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Published · By Ailumic

Banner, native or full-screen: which ad format should a small business choose?

Start with the format that fits the ad you already have, then let the report decide. A banner runs beside the content and suits a clear image with few words; a native ad sits in a feed and looks like the content around it, so it suits a headline and a sentence; a full-screen ad fills the screen between pages or levels inside an app and suits one strong picture. If you can, run two and compare.

A banner is shown beside the content, on mobile apps and websites: a rectangle at the top, the bottom or in the middle of a page or screen, while the person does what they came to do. It needs an image sized for the slot, usually with a few words on it or beside it, and a link. It suits something clear at a glance — a product, a logo, a short offer — seen in passing by many people, many times.

Native

A native ad is shown in the feed, styled like the content around it. You supply a headline, a sentence and an image, and the app or page draws them in its own style, so the ad reads like one more item in the feed, marked as sponsored. It suits something you have to say in words — a new service, an opening, a piece of advice — that a person will read if the headline earns it.

Full-screen

A full-screen ad is shown between pages or levels, on mobile apps, taking the whole screen for a moment and then letting the person carry on. It needs one strong picture and a clear next step, because it has the person’s full attention briefly and then it is gone. It suits one message — a launch, an event, a season — not a catalogue.

Rewarded video, next

A rewarded video is watched by choice for a reward, on mobile apps: a short video the person chooses to watch in exchange for something in the app, such as an extra life or a hint. Ailumic does not buy it yet; it is next. Today Ailumic buys banner, native and full-screen, in the United States first, with rewarded video to follow.

How to choose

  1. Start from the ad you have. A good photo and little to say points to a banner; a headline and a sentence points to native; one striking image and a single call to action points to full-screen. If you have only a website and no ad, Ailumic drafts text from it for you to edit or approve.
  2. Think about the moment. A banner is seen while someone does something else; a native ad is read in a feed; a full-screen ad interrupts, so it should be worth the interruption.
  3. Run two and compare. The same budget split across two placements tells you more than either alone. Your report shows where the ad ran and what each placement did; the second run goes to the one that worked.
  4. Do not decide on one day. Give each placement a full week before you read it — our guide on how long an ad should run says why.
Example

A bakery with a photograph of its loaves and an address has a banner. A bookkeeper with a tip about tax season has a native ad. A theatre with a poster and a date has a full-screen ad. Each would do well to try the second-best fit too, and let the report decide.

Guides

  • How do real-time ad auctions work?

    Every ad slot is sold in an auction that lasts a fraction of a second. Who bids, what decides the winner, who pays, and what it means for a small budget.

  • What is a CPM in advertising?

    CPM is the price of showing an ad one thousand times. Why ad space is priced per viewing, what moves the price, and why Ailumic publishes no price list.

  • How much should a small business spend on ads to start?

    Size a first ad budget by what you can afford to learn from, not by a rule of thumb: enough to run a full week, small enough that a lesson with no sale is fine.

  • How do I read an ad report?

    Read an ad report in order: times shown, clicks, cost, then where and when it ran. What the click-through rate tells you, and what to change next.

  • How long should an ad campaign run?

    Run a first ad for a full week and no longer than it takes to learn one thing. Why a week, why not months, when to stop early and when to add budget.

  • What is programmatic advertising?

    Programmatic advertising is ad space bought by software, one viewing at a time, in an auction. What it replaced and what it means for a small business.

  • What is a DSP, or demand-side platform?

    A DSP is software that bids for ad space on an advertiser’s behalf. How it differs from an ad exchange and a supply-side platform, and where Ailumic fits.

  • How do ads in mobile apps work?

    An app sets aside ad slots, sells each one in an auction as it is about to appear, and draws the winning ad. What an advertiser chooses and sees afterwards.

  • How do I write an ad for my small business?

    Write one message for one kind of person, say what to do next, and cut the rest. How to fit it to a banner, native or full-screen ad, and when to rewrite.

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