Online Advertising 101: What Works Best?

The global online advertising industry has expanded rapidly in the last decade. We all come across hundreds of ads while surfing the internet and research by Deloitte suggests that it has been affecting our buying decisions to a great extent, thus making it an essential aspect of marketing strategy.

The first rule of online advertising is that, because each target audience is distinct, a one-size-fits-all approach fits no one. Every company needs to hone its own blend of online advertising options to determine the optimum combination to reach and motivate their target audience. If you are a small bakery, it is counterproductive to advertise your offers to other countries, but a jeweller might benefit from international orders. 

You need an array of tactics, and you need to track and monitor how well each one is doing. If you are new to the world of online advertising, you probably need a handbook on the tools and platforms that could help you to achieve your set goals. However, if you are familiar with different advertising formats, you can always strengthen your abilities by checking references and market tips. Here’s how you can strengthen your digital presence, with advice on both approaches.

What’s in Your Online Advertising Toolbox?

To create a reasonable online advertising toolbox, you need to have a dynamic strategy that would allow you to mix your efforts and budget in different sources. Here’s a quick overview of the most effective ones. If you use a combination of these, you’ll reach more people and most likely find potential buyers.

• PPC: Pay per click ads are those ads you can submit and only pay for each time the ad is clicked. Keep in mind that 64.6% of people click on Google Ads when they want to buy an item online. A well drafted and implemented PPC campaign can improve traffic, leads, and increase conversion rates almost instantly.
• Banner:  Banner ads appear on websites other than your own, where visitors have come to enjoy the content. They are popular on news sites and blogs and are effective when they are carefully matched to the content. A great banner ad does not have to be too complex or heavy on design. A simple visual or image with a catchy CTA button can serve the purpose.
• Affiliate: Affiliate marketing is a business model in which you get paid a commission for promoting other people’s products and services. An affiliate marketer advertises products and gets paid a certain commission for every sale or lead he/she generates. Both PPC and banner ads can be affiliate ads. Amazon is an example of an affiliate advertiser; it offers a reward programme for bloggers who host its ads. The host page earns a reward when a visitor clicks the ad.
• Google Ads:  You’ve no doubt seen these paid ads above the search results on Google. You reach people while they are actively searching, but still haven’t landed on another website and got engrossed in its content.
• Social Media:  Your social media presence is advertising, and it offers two options. You can post organically (for free, yay!) You post, and if you’re lucky, people will share your post so it reaches an audience beyond your followers. You can also opt for paid advertising on social media such as the sponsored posts on Facebook to put more muscle into your social campaign.

Effective online advertisement is a coordinated strategy using a combination of these methods. You need to monitor everything closely and test different versions of ads to learn which works best. Sounds like a huge amount of work, doesn’t it? This is where our Digital Marketing team comes into play. We provide expert guidance and help in developing and implementing an effective digital marketing strategy.

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