Google Display Ads: When and How to Use Them in Kenya

Google Display Network reaches over 90 percent of internet users worldwide, showing your ads on over two million websites, apps, and Google-owned properties like YouTube and Gmail. Unlike search ads that catch people actively looking for your services, display ads put your brand in front of potential customers while they are browsing other content. This makes display advertising a powerful tool for brand awareness, remarketing, and reaching audiences who may not yet know they need your services.

When Display Ads Make Sense

Display ads are most effective for brand awareness campaigns where your goal is to get your name, offer, or message in front of a large audience. They work well for remarketing, showing ads to people who have already visited your website but did not convert. They are effective for promoting events, new products, or limited-time offers to a broad audience. And they serve as a complement to search campaigns, staying visible to potential clients throughout their research process.

Display ads are less effective when your goal is direct response from cold audiences. Click-through rates on display ads average around 0.5 percent compared to 3 to 5 percent for search ads, and conversion rates from first-click display ads are typically lower because the audience is not actively searching for your service.

Targeting Options

The power of display advertising is in the targeting. You can show your ads to people based on their demographics like age, gender, household income, and parental status. You can target by interests, reaching people Google has identified as interested in web design, digital marketing, or business services. You can target by topics, showing ads on websites about specific subjects. You can target specific websites or apps through managed placements. And you can create custom intent audiences based on keywords people have recently searched for.

For Kenyan businesses, combine interest or topic targeting with geographic targeting to reach the right audience in your service area. There is no point paying for impressions shown to users in countries you do not serve.

Creating Effective Display Ads

Display ads are visual, and first impressions happen in milliseconds. Your ad creative needs to stand out from the surrounding content and communicate your message instantly. Use bold, contrasting colours that catch the eye. Include your logo for brand recognition. Keep text minimal because display ads have limited space. Include a clear call-to-action button.

Use responsive display ads where you provide multiple headlines, descriptions, images, and logos, and Google automatically creates optimised combinations for different placements. This ensures your ads look good across the thousands of different ad sizes and placements across the Google Display Network.

Budget Expectations

Display ads in Kenya are significantly cheaper than search ads because they generate impressions rather than high-intent clicks. Cost-per-click on the display network typically ranges from KES 5 to KES 30, compared to KES 30 to KES 150 for search ads. However, the conversion rate is also lower, so you need more clicks to generate the same number of leads.

Start with a modest budget of KES 300 to KES 500 per day for display campaigns. Focus on remarketing first, as these campaigns target people who already know your brand and convert at much higher rates than cold display targeting. Once remarketing is performing well, expand to broader audience targeting.

Display advertising is a strategic complement to your search and social campaigns. Contact our PPC team at Cyril Creatives to build an integrated advertising strategy that maximises your visibility across all channels.