In the age of social first campaigns, Monique Harris, CEO, ConvoMedia argues we might be missing a trick putting all our eggs in one (digital) social basket.
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: while you’re obsessing over TikTok algorithms and Instagram engagement rates, there are competitors out there quietly dominating the other four hours a day your audience spends not scrolling social feeds.
I know what you’re thinking: “Mon, display ads? It’s not 2002!” But before you write this off as a nostalgia piece for the banner ad, hear me out.
Recent research from System1 into short-form social video got me thinking. Those snappy TikTok ads we’re all scrambling to perfect? Yes, they’re brilliant at grabbing attention, but building lasting impact still comes down to the fundamentals. Emotional resonance. Clear branding. Repetition. The same principles that worked in 1994 still work today, and these aren’t just principles that apply to social media creative. They are marketing fundamentals.
Yet we’ve convinced ourselves that social media cracked some secret code. We are on track to pour AUD$8.9 billion this year (up 17 per cent year-on-year according to MAGNA / IPG) into platforms where Australians spend just two of their six daily online hours.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an anti-social rant. But it’s sometimes important to remember the facts. It’s estimated by Social Insider that the average Facebook post reaches 1.2% of followers. Instagram manages 3.5 per cent.
That’s before we even scratch the surface of measurement accuracy concerns from paid spend, with Meta only recently accused of inflating advertising metrics on “Shop Ads” by nearly 20 per cent according to industry reports.
With these figures in mind, are we loading social with an impossible to-do list: build brands, spark conversations, drive sales, AND compete with cat videos for fleeting attention spans, then wondering why brand awareness isn’t moving the needle? Social works, but our feed-first obsession is possibly leaving massive opportunities on the table.
So here’s what changed while we weren’t looking: display advertising evolved. Dramatically.
Today’s display isn’t your grandfather’s banner ad. It’s dynamic, shoppable, mobile-first, contextually intelligent, and gives us something social platforms can’t: a controlled, brand-safe creative environment where algorithms don’t decide who sees your message.
Take The Iconic’s recent campaign. They transformed real people into live models within banner-sized frames during a Sydney activation, then streamed that content across premium News Corp placements like Vogue and news.com.au. It wasn’t advertising; it was appointment viewing in a 300×250 frame (it even won them an award).
Or consider Scape Student Living’s ingenious approach. They used geofencing data to serve personalised display ads to students who’d walked past their outdoor campaigns, creating a seamless offline-to-online journey. Their scratch-and-reveal mobile formats turned passive viewers into active participants, letting them virtually explore rooms and facilities nationwide.
Both brands treated display as a strategic creative canvas.
Yes, much like doom scrolling, banner blindness can exist. But, contextually relevant creative that adapts to content, interactive formats that demand engagement, and sequential storytelling that builds over multiple touchpoints go a long way to counteracting this. The key is treating display placements not as ‘display’ and more like content real estate that deserves the same creative investment we pour into social content.
The brands winning with display today use dynamic product ads that pull from live inventory, interactive video overlays, virtual try-on experiences, and messaging based on contextual signals. This isn’t your 2002 banner; it’s intelligent creative built to engage and, in some cases, enhance the content experience.
Since the first banner ad of 1994 achieved a 44 per cent click-through rate with the simple line: “Have you ever clicked your mouse right here? You will.” The technology has evolved exponentially, but the fundamental principle remains: compelling creative in the right context drives results.
So maybe the answer isn’t “which is better” but “why aren’t we using both strategically?” Use social for engagement and cultural moments, use display for consistent brand building and reaching people in the other four hours of their online day. Acknowledge that social’s strength lies in conversation and community building, while display excels at controlled brand storytelling and reaching audiences in a less cluttered environment.
The creative energy, strategic thinking, and budget allocation we’ve been pouring exclusively into social media? It’s time to spread that wealth. Because while everyone’s fighting it out in the feed, there’s an entire attention economy waiting to be claimed through strategic display advertising that could give your cherished social content a new lease on life.
