You’re browsing the web and researching your next vacation. As you’re browsing a website with a roundup of top Cancun all-inclusives, you see an ad on the right of the screen for a local travel agency. The ad has a beautiful beach photo with clever copy: “Swap your winter coat for a bikini” and a deal for 25% off booking a Cancun all-inclusive. You click to learn more.
This is just one great example of how your company can stay in front of your customers with digital advertising! Digital ads can target users where they’re already browsing and match up with content they’re already interested in.
Some small business owners worry digital advertising has become oversaturated or feel their business can’t properly leverage digital ads. Some worry about properly tracking ROI.
Learn more about why your business should take advantage of digital advertising, how to stay in front of your customers with digital advertising and tips on getting started.
Why Digital Advertising?
The term “digital advertising” encompasses any advertising on the Internet. This includes: search engine marketing, website banner ads, social media ads, and more.
Digital advertising is extremely targeted marketing. In traditional marketing such as print, radio, TV and billboard, your business pays to have your ad seen by a potential audience.
Maybe you buy a TV ad with potential viewership of 200,000 people in a specific geographic area. Hopefully your target audience sees your message. With digital advertising, you know exactly who has clicked on your ad. You can often even drill down into specific targeting options such as gender, location, interests, relationship status, annual income, and more!
If you’re a bridal shop, you want to target recently engaged females interested in wedding dresses. A radio ad will hopefully hit some of your intended audience. However, a targeted digital ad will go directly to engaged females and drive customers to your shop.
The Cost of Digital Advertising
The cost of a digital advertising campaign depends on your location, industry, and target audience. A lawyer in Milwaukee will probably pay more per click than a lawyer in West Bend. There’s just more competition in Milwaukee than in West Bend and more advertisers are going after those clicks.
Even if you’re in a competitive market, digital advertising can still be affordable. Typically, you set a daily or lifetime budget for your campaign. This amount can be what your business is comfortable spending and will allow you to get the most bang for your buck.
Digital advertising pricing falls into three different categories:
PPC – Pay Per Click
A user clicks on your ad—great for driving traffic to your website
CPA – Cost Per Action
A user clicks on your ad AND completes an action—great for driving conversions
CPM – Cost Per Mille (thousand)
An ad is viewed per 1,000 users—great for brand awareness
How to Succeed with Digital Advertising in 5 Steps
Before you start buying digital advertising, lay out the foundation for a strategy campaign. Here are the five steps to succeeding in digital advertising.
- Define Success Metrics
This might seem like a no-brainer, but sometimes business owners glaze over this important step. First, define what success looks like for your digital ad. Is it brand awareness and clicks to the website? Is it contact form fills? Define this and it will shape the rest of your digital advertising strategy.
- Select Digital Platform(s)
Based on your goals, industry and targeting, decide which digital platforms you wish to pursue. If you’re the bridal shop targeting newly engaged females, you should probably consider using Facebook for those targeting options. If you’re a lawyer looking to capture users searching on Google for “tax lawyer,” then consider AdWords.
- Develop Catchy Ad
Create a catchy ad that will grab your audience’s attention and encourage them to click on your advertisement. Don’t be afraid to be experimental. The beauty of digital advertisement is it quickly becomes clear what’s working and what isn’t. (More on that in step 5.)
- Create Clear Call to Action
Successful digital ads have one thing in common: a clear call to action. What do you want the user to do with your ad? As the bridal shop owner, your catchy Facebook ad encourages newly engaged females to click on your ad. Now what do you want them to do? After they click on your ad, lead them to your website where they can book an appointment or access a phone number to call the shop. Make it easy for your potential customer to do what you want them to do!
- Measure ROI
Again, this might seem obvious, but sometimes busy business owners hurry through this step. Measure your ROI and learn from the results of each campaign. If your ad received 100 clicks but no one booked an appointment, analyze why that might be. Was the landing page easy to read and follow? If your ad was viewed by 1,000 users but only clicked by 10, consider tweaking the ad itself.
Digital Advertising Experts
You’re ready to dig in and step into digital advertisement. Great! Be sure to find a trusted, local digital agency to help you maneuver the digital marketing world. They should be able to help you with all of the digital advertising strategy steps noted above, so you can execute your next successful digital advertising campaign.
Contact the experts at Big Rock Marketing!
Sources:
https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/
https://www.thebalance.com/the-different-forms-of-digital-advertising-38451
https://homebusinessmag.com/marketing/advertising/heres-small-businesses-can-stand-digital-advertising/
