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Display Ads vs. Video Ads: Which Is Better?
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Display Ads vs. Video Ads: Which Is Better?

In this slice of digital marketing heaven, let’s compare Display Ads and Video Ads by taking a delicious bite out of our global pizza company campaign. Spoiler: one’s got the sizzle, the other’s got the sauce, but together, they make the perfect combo for any video ads or display marketing agency running brand awareness campaigns.

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Display Ads: The Mozzarella of Marketing

Think of display ads as the trusty mozzarella on your pizza—consistent, reliable, covering all the essentials. When comparing video ads vs banner ads, these graphical little beauties pop up on high-traffic websites, flashing those irresistible pizza images topped with brand new, seasonal ingredients. Display ads are the unsung heroes of awareness marketing, getting your product noticed like that first whiff of pizza when you step into a restaurant. In our media agency case study, these ads were strategically placed on sports and local news sites, reaching potential customers precisely where they were already hungry (for both pizza and football scores). That’s some solid media planning right there.

Video Ads: The Emotional Cheese Pull

If display ads are the mozzarella, video ads are that dramatic, slow-motion cheese pull. You know, the one that makes everyone in the room stop and stare. Our brand marketing strategy included video ads that didn’t just show pizza—they told a pizza story. Think: a group of friends gathered for the big game, laughter, camaraderie, and of course, pizza. The emotional resonance video ads create is like the cheese holding the whole slice together—sticky, irresistible, and highly engaging. For our global pizza client, these video ads didn’t just boost brand awareness; they led to a 6% increase in app downloads and a 7% bump in online sales. Turns out, people don’t just want pizza—they want the lifestyle that comes with it.

By combining video ads with strategic display retargeting, our pizza client saw a 7% increase in online sales and 6% boost in app downloads.

The Retargeting Sauce: Display Ads Get Savvy

And while video ads are busy pulling at emotional strings, let’s not forget the strategic genius of display ads when it comes to retargeting. Here’s where media planning kicks into high gear. Our digital marketing agency didn’t just let potential customers slip away after their first visit. Display ads were the savory scent that followed them around the internet, serving up reminders (and promotional discounts!) like an Italian waiter who knows you’re not done with that pizza just yet. This approach turned cold leads into hot sales, with a 4% lift in conversions among users who clicked through retargeting ads. Think of these ads as the pizza dough, creating the structure that holds the whole brand marketing campaign together.

Combining the Perfect Ingredients: Media Agency Case Study

At the end of the day, it’s not about choosing between display and video ads, it’s about using both to cook up a winning brand awareness campaign. Display ads build steady visibility across the web, while video ads serve as the knockout punch that drives engagement and conversions. Together, they form a multi-layered strategy that delivers results.

For any brand looking to increase awareness through a well-balanced media planning approach, these two formats should be part of the recipe. Consider this your media agency case study on how to blend awareness marketing with direct response tactics for maximum impact.

Check out some of the screen shots of the campaign which ran in Sweden, where banana and curry on pizza is totally acceptable to order, and kebab pizza is the go-to hangover-cure.

Thanks for tuning in and hey, before you go grab yourself a pizza, drop us a line!

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Display vs video ads case study from digital marketing agency
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Market & Structure Tool

Advant Technology — LinkedIn Ads for Enterprise Technology

Which markets change your campaign, and how

A working companion to the multi-market playbook. Explore what actually differs between the UK, US, DACH and APAC — or answer four questions to see whether your account list needs one campaign structure or several.

United Kingdom

UK
Message-based formats
Available

Outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland exclusion since Brexit, so Conversation Ads (successor to Message Ads) are not caught by the EU restriction that applies to Germany.

Governing regime

UK GDPR. Standard UK GDPR employee-data handling applies; no equivalent to Germany's works-council co-determination layer.

Decision culture

Closer to US pace. Single decision-maker with committee sign-off is common; buying-group validation is typically faster than DACH.

Localization

English-native. No localisation tax on creative or landing pages for UK-only targeting.

United States

US
Message-based formats
Available

Conversation Ads run without the EU/EEA/Switzerland restriction.

Governing regime

CCPA / CPRA. California's B2B and employee-data exemptions expired 1 Jan 2023 (AB 25 / AB 1355 / AB 1281 not renewed). Business-contact data in ABM lists touching California residents is now in scope.

Decision culture

Fast-moving, champion-led. Often an internal champion drives the process with executive sign-off, rather than slower group consensus.

Localization

English-native. Tone and proof points differ from UK (ROI framing, case-study style) but no language barrier.

Germany-led DACH

DACH
Message-based formats
Unavailable in EU/EEA/CH

Following a Nov 2021 CJEU ruling that native inbox advertising needs direct-marketing consent under the ePrivacy framework, LinkedIn stopped EU-targeted Message/Conversation Ads (new campaigns blocked 15 Dec 2021, existing ones suspended 10 Jan 2022).

Governing regime

GDPR + BDSG. Germany's Federal Data Protection Act adds works-council (Betriebsrat) co-determination rights over some employee-data processing. A works agreement cannot itself legitimate otherwise-inadmissible processing (German court ruling reported Jan 2025).

Decision culture

Consensus-driven. Formal sign-off and longer internal validation typically precede commercial conversations — plan reporting windows accordingly.

Localization

German materially outperforms English. True below enterprise-only accounts; enterprise buying groups are more English-tolerant, but mid-market is not.

Singapore-led APAC

APAC
Message-based formats
Confirm in Campaign Manager

Singapore sits outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland exclusion, so formats are presumed available — but coverage isn't centrally documented by geography, so verify before planning.

Governing regime

PDPA (Singapore). A distinct consent-and-purpose-limitation regime, not equivalent to GDPR. Treat as its own compliance track, not a GDPR analogue.

Decision culture

Not representative of wider APAC. Singapore is English-language and Western-business-norm-adjacent; this does not extend to Japan, Korea or Greater China buying culture.

Localization

English viable — for Singapore only. Do not treat English-only creative as a proxy for the rest of APAC if the account list extends beyond Singapore/Hong Kong hubs.

Decision-culture notes are directional, not universal — treat as a planning prior, not a rule for every account.

Is the target account list evaluated by one centralised, cross-border buying committee, or by in-market/regional committees?

Does the plan rely on message-based formats (Conversation Ads) in any EU/EEA/Switzerland market?

Does language localisation materially change conversion quality in at least one target market (e.g. DACH below enterprise, or APAC beyond Singapore/Hong Kong)?

Is your target-account list in every market comfortably above LinkedIn's practical minimum audience size (commonly cited around 300)?

Recommendation

Answer the questions above

Select one answer for each question to see the recommendation.

Recommendation

A unified structure fits your answers

Your account list is centrally decided, doesn't depend on a restricted message format, and localisation isn't a material factor — the exception case for a single, unified campaign structure.

  • None of the market-splitting triggers apply — re-check this if your account list or market mix changes.

Recommendation

Split by market: separate campaign groups, budgets and thresholds

At least one structural factor makes a shared template unreliable across your markets.

  • Regional buying committees mean each market is a separate decision unit — a shared campaign group would blend distinct audiences.
  • A message-format plan cannot run as one structure if it includes an EU/EEA/Switzerland market — Conversation Ads aren't available there, so at minimum that market needs a different format mix.
  • Where localisation changes conversion quality, a shared budget and qualification threshold will misread the localised market's real performance.
  • At least one market may sit below the practical minimum audience size — consider folding that market into a regional structure rather than giving it a standalone campaign group.
  • Check each market's target-account list against LinkedIn's minimum audience guidance before finalising how many standalone campaign groups to build.
Built from the claim ledger behind LinkedIn Ads for Enterprise Technology: A Multi-Market Demand Generation Playbook . Two items (EU/EEA/Switzerland message-format restriction, ~300-account audience floor) are corroborated across independent sources but not verified against LinkedIn's own current help pages — confirm both in Campaign Manager before final budget commitment. Last reviewed 14 August 2026.

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