The idea is not simply adding animation but incorporating it into the overall message. The prevailing wisdom is to avoid nondescript colors like beige and gray that fade into the background. As to which colors are the most effective, most advertisers say the jury's still out. But we believe bold colors like green and yellow outperform black and white. The life span of a banner is short.
Response rates can drop by one-half from the second to third time someone sees an ad.
To get around this, advertisers should rotate banners and quickly remove bad performers. As important, if not more so than the creative, is the ad's location. If you're an online brokerage service, you want to be in financial sites, not entertainment sites. The rule is test, test and test again, advertisers say. It's easy and inexpensive to test banner ads and see which creative works best on which site.