Advertisers have always loved display advertising. They can leverage their own first- and third-party data to home in on their ideal audience, and programmatic lets them experiment based on channel, message, target audience and a host of other attributes.

Advertisers also have a strong comfort level with display, which is why it gets a big chunk of their digital ad spend. According to eMarketer, display advertising topped $491.70 billion worldwide in 2021. This year, it will “zoom by” half a trillion.

But the whole point of advertising is to catch the consumer’s eye and ultimately win their hearts and minds. So, as much as marketers love and trust display, they can’t stop change.

In 2020, their worlds were turned upside down as consumers fell hard for another channel: connected TV (CTV). Advertisers should have seen it coming, as consumers watch video content for many hours a week across multiple devices.

According to Nielsen, Americans streamed nearly 15 million years’ worth of content in 2021 alone. While CTV was always destined to grow, the pandemic accelerated its growth, prompting an 81% bump in CTV consumption from 2019 to 2020. One thing is for certain: CTV and video ad spending is hot, with revenue from these channels estimated to top $559 billion this year.

So, what happens to display ads, once the apple of the marketer’s eye? Is display too old-fashioned to turn heads? Or is it possible that something beautiful can bloom between display and video?

Every grandmother will tell you there’s a lid for every pot—wise words, indeed. CTV might be the hot new channel, but it can’t go it alone. Who’s going to remind the consumer of the ads they watched for brands they wanted to explore further when they’re alone at night? Who’s going to tell them that great mortgage rates and better phone plans await their action?

Display may be the oldest ad unit, the belle of the ball of Web 1.0, but video instantly recognized it as a soul mate. Both are highly open to targeting and thrive when marketers bring their data and insights to campaigns.

Both are also prepared to face the future together, adapting to new techniques in the face of privacy regulations. For instance, video and display are confident that with an abundance of user ID graphs that marketers are experimenting with, they’d have no trouble getting their messages in front of ideal audiences.

This powerful duo knew that by working together, marketers can purchase commerce-oriented audience segments for thousands of different categories to target their ads, and even create lookalike models of their website visitors and target them.

And because these channels are both digital, marketers can measure results. Does a shopper take a specific action as a result of seeing a display ad a day after seeing a video ad? Well, when display works with video, marketers can find the answer to that question and many others.

The connection of display and video seemed natural—a perfect match. But of course, there was a hitch.

Every grandmother will tell you there’s a lid for every pot—wise words, indeed. CTV might be the hot new channel, but it can’t go it alone. Who’s going to remind the consumer of the ads they watched for brands they wanted to explore further when they’re alone at night? Who’s going to tell them that great mortgage rates and better phone plans await their action?

Display may be the oldest ad unit, the belle of the ball of Web 1.0, but video instantly recognized it as a soul mate. Both are highly open to targeting and thrive when marketers bring their data and insights to campaigns.

Both are also prepared to face the future together, adapting to new techniques in the face of privacy regulations. For instance, video and display are confident that with an abundance of user ID graphs that marketers are experimenting with, they’d have no trouble getting their messages in front of ideal audiences.

This powerful duo knew that by working together, marketers can purchase commerce-oriented audience segments for thousands of different categories to target their ads, and even create lookalike models of their website visitors and target them.

And because these channels are both digital, marketers can measure results. Does a shopper take a specific action as a result of seeing a display ad a day after seeing a video ad? Well, when display works with video, marketers can find the answer to that question and many others.

The connection of display and video seemed natural—a perfect match. But of course, there was a hitch.

Display and video working together to create dynamic campaigns? Not so fast, said some advertisers on both sides of the aisle. Those on the display side objected to video as a partner for their treasured ad unit. Key among them: They weren't convinced CTV and video are efficient in driving results.

And, they asked, can video reach the same scale? The fact is, consumers still spend about 77% of their time streaming content using subscription-based and ad-free services, where they can’t be reached unless marketers spring for expensive sponsorships.

There were also cost concerns. Video is expensive, display advertisers reminded video enthusiasts. The average CPM for CTV is $35 to $65, higher than direct display buys on a premium publisher.

Why pay those CPMs for a nascent channel when ad-supported content is siloed and challenging for advertisers to buy? How is an advertiser supposed to track and measure ROI when the environment is so fragmented? Will display, long accustomed to thriving in the lower funnel and driving conversions, be happy hitched to a channel that lives in the upper funnel?

On the other hand, video advocates couldn’t imagine display delivering the kind of clickthrough rates and engagement to which they’re accustomed. Even if display helped garner additional engagements, could marketers afford the extra cost?

Like it or not, they pointed out, video and display lived in separate silos, supported by different ad servers and ecosystems, making it difficult to track who sees which ad, much less guarantee a seamless, relevant and non-intrusive ad experience.

Discouraged by the objections, video and display looked for allies, people who’ve deployed both in campaigns to achieve great results—and they found plenty. Numerous brands have experience in launching video ads with dynamic display elements, and they’ve enjoyed great results (especially when display is used as a secondary touchpoint after a shopper is aware of a product or brand.)

While display ads typically have a clickthrough rate of 0.35%, dynamic display ads—ads that adapt to the individual consumer, showing the most relevant products and offers for each—are in a category by themselves, delivering higher clickthrough rates due to their enhanced nature. This isn’t surprising given how far display ads have come from their days of static banners.

Today’s display ads are playful and vibrant. They’ve morphed into rich media formats, offering myriad types of interactions (think swiping, scrolling, 360-degree product views, countdowns to event starts, or consumers choosing their own adventure by selecting color and frame preferences across a sunglass brand’s cool aviators).

Advertisers also can add video to dynamic ads to engage consumers, like showing them a preview of their latest store opening alongside new season arrivals. And they can play a role in the consideration phase, helping meet mid-funnel marketing objectives by allowing the advertiser to make a shift to show brand and/or value messaging alongside products, such as best-sellers.

Coupling up, online video advertising can act as an extension to existing display acquisition and retention tactics. For example, marketers can deploy online video advertising to attract their next top customer. They can also use video to reinforce brand messaging to existing customers. Both can then be met with top-of-the mind brand and product messaging delivered through display ads. Together, video and display improve relevance with messaging that influences consumer behavior, driving better results.

Isn’t that what every advertiser ultimately wants for their media budget?

Display and video working together to create dynamic campaigns? Not so fast, said some advertisers on both sides of the aisle. Those on the display side objected to video as a partner for their treasured ad unit. Key among them: They weren't convinced CTV and video are efficient in driving results.

And, they asked, can video reach the same scale? The fact is, consumers still spend about 77% of their time streaming content using subscription-based and ad-free services, where they can’t be reached unless marketers spring for expensive sponsorships.

There were also cost concerns. Video is expensive, display advertisers reminded video enthusiasts. The average CPM for CTV is $35 to $65, higher than direct display buys on a premium publisher.

Why pay those CPMs for a nascent channel when ad-supported content is siloed and challenging for advertisers to buy? How is an advertiser supposed to track and measure ROI when the environment is so fragmented? Will display, long accustomed to thriving in the lower funnel and driving conversions, be happy hitched to a channel that lives in the upper funnel?

On the other hand, video advocates couldn’t imagine display delivering the kind of clickthrough rates and engagement to which they’re accustomed. Even if display helped garner additional engagements, could marketers afford the extra cost?

Like it or not, they pointed out, video and display lived in separate silos, supported by different ad servers and ecosystems, making it difficult to track who sees which ad, much less guarantee a seamless, relevant and non-intrusive ad experience.

Discouraged by the objections, video and display looked for allies, people who’ve deployed both in campaigns to achieve great results—and they found plenty. Numerous brands have experience in launching video ads with dynamic display elements, and they’ve enjoyed great results (especially when display is used as a secondary touchpoint after a shopper is aware of a product or brand.)

While display ads typically have a clickthrough rate of 0.35%, dynamic display ads—ads that adapt to the individual consumer, showing the most relevant products and offers for each—are in a category by themselves, delivering higher clickthrough rates due to their enhanced nature. This isn’t surprising given how far display ads have come from their days of static banners.

Today’s display ads are playful and vibrant. They’ve morphed into rich media formats, offering myriad types of interactions (think swiping, scrolling, 360-degree product views, countdowns to event starts, or consumers choosing their own adventure by selecting color and frame preferences across a sunglass brand’s cool aviators).

Advertisers also can add video to dynamic ads to engage consumers, like showing them a preview of their latest store opening alongside new season arrivals. And they can play a role in the consideration phase, helping meet mid-funnel marketing objectives by allowing the advertiser to make a shift to show brand and/or value messaging alongside products, such as best-sellers.

Coupling up, online video advertising can act as an extension to existing display acquisition and retention tactics. For example, marketers can deploy online video advertising to attract their next top customer. They can also use video to reinforce brand messaging to existing customers. Both can then be met with top-of-the mind brand and product messaging delivered through display ads. Together, video and display improve relevance with messaging that influences consumer behavior, driving better results.

Isn’t that what every advertiser ultimately wants for their media budget?

Some progressive advertisers took a chance at marrying video with display and were heartened by the results. These advertisers discovered that by leveraging proprietary audiences, consumers were more likely to convert based on past behavior. And they can leverage an abundance of audiences from third-party data providers to scale campaigns.

What’s more, these advertisers saw first-hand how these formats delivered cross-channel results, complementing each other and the consumer experience. Video excels at engaging people with emotional storytelling and setting a tone that is difficult for display to match alone. But once consumers have seen a CTV or online video, a timely display ad can remind them of those emotions they felt and reawaken any yearnings they evoked.

And video-based ads have as much functionality as dynamic ads, allowing marketers to incorporate engaging interactivity and product recommendations personalized to shopper interests. They can also repurpose video assets, take a 60-second clip, and create multiple cuts used across rich media and dynamic ads to deliver storytelling for every customer touchpoint.

The result is a consistent and relevant experience across channels, and a customer-led approach to driving growth. So, while video and display serve different functions, it’s truly a case of one plus one equals a magnitude of possibilities.

Let’s say an advertiser leverages video to capture the attention of new consumers who look like its top customers. Here’s how video and display can work together:

1. The marketer sequences multiple video creatives across devices.

2. For consumers who were exposed to video ads, the marketer can engage them with a rich media ad that uses a 5-second video clip. This ad can also be used to split test across another rich media format to reach in-market audiences.

3. Those consumers then convert with dynamic ads, letting them know they can find products in a store close to where they are at that moment.

4. The brand can begin to drive loyalty offers through rich media ads that collect the shoppers’ email addresses for other reengagement tactics.

All this helps to go beyond brand awareness goals of impressions and completions. It aims to generate revenue, as well as to help marketers form relationships with consumers across online and offline touchpoints.

The proof is in the performance data. When U.S. advertisers include online video with display campaigns, marketers see a 50% increase in transactions, 10% increase in average order value (AOV), and 5% increase in return on ad spend (ROAS) than those who leveraged display alone, according to Criteo data. For specific categories such as lifestyle, cosmetics and fragrances, and home improvement, marketers see a 90% increase in ROAS.

So, while it’s true that CPMs are 11% higher for online video, advertisers shouldn’t judge the channels based on price alone. Unlike linear TV, this is no spray-and-pay channel. Advertisers can target their ideal audiences with video and display ads, measure the response rate and iterate on targeting strategy.

And advertisers are discovering that they can easily purchase plenty of impressions on ad-supported content these days. Premium content across all major publishers and devices is more accessible than ever, no matter where, when or how audiences view video content. In fact, there are single-platforms that manage video campaigns with display campaigns and move customers from exposure to point-of-sale.

Some progressive advertisers took a chance at marrying video with display and were heartened by the results. These advertisers discovered that by leveraging proprietary audiences, consumers were more likely to convert based on past behavior. And they can leverage an abundance of audiences from third-party data providers to scale campaigns.

What’s more, these advertisers saw first-hand how these formats delivered cross-channel results, complementing each other and the consumer experience. Video excels at engaging people with emotional storytelling and setting a tone that is difficult for display to match alone. But once consumers have seen a CTV or online video, a timely display ad can remind them of those emotions they felt and reawaken the any yearnings they evoked.

And video-based ads have as much functionality as dynamic ads, allowing marketers to incorporate engaging interactivity and product recommendations personalized to shopper interests. They can also repurpose video assets, take a 60-second clip, and create multiple cuts used across rich media and dynamic ads to deliver storytelling for every customer touchpoint.

The result is a consistent and relevant experience across channels, and a customer-led approach to driving growth. So, while video and display serve different functions, it’s truly a case of one plus one equals a magnitude of possibilities.

Let’s say an advertiser leverages video to capture the attention of new consumers who look like its top customers. Here’s how video and display can work together:

1. The marketer sequences multiple video creatives across devices.

2. For consumers who were exposed to video ads, the marketer can engage them with a rich media ad that uses a 5-second video clip. This ad can also be used to split test across another rich media format to reach in-market audiences.

3. Those consumers then convert with dynamic ads, letting them know they can find products in a store close to where they are at that moment.

4. The brand can begin to drive loyalty offers through rich media ads that collect the shoppers’ email addresses for other reengagement tactics.

All this helps to go beyond brand awareness goals of impressions and completions. It aims to generate revenue, as well as to help marketers form relationships with consumers across online and offline touchpoints.

The proof is in the performance data. When U.S. advertisers include online video with display campaigns, marketers see a 50% increase in transactions, 10% increase in average order value (AOV), and 5% increase in return on ad spend (ROAS) than those who leveraged display alone, according to Criteo data. For specific categories such as lifestyle, cosmetics and fragrances, and home improvement, marketers see a 90% increase in ROAS.

So, while it’s true that CPMs are 11% higher for online video, advertisers shouldn’t judge the channels based on price alone. Unlike linear TV, this is no spray-and-pay channel. Advertisers can target their ideal audiences with video and display ads, measure the response rate and iterate on targeting strategy.

And advertisers are discovering that they can easily purchase plenty of impressions on ad-supported content these days. Premium content across all major publishers and devices is more accessible than ever, no matter where, when or how audiences view video content. In fact, there are single-platforms that manage video campaigns with display campaigns and move customers from exposure to point-of-sale.

So, what makes for a successful and happy partnership with display and video? Here are five tips to ensure a happy marriage of the two channels, delivering the results you need:

Focus on a coherent commerce media.

Commerce media allows marketers to combine data and intelligence from commerce decisions to target shoppers throughout their journey. Marketers should apply these insights to deliver relevant ads to customers at all stages from discovery to consideration and conversion.

Build audiences first.

Before thinking about channels, devices or ad formats, it's important to have a holistic understanding of what an ideal customer looks like, their attributes and shopping behaviors, in order to build the right audience to meet the objectives of the campaign.

Be channel, device and format agnostic.

Once you build a campaign audience, the channels, devices and ad formats for that campaign are all dependent on where that audience spends their time and where they’re most likely to view or engage with your ads. Rely on commerce technologies that can process data quickly and recognize patterns that help to predict which optimizations will be most effective and efficient.

Scale your video creatives.

The cost of producing video creative is one reason why marketers hesitate to launch online video ad campaigns. But with a commerce media strategy and the right advertising partner, marketers can use one video to build ads for the full customer journey.

Measure campaigns holistically.

If you don’t, you will miss the goodness each ad format adds to the initiative.

So, what makes for a successful and happy partnership with display and video? Here are five tips to ensure a happy marriage of the two channels, delivering the results you need:

Focus on a coherent commerce media.

Commerce media allows marketers to combine data and intelligence from commerce decisions to target shoppers throughout their journey. Marketers should apply these insights to deliver relevant ads to customers at all stages from discovery to consideration and conversion.

Build audiences first.

Before thinking about channels, devices or ad formats, it's important to have a holistic understanding of what an ideal customer looks like, their attributes and shopping behaviors, in order to build the right audience to meet the objectives of the campaign.

Be channel, device and format agnostic.

Once you build a campaign audience, the channels, devices and ad formats for that campaign are all dependent on where that audience spends their time and where they’re most likely to view or engage with your ads. Rely on commerce technologies that can process data quickly and recognize patterns that help to predict which optimizations will be most effective and efficient.

Scale your video creatives.

The cost of producing video creative is one reason why marketers hesitate to launch online video ad campaigns. But with a commerce media strategy and the right advertising partner, marketers can use one video to build ads for the full customer journey.

Measure campaigns holistically.

If you don’t, you will miss the goodness each ad format adds to the initiative.

Criteo is a global technology company that provides the world's leading commerce media platform. Criteo team members partner with 22,000 marketers and thousands of media owners around the globe to activate the world's largest set of commerce data to drive better commerce outcomes. By powering trusted and impactful advertising, Criteo brings richer experiences to every consumer while supporting a fair and open internet that enables discovery, innovation and choice. For more information, please visit criteo.com.

Illustrated by Mabel Ducker