Learn B2B SaaS Marketing

Google Display Ads Sizes & Best Practices for B2B SaaS

by 

Lauren O'Bryan

Last updated: June 19th, 2024

Google Display Ads can elevate your B2B SaaS marketing game, and understanding the variety of ad sizes and best practices is the first step toward your campaign’s success.

To save you the trouble of doing research, we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide that outlines key information on the topic. We’ll give you a 101 on Google Display Ads for B2B SaaS and their benefits. Then we’ll dive into the specifics of ad shapes and sizes, and provide expert advice on how to drive meaningful results.

Google Display Ads for B2B SaaS

B2B display ads are shown across the Google Display Network (GDN), spanning millions of websites, apps, and Google-owned properties. By positioning your ads in front of a large number of internet users, this broad advertising platform offers unparalleled potential for building an audience and raising brand awareness.

The beauty of B2B display ads, however, lies in their ability to target specific audiences. This ensures that your ad spend is directed only at those visitors who meet your predefined criteria, based on user behavior or demographics. You know when you start seeing ads for something you recently Googled? That’s ad targeting at work.

This targeted approach eliminates the inefficiency of blanket advertising, making every ad impression count.

Benefits of Google Display Ads

There are numerous benefits of B2B display advertising that can be fully realized with the right ad optimization techniques. These benefits include:

• Extensive Reach: Because the GDN is visible to over 90% of internet users, the message in your advertising can be spread far beyond Google Search alone.
• Affordability: In comparison to many other digital advertising options, the GDN has an average CPC of less than $1, which makes it very cost-efficient.
• Ease of use: Simply select your campaign goal from the list of options and build your ad around that to improve audience appeal and CTR.
• Creative Freedom: Design ads to look however you want – insert high-quality images, overlay text, and include CTA buttons.
• Optimized ad targeting: All ads are responsive and mobile-friendly by default.
• Advanced Retargeting: There are various audience targeting options, so you can maximize remarketing opportunities.
• Smart bidding: Using machine learning technology, smart bidding will help you stay within budget by providing various bid strategies to choose from or allowing you to manually control the variables.
• Performance Tracking: Detailed performance tracking will help you optimize your ads to ensure maximum impact and effectiveness.

Google Display Ads Sizes

Google Display ads are available in various sizes for mobile and desktop and are designed to be responsive. Google accepts images no larger than 150 KB in size and in JPG, PNG, or GIF file formats.

Desktop size options include the following:

• Square – 250 x 250 px
• Small square – 200 x 200 px
• Banner – 468 x 60 px
• Leaderboard – 728 x 90 px
• Medium rectangle – 300 x 250 px
• Large rectangle – 336 x 280 px
• Skyscraper – 120 x 600 px
• Wide skyscraper – 160 x 600 px
• Half-page ad – 300 x 600 px
• Large leaderboard – 970 x 90 px

Mobile display ads come in three sizes:

• Mobile banner 1 – 300 x 50 px
• Mobile banner 2 – 320 x 50 px
• Large mobile banner – 320 x 100 px

According to Google, the following ads have proven to be top performers in B2B display advertising:

• Medium rectangle – best for embedding within text or placing at the end of on-page content.
• Large rectangle – also fits well within the text or at the end of the page.
• Leaderboard – fits best at the top of the page, particularly on forum sites.
• Half-page – this large ad allows you to share more details, particularly impactful images to promote a brand.
• Large mobile banner – the best and largest mobile size ad that offers ample space to display valuable content.

Best Practices for Using Google Display Ads for B2B SaaS

Google Display Ads are frequently dismissed as not effective enough at driving conversions or generally not cost-effective. From our experience, there are many ways to scale your Google Ads campaigns. Google Display Ads are no exception – get the formula right and they can be a valuable untapped resource for SaaS marketers.

Here are some best practices to harness the full potential of Google Display Ads.

Simple Designs, Non-Boring Content

By all means, make use of animated banners and eye-catching imagery, but keep designs simple overall. Avoid busy and overcomplicated ad banners and focus on readability and projecting a clear, consistent brand image.

Use contrasting colors where possible and a clear font in your design. Avoid using stock images; instead, source custom images and add your logo to stand out and enhance brand recognition. But, above all, a cleverly designed message and engaging content will win over users.

Create Urgency and Add a CTA Button

The rule of thumb for effective advertising is to create a sense of urgency that prompts the user to click on the ad and purchase a product sooner rather than later. Time-based offers are particularly useful for boosting conversion rates, as is the inclusion of CTA buttons.

A CTA button should stand out from the ad with a different font or color scheme, and the wording should include action verbs, like “Get the ebook”.

A/B Test Multiple Versions

Always create multiple versions of a B2B display ad using different sizes and formats so you can compare which works better. Prioritize the top-performing ad sizes, but feel free to test alternative sizes. Don’t skip the split testing process; otherwise, you risk pouring ad budget into ineffective ad campaigns.

Design for Mobile Users

Considering that the majority of internet users engage through mobile devices, prioritize mobile-friendly ad designs.

The best way to maximize your mobile impressions is to create a mobile version of your ad before you create a desktop version. The same goes for the landing page you link your ad to – make sure it’s optimized for mobile.

Connect Ads to a Landing Page

The landing page is what actually converts users. The ad draws them in, and the landing page provides the remaining details required to land the customer. But for the best conversion rates, avoid connecting to a generic landing page and always develop landing pages in conjunction with the ad.

Any offers made in the ad must be accessible on the landing page so the user doesn’t have to dig around for them. To provide a smooth transition, you should also maintain the same design and identity across both the ad and the landing page.

Putting effort into your landing page is worthwhile as it can improve your ad quality score, and a higher ad quality score can mean lower ad costs.

Optimize With Retargeting Features

Retargeting, also known as remarketing, relies on the user data you have gathered from previous interactions. It’s a particularly valuable tactic that can increase conversion rates and doesn’t require the same level of effort as attracting new leads. When a prospect shows interest but doesn’t convert, you place that prospect into a remarketing segment to target down the line.

As a part of a lead nurturing sequence, you can pinpoint users who have read several blogs and viewed the pricing page and offer them a free demo. If the prospect has viewed the demo, you can then target them with an ad for a competitor comparison post. This kind of targeted remarketing keeps a prospect engaged and nurtures the relationship, which can pay off in the long run.

Get Some Help With Your Google Display Ads

When it comes to your digital advertising campaigns, seeking additional support can significantly elevate your results. At Powered by Search, we specialize in B2B SaaS PPC campaigns designed to attract the right-fit traffic and drive conversions. We also develop accurate growth forecasts to support your business cases for funding.

Our approach to ad design goes beyond just creating eye-catching and visually appealing content. We prioritize meeting customer expectations by thoroughly understanding the who, why, and what, to convince a prospect that your product is the solution to their problem. And our landing pages follow through, adding the much-needed additional information that provides the last push to conversion.

Wrapping Up

To conclude, B2B display advertising is an affordable and effective way to build brand awareness and attract prospective leads. Another thing that can help you grow your business is our free SaaS scalability score self-assessment. This checklist will help you identify how well you currently attract, engage, and convert prospects. Think of it as a baseline that you can develop from and assess your SaaS business against the competition.