketing.