B2B display creative best practices

Display and Audience ads reach people who aren't searching. They are reading news, email or an article, and your ad gets about a second of attention. In ABM campaigns the same small group of accounts sees the ad many times, so the creative has to be clear the first time and still fresh the tenth.

Contrast: be seen first

• Stand out from the page. Most sites are white or light grey. A light banner disappears; a strong brand colour or a dark background doesn't.
• Text contrast: aim for at least 4.5:1 between text and background, the same rule as for accessible websites. White on lime or grey on blue rarely passes.
• Button contrast: the CTA button should be the most contrasting element on the banner, not the logo.
• Squint test: blur your eyes or shrink the banner to 25%. If you can't tell what it's about, neither can the reader.

One message per ad

A banner isn't a brochure.

• One headline, ideally under 30 characters, so it is readable at 300 × 250 and fits Google's short headline.
• One supporting line at most, and only on larger sizes.
• One CTA: "Book a demo", "See pricing" or "Get the checklist", not all three.
• One image: a product screen, a person using it, or the result. No collages.

If you have three messages, make three ads and let the data choose.

Logo: visible, not dominant

People need to know who the ad is from, especially in ABM, where the goal is often familiarity before the sales call.

• Put the logo in the same corner on every size, usually top-left or bottom-left.
• Make it readable at the smallest size (320 × 50), but smaller than the headline.
• On responsive Google and Microsoft ads, don't place the logo on the image. Upload it in the logo fields; logos on images are a common disapproval.
• Use the landscape 4:1 logo where the platform asks for it, not a stretched square one.

Frequency caps: familiar, not annoying

In ABM you target a few hundred or thousand companies, so the same people see your ads often. Too few views and nobody remembers you; too many and they start to ignore or resent the brand.

• IntentBid sets a default cap of 4 a day and 15 a week per person on Google display campaigns. You can change it in the campaign's Audience step.
• For small, high-value account lists, 2–3 a day is often enough.
• For retargeting people who visited pricing or a comparison page, a short burst at a higher cap for 7–14 days works well.
• Watch reach per account, not just impressions. If reach stalls and frequency climbs, the list is saturated: widen it or lower the cap.

Refresh creatives before they wear out

Creative fatigue shows up as falling click-through rate at a steady or rising frequency.

• Plan a new variant every 4–6 weeks on always-on ABM campaigns, sooner on small lists.
• Refresh the image and headline, keep the brand and layout. Familiar structure with a new message is ideal.
• Rotate by theme: a proof ad, a product ad, a customer story, an offer.
• Pause, don't delete, tired ads. They often work again after a few months.
• IntentBid's Creatives page lists every running ad with the status the platform reports, so you can see which ones have been live longest.

Test one thing at a time

Simple A/B tests answer real questions; testing everything at once answers none.

1. Pick one variable: headline, image, CTA wording or colour.
2. Run two to three variants in the same campaign with the same audience and budget.
3. Wait for enough data. For B2B display, aim for at least a few thousand impressions and a few dozen clicks per variant before deciding. Small lists may need two to four weeks.
4. Judge on what matters. CTR shows attention; visits from target accounts and pipeline show value. A banner with a lower CTR that brings the right companies wins.
5. Keep the winner, test the next variable.

Good first tests for B2B:

• Outcome headline ("Close in 5 days") vs. problem headline ("Still closing in 10 days?").
• Product screenshot vs. photo of a person.
• "Book a demo" vs. a lower-commitment CTA such as "See how it works".

Get the specs right

Even great creative fails if it is cropped badly or over the file size limit. Check the specs for Google display and Microsoft Audience ads, and use the Creative studio to make every size from one design.