Several of our clients expressed a need to learn more about cost-effective advertising methods. We hear you! Today's digital world provides a multitude of ways to advertise that are both easy and cost-effective. Online advertising offers a variety of benefits. If done correctly, it can get more bang for your buck than traditional methods. You are in complete control, and budgets can range from a few dollars all the way up to thousands of dollars. When compared to traditional forms of advertising, online advertising usually offers a lower up front cost as well as the ability to dig deep into the the results of the ad fairly quickly.
With analytics readily available, you can gauge what is working, what's not, where adjustments are needed, and even which platforms your audience prefers. Also, calculating your ROI is simple and driven by concrete data.
Online advertising also offers the benefit of segmentation. Segmentation simply means you choose who sees what ads. Ads can be geotargeted, segmented by industry, interests, and demographics to name a few. This is a significant factor in driving value. Instead of creating a one size fits all ad, an ad can be created to target a specific group. This ensures that you are not wasting money advertising to groups of people who are not a good fit for your product.
Some of our favorite cost-effective online advertising methods include:
Social Media
Social media advertising offers several benefits and is set to explode in the near future. Advanced targeting, conversion tracking, and mobile dominance poise social media platforms to outperform many forms of advertising. Social media advertising helps businesses find new potential clients by using shared information to identify interest. This advertising method proactively targets relevant users before they even begin their search.
Paid Search
Paid search is a form of web marketing designed to connect your website with searchers actively seeking solutions. It places your website or landing page in the sponsored links section within search engine listings. Google is the biggest player in paid search and has great information on how to get started on their website.
Display Ads
Display ads come in multiple forms including text, video, and interactive. Display networks match your ads up to websites and apps based on keywords or your own targeting preferences. Display ads appear on sections of the website that are set aside for paid advertising. Be careful not to be disruptive with your display ads as doing so will annoy users.
Online advertising is one of the most flexible and cost-effective ways to advertise. There are numerous options out there to get the right message to the right audience and at the right time. Be sure you know your audience and follow the analytics of your ads closely. Change course if needed. Be sure to set goals for each ad campaign to get maximum use out of the analytics. For a little extra help, check out our Smart Goal-Setting Template.
There you go. You are all set to begin creating cost-effective ads online.
