Getting your message in front of your target audience is any B2B marketer’s ultimate goal. But as the economy tightens and executives’ expectations rise, many marketers may be wondering where to invest their resources: display advertising or search advertising?

While it may seem like a choice or a choice, the truth is that the two strategies have a lot in common while also providing unique and significant benefits.

Let’s take a look at the key differences between search and display advertising and how they fit together in the business world.

What Is Search Advertising?

Search advertising puts your ad in front of people searching for content directly related to your business. This strategy uses an existing brand to attract customers interested in your business, product, or service.

Benefits of search advertising

For B2B marketers, this targeted strategy can be highly valuable. Search advertising allows you to connect with qualified leads who are actively searching for solutions, converting, and selling. Search platforms also offer a wide range of options that allow you to tailor your marketing plan to specific demographics, preferences, and even behaviors.

Challenges of search advertising

One of the challenges of ad research is that the cost can be higher than other methods. Competition between high content targets and high value makes bids expensive and impacts your campaign plans.

In addition to cost considerations, search ads also tend to focus on immediate conversions by targeting only those users who are currently in-market. In isolation, this method does not address the 95% of potential customers who are more passively out-market, effectively neglecting the long-term brand awareness and relationship-building stages that are essential for B2B success.

What Is Display Advertising?

Display advertising is a proactive approach that places your ads on relevant websites, apps, and other online platforms where your target audience is likely to see them. The most common marketing goal of advertising is to create brand awareness and influence user behavior over time.

Benefits of display advertising

For B2B marketers, display advertising offers valuable opportunities to reach a broader audience, strengthen brand recall, and nurture leads at various stages of the buying journey. The visuals of advertising media lead to creative storytelling and effective messaging, which leads to recognition and the creation of great organizations.

The report can also be customized to fit the user’s goals. A great way to embed goals into advertising campaigns is through repetition. By identifying users who have previously visited a website or interacted with a brand’s LinkedIn page, marketers can serve display ads tailored to their past behavior. This strategy encourages returning users who have shown interest in the brand to re-engage and potentially convert.

Challenges of display advertising

The first display was published online in 1994. Gen Z? They never knew life without display ads. The result of all these distractions is the risk of viewer fatigue. Choosing a platform that offers multiple ad types and allows for more control over delivery can increase the effectiveness of your ads.

Another major challenge is audience targeting and personalization. Striking the right balance between reaching a broad audience and delivering personalized content can be complex. Precision is key, and marketers often struggle to improve weak marketing plans to connect with the right people. Some platforms offer tools to help marketers find this balance.

Similarities in Search Advertising and Display Advertising

What do research ads and display ads have in common? More than you might think.

Audience targeting

Marketers have a variety of audience targeting options available for both search and display advertising campaigns. Depending on the platform, marketers can target users by their location, age, gender, interests, and even company and job. This allows marketing plans to focus on the exact demographics of your target audience rather than just targeting them through content or platforms.

Data-driven insights

Data collected from both search and display campaigns can provide valuable insight into user behavior. Marketers can analyze search queries, sentiment, click-through rates, and conversion data to refine strategies and improve copy. To deliver specific campaigns, marketers can measure metrics like views and engagement to better understand how users are engaging with content.

Brand visibility

Both search and display advertising campaigns are effective tools for building brand awareness. Search advertising drives brand awareness at a time when user intent is clear. When a user actively searches for a product or solution, the appearance of relevant search ads increases the likelihood of capturing their attention and driving conversions. Display advertising increases brand awareness and leaves a lasting impression by publishing ideas across multiple websites and apps. Both methods are essential to maximize market share and impact.

Differences in Search Advertising and Display Advertising

Despite these similarities, there are many differences between advertising and search advertising.

Ad formats

Search advertising uses text-based ads with limited characters. Marketers should primarily create ads and direct presentations that directly answer user questions.

Posts contain visual content such as images, banners, and videos. This allows for more creative storytelling and brand expression, enabling marketers to convey a more comprehensive message beyond the constraints of text.

Placement and context

Search advertising is contextually relevant, appearing directly in response to a user’s search query. This ensures that ads are displayed in context that matches the user’s immediate needs and goals.

Content distribution of ads appears on websites and apps that match the audience’s interests. Sites may vary in certain circumstances and may provide opportunities for product exposure in different contexts and stages of the buyer’s journey.

Cost structure

Search advertising typically uses a pay-per-click (PPC) model, where advertisers only pay when users click on their ads. This is based on search demand, as advertisers pay for association with their content.

Display advertising typically uses a cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) model, where advertisers pay for every thousand impressions of their ads, regardless of the number of clicks. (They might pay based on other actions or outcomes as well.)

Search and Display: Better Together 

Despite their similarities and differences, both search and display advertising are important ways to reach your target audience. While search advertising can reach the most affluent segment of your audience, this is only a small portion of the total audience. That’s why it’s important to be strategic about how you implement your display advertising campaigns. After all, display ads are what 95% of your audience will see, so you want to make sure you get it right.