Are banners still valid today?

The most common online marketing channel since the dawn of the Internet has been the banner. Initially, the display was born as a way to generate traffic to a specific site , and the possibility of a conversion to a purchase was relegated to the background. Impressions and CTR were the protagonists . Over time, the role of the banner evolved and came to be considered a conversion tool, but what about now? Is it still valid within a current online marketing strategy? If you're preparing your next digital campaign, chances are you haven't even considered introducing banners because many experts believe this type of online advertising is dead . This isn't exactly true; the truth is that current marketing and web analytics techniques require, more than anything, a rethinking of their use. Today, we can't consider creating a banner with a single defined objective; rather, it's necessary to assess its specific role within each phase of an online campaign . In other words, it must fit appropriately into the conversion process. In fact, to assess whether a banner campaign is effective today, we must consider more than just what happens after the user clicks. Thus, to properly measure a banner campaign , we must consider what can happen once the user sees it . The options are essentially clicking with or without conversion, viewing the banner and not converting, or converting through another channel. The next question to ask is whether the post-view effect is truly effective, as many campaigns are active in both online and offline channels. In these cases, it's best to consider data from the first two or three days after the banner is displayed. Furthermore, it's also important to determine the effect of the banner on people who haven't converted . In fact, to properly assess this, it's necessary to calculate the influence of a display campaign at all stages of the purchase funnel. To begin with, a banner has a positive effect on awareness, as it helps with something as fundamental as reinforcing branding. Meanwhile, in the consideration stage, the banner can directly impact the increase in returning visits from both organic and direct traffic. Both stages are essential for reaching the action stage, where we can measure direct conversions in which the banner was the user's last click. However, the only stage in which a banner campaign will not be profitable is the advocacy stage, where tools like newsletters will always be much more effective and cost-effective.