24 Examples of Inspiring Micro Bar (88×31) Banner Ads for Affiliates

One of the most frequently overlooked affiliate banners is an 88×31 micro bar.

The very minuscule size of it poses a problem to many merchants and affiliate managers. As a result — either (i) because they don’t believe anyone needs creatives this small, or (ii) because their graphic designer has no idea to fit in both the logo and the message into such a tiny format — many don’t even create banners in this size.

Affiliates, however, use this size quite often; and just yesterday a publisher emailed me asking for one.

I conveyed the request to my client, and they put their designer to work. Today, however, I have received an email from my client, which read something like this:

Do you have examples of how other brands use banners of this size? Our designer has created a couple, but we aren’t really happy with them…

Having launched over 80 affiliate programs in the past 13 years, I know full well how many struggle with the same problem. So, here are 24 good (hand-picked) examples of effective 88×31 micro buttons (created specifically for affiliates) to inspire you:

1n1    ACDSee    Adobe

Apple    Atlantis    BedfordFair

BestWestern    Budget    BuildDirect

CashNetUSA    ChecksInTheMail    comFI

CoolGlow    CraftBeerClub    Diskeeper

FamilyChristian    Fandango    Fila

GapKids    Greatland    Groupon

HBOshop    Kaplan    StreamSend

There are 4 important elements that are present on every one of the above-demonstrated affiliate micro bars. They all have:

  1. Logo (presenting the brand in a clear, quality way)
  2. Call to action (or at least an enticing message)
  3. Style (no excessive animation, line around edge (all but Fila), no overcrowdedness)
  4. Affiliate focus (they are affiliate-friendly, and do not have URLs spelled out, or phone numbers mentioned)

Of course, a few could use some improvements (Atlantis should remove the tiny unreadable font and increase the main logo using that space, while Adobe and Family Christian Stores could increase the size/quality of their logos), but overall appearance of all is pretty good.

As always, should you have anything else to add, the Comments area below is wide open and welcomes you do so.

6 thoughts on “24 Examples of Inspiring Micro Bar (88×31) Banner Ads for Affiliates”

  1. I remember using and creating these 88×31 micro banners back in the day. Always a fun banner to play with, but definitely a challenge to get your message across in such a small space. Great examples!

    1. Zac, thanks for chiming in. It, definitely, is extremely hard to advertise effectively through a banner this small.

      And having looked through 400+ of affiliate program micro bars today, I can confidently say that most simply suck. It was a challenge to pick good ones.

      Kobe Bryant is known for saying that “challenges” for him are “all an opportunity … to rise.” Between the lack of these tiny creatives in many affiliate programs, and low quality of them in most, there certainly is a huge opportunity (for merchants/advertisers with great 88×31 buttons) to stand out.

  2. Pingback: Marketing Day: August 1, 2013

  3. I think an important thing brands & designers need to understand is that these sized banners are very rarely used as stand alone display ads, which is why it works that they don’t have offers listed and are very simple. Often they’re used alongside content that spells out the offers and merchant message, so there’s no need for that kind of repetition.

  4. I didn’t use these as display ads. I loved using that banner simply as Company Logo when creating a store and promotion!

    Example: 88×31 logo + company name + company promotion / deal / coupon / sale

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