Business owners everywhere are constantly trying to get more customers to purchase their products and services. The question “Are digital ads right for your business?” is sure to be asked at some point, whether to a marketer or even just to yourself when exploring options.
Promoting your business in any way is better than not promoting it at all, but doing so in a strategic way guarantees better results and a more successful campaign outcome. Digital ads can move your business from unknown to a widely-recognized brand name in a short space of time. Here at evlos digital, we believe in the power of a solid digital marketing plan to ensure the growth of your online presence.
What Are Digital Ads
Publishing promotional material through online platforms – social media, websites, search engines and online directories, and any other digital platform is considered digital advertising.
59% of the World’s Populations Use the Internet!
People are going online to make purchasing decisions and it is for this reason why digital advertising has become such an important marketing channel. It allows you to reach your target audience without spending the vast amount of money that was once required for traditional marketing. Simply, a digital ad is any form of advertisement that appears on the internet.
Benefits of Digital Ads
- It’s Cost-Effective: Traditional marketing can cost thousands of dollars depending on the advertisement and the medium through which you promote it. For many years, small business owners were prevented from properly marketing their businesses because of a lack of resources to meet this massive financial commitment. Digital marketing has removed that hurdle. You can now reach the customers you want by customising your advertising campaigns to suit your budget and needs. You can also evaluate how your ads are performing and adjust them accordingly instead of just putting something out and hoping it hits.
- You Can Target Ads to Almost Anyone: One of the things we love the most about digital advertising is the ability to customise the target audience and target anyone based on location, demographic and interests, etc. This puts the power in the marketer’s hand. You can focus all your efforts on a specific location and to specific people. Your ad will only be seen by qualified prospects and target audience members, therefore ensuring proper ad spend and return on investment.
- You Have Access to Data and Insights: The ability to view and analyse your data is one not to be taken for granted. This allows you to see what is working and what isn’t. Knowing this helps you to create more content that is appealing to your target demographic. It also shows you what people do when they see your ad, who clicked on it, who opened or shared it and much more. While brand awareness, impressions, organic search rankings, and reach are important, more important is how these connect to your sales pipeline, revenue and profit. Digital advertising allows you to track and measure these with the data and insights provided.
- You Can Choose From Multiple Platforms: With the variety of digital marketing channels, business owners are able to choose the best business marketing platform that works for their business. It is not advised to simply use all the platforms because you can. We advise that you use the ones your potential customers frequent. Now, this is the part where you definitely need the assistance of experts. Digital marketing research and listening will steer you to the right platforms for your business. A good marketing strategy and advice on the advertising platforms will set you up for success.
- It Is Faster Than Traditional Marketing: No longer do you need to wait for days or weeks to get your ads in front of your customers. Digital ads make it possible for your ads to be live and in the face of internet users in a matter of minutes for some platforms. Market conditions and trends change quickly. One of the reasons digital campaigns work well is because they can be executed much more quickly, and can be modified faster if the need arises. Fast modification is also beneficial when you need to adjust your budget due to ad performance and targeting needs.
Most Popular Digital Advertising Methods
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC): PPC ads are widely used by digital marketers because they work. As the name suggests, advertisers only pay when someone clicks the ads and the ads normally appear in the form of display or banner ads. In 2017, PPC ads accounted for $10.1 billion in ad spend, spread across 7 million advertisers. These ads also often appear on search engines and websites.
- Social Media: Social media platforms are ideal for digital ads because there are a lot of them and it is highly likely that your target audience is present on at least one. You can use paid or organic ads to reach your customers on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and others, but these are the ones on which we’ve seen the most success. Social media ads are also easier to go viral because people are able to engage with them in a casual way. You can also retarget your audience until they take action. Social media marketing is a powerful tool that every business owner should implement in their digital marketing efforts.
- Video: Video ads have become increasingly necessary for a higher conversion rate. People respond more to video now because it is more engaging than an image or only image and text. Seeing a face, hearing a voice, and seeing movement captures the attention of your audience. Video content is getting easier to produce and using them to market your business is not as complicated as you may think. If you want to know more about video ads and video production, you can reach out to us and we can help. Tutorials, branded content, and short product intros are just some types of video content you can use to market your business.
- Search Engine: Does the name ‘Google’ ring a bell? Of course, it does. Most people search for a product, place or service on a search engine before checking anywhere else. Search engine advertising is the process of creating ads based on a keyword or keyphrase and showing that ad when someone searches for the word or phrase in a search engine. These are powerful because you are targeting your customers when they are actively searching for a specific thing and when they are in a buy-ready state. Paid search advertising also places you at the top of the search results, so they see your business before anyone else.
Pro Tip: Use search engine optimization (SEO) to rank higher in search results even when you are not running search ads. Read more on SEO here.
Digital Ads for Your Business
Small business marketing, online marketing, content marketing, digital media, email marketing and digital ads are just some of the words you should get familiar with as you ask yourself if digital ads are right for your business. Because they are easy to create and customise, digital ads are a good option for most businesses and industries. Invest some time and select the right platforms and content that you need to connect with your audience. evlos digital can help. Contact us for all your digital advertising needs.
