Imagine a busy project manager in Calgary scrolling through industry news on a lunch break. A bold banner for a local safety training company appears beside the article. No search, no keywords typed, yet a relevant offer is right in front of the right person at the right time. That is the quiet power of well-chosen display advertising networks.
These networks connect advertisers to millions of websites, apps, and videos where digital advertising. When they are chosen and managed well, they build brand awareness, support sales teams, and keep a business top of mind between search clicks and sales calls. When they are chosen poorly, the same budget scatters across random sites, weak placements, and low-intent audiences.
Unlike search ads, where people are already looking for answers, display ads interrupt browsing. That means the network itself, the targeting used, and the creative all matter a great deal. A partner-focused approach treats networks as long-term ad network partners, chosen for how they align with business goals, margins, and sales cycles, not just for cheap clicks.
This guide walks through how display advertising networks work, where Google, Meta, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Microsoft each fit, and how remarketing turns past visitors into future customers. It also offers a clear framework for network selection, explains the metrics that actually matter, and shows when a strategic partner such as Cutting Edge Digital Marketing can turn scattered experiments into a repeatable system for growth.
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”
— Peter Drucker
Key Takeaways
Choosing display advertising networks is not only about reach or low cost. The best results come from matching each network to clear goals, target audiences, and realistic budgets, then managing them as long-term partners rather than short-term traffic sources.
Different networks fill different roles. Google Display Network, Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Microsoft Advertising each serve specific stages of the funnel, from awareness to remarketing, and work best when their strengths are used on purpose.
Remarketing should sit at the centre of almost every display strategy. It focuses spend on people who already know the brand, often producing the lowest cost per lead, especially when combined with strong tracking and clear offers.
Display campaigns work best as part of a digital marketing. When they connect with SEO services, a fast and clear website, professional branding, and solid sales follow-up, they drive more than clicks and impressions. They support long-term revenue growth with trackable impact.
What Are Display Advertising Networks and How Do They Work?
Display advertising networks are platforms that connect advertisers with a large pool of publisher sites, mobile apps, and video inventory. Instead of calling hundreds of websites one by one to buy banner space, a business can log into a single platform and reach thousands of placements through that one ads network. The network manages where ads appear, how bids are handled, and which users see which creative.
These placements are usually visual. A display ad network can show static images, animated HTML5 banners, responsive ads that adjust to the space available, and even short videos. This is very different from search advertising, where the main format is a text ad that appears only when someone types in a keyword. With display, ads appear while people read the news, check the weather, or watch a how-to video.
Because display ads appear during regular browsing, they play a slightly different role in the marketing funnel:
At the top of the funnel, they introduce a brand to people who have never heard of it.
In the middle, they remind prospects about case studies, blog posts, or service pages that help them compare options.
At the bottom, they work through remarketing to bring back people who asked for a quote, visited a service page, or added items to a cart but did not finish.
Several core metrics help explain how display advertising networks operate:
Impression – one showing of an ad.
CPM (cost per thousand impressions) – what you pay for every thousand impressions.
Click – when a user selects the ad and visits the landing page.
Click-through rate (CTR) – clicks divided by impressions, showing how engaging the ad is.
Cost per click (CPC) – how much each of those visits costs.
Together, these basics create the foundation for more advanced reporting and smarter decisions.
Why Network Selection Matters With a Strategic Partner Approach
Many businesses try display advertising once, pick one or two networks at random, and then decide that display “does not work” when results disappoint. The problem often is not the idea of display. It is poor network selection, weak targeting, or creative that does not match the way the audience actually buys. When ads run in the wrong places, even the best brand can look invisible.
Every network has certain strengths. Some are better for wide reach and brand awareness. Others work better for B2B lead generation or for staying in front of people who already visited the website. A construction firm in Edmonton has very different needs from an online retailer or a local restaurant, so it makes little sense to treat all display advertising networks as if they are equal.
A random “test everything” approach spreads budget thin and produces shallow data. A strategic partner starts instead with business goals, current lead flow, margins, and sales cycle length. From there, they can decide whether to focus on a GDN campaign, a Facebook ads network strategy, tight LinkedIn outreach, or a mix. They can also judge whether native ads networks or programmatic display networks add real value or just add noise.
For Cutting Edge Digital Marketing, network selection is tightly linked to industry and growth stage. Established industrial and service-based firms in Alberta often see the best early wins from Google display advertising for remarketing, complemented by LinkedIn to reach decision-makers and carefully targeted Facebook campaigns in local regions. This works far better than blasting broad banners everywhere.
Finally, display should never website design. When campaigns are tied to a fast, professional website, strong SEO, clean branding, and clear sales follow-up, networks become partners in a larger system. That partner-focused view is what turns ad spend into a stable source of leads instead of a one-off experiment.
The Google Display Network For Unmatched Reach With Strategic Considerations
The Google Display Network (GDN), often shortened to GDN or called the Google advertising network, is the largest of the major display advertising networks. It includes more than a million websites, apps, and YouTube placements. With that scale, a single GDN Google Ads account can reach people reading national news, watching how-to videos, or visiting small niche sites within a specific trade.
One of the main benefits of GDN advertising is the wide choice of formats. Advertisers can run static image banners, responsive ads that adapt to any banner advertising network size, video placements, and rich media creatives with movement. Combined with strong branding, this can put a business in front of far more people than search alone ever will.
Targeting is another strength. A Google ad network campaign can focus on:
Keywords and topics
Custom audiences and demographics
Hand-picked site placements
For example, an equipment rental company might choose to show ads only on construction news sites and DIY forums within the Google network advertising system. This mix of automation and manual control makes GDN flexible for both awareness and remarketing.
There are trade-offs to consider. Users on GDN are browsing content, not actively searching for a service. That usually means lower immediate conversion rates than Google Search. Performance also depends heavily on visual quality. Weak creative on a banner ad network often leads to low click-through rates and wasted impressions. And with so many placements, performance can swing if campaigns are not watched closely.
Best practice is to keep a firm grip on targeting when a GDN campaign starts. That often means:
Using placement targeting
Excluding poor-quality mobile app inventory
Adding negative topics and keywords
Watching reports to remove low-performing sites
Over time, budgets can move toward the placements, audiences, and formats that drive leads at a reasonable cost. For Alberta and Western Canada businesses, the Google Display Network is especially strong when local targeting, retargeting campaigns, and brand awareness run together in a controlled, well-managed structure.
Remarketing and Retargeting As Your Most Powerful Display Strategy
Remarketing, often called retargeting on some platforms, is one of the most effective ways to use display advertising networks. It focuses on people who already visited your website or app. A small tracking code records the visit, and later those same people see display ads while they browse other sites, scroll social feeds, or watch videos.
Most websites see only a small share of visitors convert on the first visit. Industry studies often mention figures as high as ninety per cent or more of users who leave without calling, filling out a form, or buying. Remarketing gives a business a second and third chance to bring back those visitors and guide them further down the path to becoming a customer.
Performance numbers reflect this advantage. Because remarketing targets people who already showed interest, click-through rates can be several times higher than cold display traffic. Cost per lead and cost per sale are often lower as well. This is why smart advertisers on Google display ads, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube make remarketing a core part of their structure rather than an afterthought.
The strength of remarketing also comes from its flexibility. A campaign can:
Show one set of ads to people who viewed service pages
Show another to those who requested a quote but did not sign
Show a third to people who read several blog posts
E-commerce brands can show the exact products that users added to a cart. Service firms can follow up with messages that address common worries or highlight reviews.
There are pitfalls to avoid. Showing the same ad too often creates annoyance and can hurt the brand. Frequency caps help by limiting how many times one person sees an ad each day. Another risk is continuing to target people who already converted. Good remarketing lists exclude recent buyers or completed leads to avoid frustration and wasted cost.
When Cutting Edge Digital Marketing builds display strategies for Western Canadian businesses, remarketing is one of the first campaign types set up on the Google display networks, Meta, and often LinkedIn or YouTube. It uses budget in a smarter way by focusing on the warmest audience first, while other campaigns work to bring in new visitors at the top of the funnel.
Facebook and Instagram Advertising For Social Display and Hyper Targeted Campaigns
Facebook and Instagram, run together as Meta Ads, act as powerful display networks in their own right. Instead of spreading across many independent sites, they show ads inside their own apps and feeds. This means ad placements sit directly beside posts from friends, family, and followed pages, which creates a natural, scrollable experience for image and video ads.
What sets the Facebook ads network apart is its deep pool of first-party data. People share their interests, follow pages, list job titles, and interact with content daily. Advertisers can build audiences based on age, location, hobbies, family status, and many other details. They can also upload customer lists to build custom audiences or lookalike groups that resemble their best clients.
Costs are often attractive as well. For many industries, cost per click on Meta can be lower than on a Google advertising network campaign. That makes it appealing for local awareness around Alberta cities, for driving traffic to new content, or for testing offers quickly. Since ads can appear in feeds, stories, and other placements, there are many ways to match creative to how people use each app.
Meta ads do have limits. People scroll Facebook and Instagram to relax, chat, or follow interests, not to search for a specific service at that exact moment. Purchase intent is lower than on search or certain best display ad networks focused on shopping. As a result, these platforms excel at top and middle of funnel work, while remarketing and strong landing pages carry more of the conversion load.
To get the most from Meta, creative needs to refresh often. The feed moves quickly, and users tire of the same ad if they see it over and over. Local Alberta and Western Canada businesses often see strong results when they combine lifestyle imagery, clear value statements, and simple lead forms or message buttons. For Cutting Edge Digital Marketing clients, Facebook and Instagram become key parts of a balanced plan when used alongside GDN advertising and search campaigns rather than as a stand-alone answer.
LinkedIn Advertising As the Premier B2B Display Network
LinkedIn stands out among display advertising networks for its focus on professionals. Users share job titles, company names, industry, seniority, and skills. For B2B advertisers, this turns LinkedIn into a powerful way to reach exactly the people who influence or make buying decisions.
Targeting can drill down by role, level, and sector. A fabrication shop might choose plant managers and operations leaders in specific industries. A professional services firm may target owners of companies between certain staff sizes in Alberta and Western Canada. With this depth of control, it is possible to put ads in front of the right desks instead of hoping broad campaigns find the right people.
LinkedIn offers several ad formats:
Sponsored content that appears in the feed similarly to regular posts, with room for images or video
Text ads that appear in sidebars
Message-based formats that reach inboxes directly
These placements support campaigns that promote whitepapers, webinars, case studies, or consultation requests, which are common steps in longer B2B sales processes.
The main downside is cost. Clicks on LinkedIn are usually more expensive than on a banner advertising network such as GDN or a Facebook ads network campaign. However, because the audience is narrow and relevant, each visit often has a higher chance of turning into a serious lead. For high-value contracts, the numbers still make sense.
For Cutting Edge Digital Marketing, LinkedIn is a natural fit for industrial, construction, and service-based companies that want to reach owners and managers in Western Canada. Combined with Google display ads for remarketing and search campaigns for high-intent traffic, it helps build a full picture across the buyer’s research process, from early learning to contact.
YouTube Advertising With the Power of Video Display
YouTube combines elements of a social platform, a video library, and a search engine. As part of the broader Google ad network, it functions as a major video-focused display platform where businesses can show ads before, during, or beside the clips people choose to watch. For brands willing to invest in video, it offers reach and attention that simple banners cannot match.
Ads on YouTube can appear in several ways:
Skippable in-stream ads that run before or during videos and allow viewers to skip after a few seconds
Non-skippable formats and bumper ads that are shorter and focus on quick impact
Discovery-style ads that appear in search results and suggestion lists, inviting people to choose them
All of these options use the same advanced target settings that power other Google display networks, along with video-specific options such as targeting certain channels.
YouTube’s pricing often uses cost per view (CPV). In many formats, you only pay when someone watches at least thirty seconds, watches the full short ad, or clicks to visit the site. If they skip earlier, there is no charge. This makes YouTube a strong place for brand stories, product demos, or quick educational tips that can hold attention past the skip button.
The main creative challenge is the short window to hook viewers. With skippable ads, the first five seconds matter a great deal. Businesses need clear branding, a direct message, and some visual interest in that short window. Longer explanations and details can follow once interest is caught.
For Canadian firms, especially those in industrial and service sectors, YouTube works well for professional videography, shop processes, and team members in action. Cutting Edge Digital Marketing often uses YouTube in combination with GDN campaigns, so people who watch video content later see follow-up creative across the wider display network and come back through remarketing.
Microsoft Advertising As an Underutilized Alternative For Diversification
Microsoft Advertising covers Bing and Yahoo search, along with the Microsoft Audience Network that includes MSN, Outlook, and other partner sites. While smaller than Google network advertising, it still offers access to a sizeable share of searchers worldwide and a meaningful group of users on its display placements.
One of the key advantages is lighter competition. Many advertisers either forget about Microsoft or choose to skip it, which leads to lower cost per click in many industries. For businesses that already see steady results from Google display ads and search, adding Microsoft can bring extra conversions at a lower average cost.
The audience on Microsoft properties also has some distinct traits. Data from the company often shows a tilt toward older users with higher household income. For services with bigger ticket prices or for B2B offerings where decision-makers fall in that range, this can work very well.
There are limits, especially for Canadian businesses. Market share for Bing in Canada is lower than in some other regions, so campaigns may not reach the same volume as Google. Tools and automation features also trail what is available in Google Ads, though they improve over time.
A practical approach is to treat Microsoft Advertising as an add-on once Google campaigns are stable. Cutting Edge Digital Marketing often imports top-performing Google campaigns into Microsoft, adjusts bids and budgets, and then watches performance over the next month. If cost per lead compares well and volume is meaningful, the channel becomes a helpful part of the larger mix, even if it never reaches the same scale as the best display advertising networks.
Essential Targeting Strategies Across Display Networks
Targeting is where display advertising networks earn their keep. Without clear rules about who should see which ad, budgets drift into random placements and uninterested eyeballs. The good news is that most major networks share a small set of core targeting methods that can be combined in different ways.
By understanding how contextual, audience, placement, and remarketing approaches work, a business can design campaigns that speak directly to the right people at the right time. These methods can be layered on top of each other so campaigns do not have to choose between precision and reach.
“Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.”
— David Ogilvy
Contextual Targeting
Contextual targeting matches ads to the content on the page or in the video. If someone is reading about industrial safety, an ad for safety training on a banner advertising network is likely to feel relevant. Networks scan page content and compare it to keyword lists or topic groups chosen by advertisers.
Keyword-based contextual targeting lets businesses provide custom lists of terms related to their services. Topic targeting uses broader categories such as Construction and Maintenance or Business Services. Both are helpful for brand awareness when you want to reach people while they are already thinking about a related subject.
Contextual campaigns work especially well strategic content. They introduce a brand in a context that makes sense and can fill remarketing lists with visitors who arrived while researching related topics.
Audience Targeting
Audience targeting focuses on who the user is, rather than what they are viewing at that moment. Networks build anonymous profiles based on browsing history, app use, purchases, and self-reported details. Advertisers then build campaigns that speak to certain age ranges, locations, income levels, or interest groups.
Common audience types include:
Interest-based audiences – people who often read or watch content about a subject.
In-market audiences – users who show signs they are close to buying a product or service.
For example, someone comparing multiple equipment rental sites may fall into an in-market group for that category.
For most businesses, audience targeting is one of the strongest tools available. It allows campaigns on best display advertising networks to line up with real buyer personas instead of guessing based on a single page view.
Placement Targeting
Placement targeting gives advertisers direct control over where their ads appear. Instead of letting a system choose from thousands of sites, a campaign can focus on a small list of industry news sites, specific YouTube channels, or selected mobile apps.
This approach is especially valuable for B2B firms that know which publications their buyers trust. It can also help avoid low-quality inventory or apps that bring many impressions but little real engagement. On Google display networks, placement reports can reveal hidden gems where ads perform far above average.
Placement targeting may not scale as widely as broad audience or contextual setups. However, the quality of traffic from hand-picked placements often justifies dedicated budgets or special campaigns.
Remarketing/Retargeting
Remarketing, covered earlier in depth, targets people who already interacted with your site or app. Across display advertising networks, it often delivers the best direct return because it focuses on warm leads.
The strongest results usually come when remarketing is combined with other methods. For example, a campaign could:
Show remarketing ads only to in-market audiences
Limit remarketing to the most relevant placements from earlier reports
This layered approach keeps spend tight and messages sharp, while still reaching past visitors wherever they go online.
Measuring Success: Key Metrics For Display Advertising Campaigns
Running campaigns on best display advertising networks is only half the work. The other half is reading the results in a way that lines up with business goals. Different objectives call for different metrics. A brand awareness push for a new service should not be judged in the same way as a remarketing campaign for quote requests.
It is also important to avoid chasing vanity metrics that look impressive but do not link back to revenue. By focusing on a small set of meaningful indicators, decision-makers can see whether display campaigns are helping sales teams, supporting long-term growth, and justifying their cost.
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”
— John Wanamaker
Brand Awareness Metrics
Brand awareness campaigns care most about how many people see the message and how often they see it. Impressions count how many times an ad was shown. Reach records how many individual people saw that ad at least once, which gives a better sense of audience size.
Frequency shows how many times the average person saw your ad within a set period. Too few views and the message may not stick. Too many views and ad fatigue can set in. For most display and social campaigns, a frequency of three to five across a short window is a common aim.
Engagement Metrics
When a campaign seeks to drive website visits or on-platform interaction, engagement metrics come to the front. Clicks show how many people chose to interact with the ad. Click-through rate (CTR) compares clicks to impressions and signals whether the creative and targeting feel relevant.
On social platforms, engagement rate includes likes, comments, shares, and other forms of interaction. While not direct leads, these actions show that the audience cares enough to respond. A steady increase in engagement can be a strong sign that message and targeting are moving in the right direction.
Conversion Metrics
For lead generation and sales campaigns, conversions matter most. A conversion can be a contact form submission, a phone call from an ad, a quote request, or an online sale. Clear conversion tracking ties these events back to the display campaigns that helped trigger them.
Cost per acquisition (CPA) compares ad spend to the number of conversions.
Return on ad spend (ROAS) compares revenue to ad spend.
Conversion rate shows what share of visitors completed the desired action.
Together with conversion rate, these numbers show whether a banner ad network or social campaign is adding real dollars to the business.
View-Through Conversions (VTC)
Display advertising often influences people who do not click an ad right away. They might see a banner, remember the brand later, and then search the name in Google or type the web address directly. View-through conversions (VTC) help capture this pattern.
A VTC records when someone saw an ad, did not click, but later converted through another tracked channel within a set time. For awareness and upper-funnel efforts across display advertising networks, this metric is vital. It shows that display campaigns are doing more than the click report suggests.
At Cutting Edge Digital Marketing, view-through data is a standard part of reporting for GDN advertising, Meta campaigns, YouTube, and other networks. It helps show leadership teams how display campaigns support overall lead flow and validates investment even when the path from ad to sale is not a straight line.
How to Choose the Right Display Networks For Your Business
There is no single “best” network that fits every business. The right mix of display advertising networks depends on what you sell, who you sell to, how long it takes them to decide, and how much you can invest. A structured approach avoids guesswork and gives each campaign a clear purpose.
The following steps outline a practical framework that Cutting Edge Digital Marketing uses with many Alberta and Western Canada clients. It helps match networks to goals, audiences, assets, and budgets so every dollar has a plan.
1. Define Your Primary Objectives
Start by writing down what you want display to achieve in the next three to six months. Goals might include:
Brand awareness
Website visits
Lead generation
Online sales
Stronger remarketing
Different networks stand out for different aims. For example, the Google Display Network and YouTube work well for large-scale awareness and remarketing. LinkedIn is strong for B2B lead generation among specific job titles. Facebook and Instagram shine for local awareness and traffic. Knowing the main goal keeps you from judging every campaign only by short-term sales.
2. Know Your Target Audience
Clarify who your best customers are and how they behave online. Do they spend more time on LinkedIn or Facebook? Are they plant managers reading trade publications, or homeowners checking local groups on social media? This shapes which ads network deserves the first share of your budget.
For B2B industrial and service-based firms, LinkedIn plus targeted GDN placements on industry sites are often better than broad social campaigns. For consumer-facing brands, Meta and YouTube might come first. Cutting Edge Digital Marketing draws on industry experience in Western Canada to match these patterns to real-world behaviour.
3. Evaluate Your Visual Assets
Display and social ads rely heavily on visuals. Before committing to certain networks, review what you have:
Do you own strong photos of projects, staff, and equipment?
Do you have or can you produce video for YouTube or Google display ads?
Is your branding clear and modern?
If visual assets are weak, it may be smarter to start with smaller tests or invest in creative first. Even the best display ad networks cannot fix bland, low-quality banners. Quality creative often separates campaigns that generate leads from those that only burn through budget.
4. Consider Your Budget and Resources
Think about how much you can spend each month on media and how much time can go into management. Spreading a small budget across too many display advertising networks usually leads to thin data and slow learning. It is better to go deeper on one or two and add more as results appear.
Remember that LinkedIn clicks usually cost more but bring very targeted visitors, while Facebook often delivers wide reach for less per click. GDN sits somewhere in the middle. Effective management also takes time. If your internal team is already stretched, working with a partner such as Cutting Edge Digital Marketing can keep performance on track while your staff focus on operations.
5. Start Strategic, Then Expand
Begin with the networks that best match your objectives and audience, then let data guide expansion. For many established firms, that means:
Search and remarketing first
Awareness campaigns on GDN or Meta next
Later testing of YouTube or Microsoft Advertising
Use test periods of at least three months so seasonal shifts and learning time do not distort the picture. This avoids the trap of trying five networks for a few weeks each and then declaring that nothing works. Strategy-led tests produce insight that informs the next round of decisions.
6. Integration With Broader Marketing Systems
Display should plug into the rest of your marketing, not sit off on its own. Landing pages, website copy, SEO, sales processes, and reporting all affect how well campaigns perform. When these pieces are aligned, a click from a Google network advertising banner is far more likely to become a quote request or sale.
Cutting Edge Digital Marketing builds display campaigns as part of a complete system that includes professional web design, ongoing SEO, content creation, and tracking. This integrated approach gives Alberta and Western Canada businesses a clearer view of which channels pull their weight and how display supports steady growth.
Common Display Advertising Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Even strong brands can waste budget on display advertising networks when common mistakes slip into their plans. Knowing the most frequent issues helps you spot risks early and protect your investment.
The following problems show up often in audits of underperforming accounts. Each has a clear fix that can bring campaigns back on track without starting over from scratch.
Mistake 1 Treating All Networks the Same
Different networks attract different users and offer different tools. Copying the same ads and settings across Google, Meta, and LinkedIn often leads to weak results. The fix is to adapt creative, targeting, and offers to how people use each platform and what they expect to see there.
Mistake 2 Neglecting Remarketing
Some advertisers focus only on cold traffic and never set up remarketing lists. This leaves a large share of potential buyers untouched after their first visit. Adding remarketing on GDN, Meta, and other networks quickly boosts efficiency because it focuses spend on people who already know the brand.
Mistake 3 Poor Creative Quality
Blurry photos, busy designs, or vague headlines hurt performance. Users scroll past and click-through rates drop, which can raise costs. Investing in clear, professional visuals and straightforward copy makes a noticeable difference on any banner advertising network.
Mistake 4 Inadequate Tracking and Measurement
Running campaigns without proper conversion tracking turns results into guesswork. It becomes impossible to know which ads bring leads and which only bring visitors. Setting up analytics, pixels, and call tracking before launching gives a clear view of return on spend.
Mistake 5 Ignoring Frequency and Ad Fatigue
Showing the same ad many times to the same person can cause annoyance and damage how the brand is seen. Watching frequency numbers and regularly rotating creative keeps campaigns fresh. It also helps hold click-through rates at healthier levels.
Mistake 6 Unrealistic Expectations For Timeline
Display rarely delivers full value in just a few weeks. Short tests often shut down campaigns just as they begin to gather useful data. Planning for at least three to six months allows time to refine targeting, creative, and budgets based on real results.
Mistake 7 Lack of Strategic Integration
Some businesses treat display as a stand-alone activity. Ads send traffic to website maintenance, and sales teams are not prepared to follow up. Better results come when display, website, SEO, and sales processes all support each other within one clear plan.
The Strategic Partner Advantage – When to Work With an Agency
Managing display advertising networks well takes time, technical knowledge, and ongoing attention to data. Many owners and managers in Alberta and Western Canada already wear several hats. Adding daily ad management on top of operations, safety, hiring, and client service is rarely realistic for the long term.
This is where the right agency partner can step in as an external marketing lead. Instead of guessing at settings or chasing the latest trend, you gain a team that handles planning, setup, creative, and optimization with business results as the north star.
What to Look For in a Display Advertising Partner
A good partner does more than push buttons in ad platforms. They ask about revenue targets, margins, and capacity before recommending any display network comparison. They design campaigns that support those goals rather than simply spending the budget.
Industry experience matters as well. An agency that knows industrial, construction, and service-based markets can speak the same language as your prospects. They are more likely to choose the right mix of GDN advertising, LinkedIn outreach, and Meta campaigns for your buyers.
Integration skills are another key point. The best partners can connect display campaigns with website design, SEO, branding, and content. They also provide clear reporting that links clicks and impressions to leads, calls, and wins, not just to surface metrics.
How Cutting Edge Digital Marketing Approaches Display Network Selection
Cutting Edge Digital Marketing works as a strategic partner for established businesses across Alberta and Western Canada. Rather than selling fixed packages, the team builds a custom mix of display advertising networks and other channels for each client.
For an industrial fabricator, that might mean:
LinkedIn campaigns for plant managers
A remarketing-heavy GDN structure
YouTube videos that show real shop work
For an equipment rental firm, the mix could lean on:
Google display ads
Local Meta campaigns
Microsoft placements for older, higher-income searchers
In every case, the agency sets up solid tracking, tests creative and offers, and then shifts spend toward the networks and audiences that produce the best-quality leads. Display never works alone. It plugs into a wider system that includes a professional site, SEO, and strong branding.
The ROI of Strategic Partnership
Working with a partner such as Cutting Edge Digital Marketing saves time for internal teams. Staff can focus on operations and client service while specialists handle the constant adjustments that keep best display advertising networks performing.
Access to expert knowledge also shortens the learning curve. Instead of repeating common mistakes, campaigns start from proven structures and improve from there. As results grow, an experienced partner can scale budgets and add new networks without losing control of cost per lead.
For many mid-sized companies, the combined impact shows up in steadier lead flow, better-quality opportunities, and clearer insight into which channels drive real revenue. In that sense, a strong partner is not just running ads. They are helping shape a predictable engine for business growth.
Conclusion
Choosing the right display advertising networks is a strategic decision, not a quick checkbox on a marketing plan. Each network brings its own strengths, audience, and best uses. Google Display Network offers massive reach and strong remarketing. Facebook and Instagram shine for visual, social campaigns. LinkedIn reaches decision-makers. YouTube tells richer stories through video. Microsoft Advertising adds extra reach with lower competition in some markets.
Success comes from matching these options to clear goals, solid creative, and realistic budgets. It also depends on strong targeting, from contextual and audience methods to placement control and remarketing. Measuring performance through conversions, ROAS, and view-through conversions keeps the focus on results instead of vanity numbers.
Display campaigns work best when they connect with a website design, ongoing SEO, clear branding, and an organised sales process. They are not a quick fix but a powerful part of a long-term system for awareness and lead generation.
For many industrial, construction, and service-based companies in Alberta and Western Canada, building and maintaining that system alone is a heavy lift. Cutting Edge Digital Marketing acts as a strategic partner, choosing and managing the right mix of networks, tracking real revenue impact, and adjusting campaigns as the business grows. With the right partners and the right networks, display advertising becomes more than banners and impressions. It turns into a steady source of qualified opportunities that support long-term growth.
FAQs
What Is the Difference Between the Google Display Network and Google Search Ads
Google Search Ads show text ads when users type in specific keywords, usually signalling strong intent to find a product or service. The Google Display Network, by contrast, shows visual ads such as images and responsive banners across millions of sites, apps, and videos while people browse content. Search is strongest for capturing demand that already exists, while GDN is better at building awareness and feeding remarketing lists. Many businesses see the best results when they use both together within one connected strategy.
How Much Should I Budget For Display Advertising
The right budget depends on business size, industry competition, goals, and the chosen display advertising networks. As a general rule, many mid-sized companies start around two to three thousand dollars per month per major network to collect meaningful data and see results. LinkedIn often needs higher budgets because of its higher cost per click, while Facebook and Instagram can work with slightly smaller spends. It is also wise to plan for at least three to six months so campaigns have time to improve. Working with a partner such as Cutting Edge Digital Marketing helps direct budget toward the networks most likely to produce leads at a sustainable cost.
Is Remarketing the Same As Retargeting
Yes, remarketing and retargeting describe the same core idea. Both involve showing ads to people who visited your website or app before. Google often uses the term remarketing, while other platforms and some programmatic display networks prefer retargeting. No matter the word, the method remains one of the highest-performing tactics on display advertising networks because it focuses spending on warm prospects.
Which Display Network Is Best For B2B Companies
For most B2B advertisers, LinkedIn is the leading choice because it can target by job title, company size, industry, and seniority. That makes it easier to reach the people who actually sign contracts or influence buying decisions. The Google Display Network also plays a key role when it uses placement targeting on industry sites and remarketing to website visitors. Facebook can work for reaching small business owners in some sectors, but it is rarely the main channel for complex B2B deals. Cutting Edge Digital Marketing often pairs LinkedIn prospecting with GDN remarketing for industrial and service-based clients to keep their brands in front of decision-makers from first touch to final quote.
How Long Does It Take to See Results From Display Advertising
Timelines vary by campaign type. Remarketing campaigns on best display ad networks can start delivering leads within a few weeks because they focus on people already in your orbit. Brand awareness campaigns on GDN, YouTube, or Meta usually take longer, often three to six months, as they build familiarity and fill remarketing lists. Display also influences many people who do not click ads but later convert through search or direct visits. For this reason, view-through conversions and blended reporting are important. Cutting Edge Digital Marketing encourages clients to treat display as a long-term investment in a stronger marketing system, not just a short test.
Can Small Businesses Compete With Large Companies on Display Networks
Yes, small and mid-sized businesses can compete on display advertising networks, even against larger brands. The key is smart targeting and focused budgets rather than broad, unfocused campaigns. Smaller firms often move faster, test creative more often, and aim tightly at local or niche audiences that big brands overlook. Starting with remarketing and well-defined audience or placement targeting helps keep cost per lead under control. Partners such as Cutting Edge Digital Marketing design campaigns that play to these strengths, so smaller companies in Alberta and Western Canada can win attention and leads without matching national budgets.
