You’ve probably come across the term “online advertising” before in some form or another. It’s sometimes referred to as Search Engine Marketing (SEM), paid channel marketing, or pay-per-click (PPC) marketing. The terms are often used interchangeably to describe what essentially the same concept – purchased or “rented” traffic through online ads.
Most companies now realize that the best way to attract customers is to advertise online, and this is because most people turn to the Internet to find what they are looking for as mentioned above. Advertising online is now the most effective way to bring in target customers and increase sales. There are many ways in which a business or company can advertise online.
Online ads have become a daily part of internet life. For new marketers, it can be confusing getting a grasp on the scope and variety of online ads available.
9 Awesome Reasons You Should Be Advertising Online
If you’ve been slow on the uptake when it comes to online advertising, you should begin ramping up your efforts. Online ad spend has seen consistent growth and is projected to overtake print, states a recent IAB report. If you haven’t yet familiarized yourself with online advertising, it’s time to do so. If you’re of the belief that advertising online is wasting your ad budget, think again. These are 9 awesome reasons you should be advertising online:
- Insight
It helps you to know exactly which ads brought in the highest number of qualifying leads. Know how many impressions were served, where they were served, and when. Identify your optimal channels, ad copy, and ad locations. The metrics and analytics available with online advertising allow you to see the exact cost of acquiring and converting a customer.
- Targeting
Do you know the profile of your perfect customer? Online advertising gives you the ability to target and retarget the ideal prospects. Retargeting will serve ads based on prior engagement, enabling you to identify your ideal customer profile. Once you know what your customers look like, you will know just who to target and where to find all similar users online, making sure they too are being served your ads.
- Creative
Your ability to target goes beyond reaching the right customers. You can take this one step further and serve the creative that will best resonate with each target. Using flash and in-banner video ads can increase brand recognition and highlight your competitive edge. A well-designed banner ad can turn your digital campaign from good to great.
Recommended: Understanding Types Of Twitter Ads For Business
- Brand Awareness
Online advertising can be used to drive traffic to your site and build brand awareness. Effectively targeted campaigns can create brand influencers and reach complementary audiences. Use the endless online display space to be creative with rich media, establish your online presence, make an emotional connection, and get online consumers excited about who you are and what you have to offer.
- Flexibility
Online advertising campaigns can be adjusted with a few clicks or keystrokes. You have the flexibility to respond to incoming data and make changes instantly. Similarly, you have the ability to pause campaigns or adjust your strategy in minutes. This flexibility allows you to stay in front of your customers– anticipate customer needs and adjust your ads before anyone even notices.
- Scale
Many digital marketers are turning to self-service providers to manage their campaigns– create their own ads, choose what they spend, scale and optimize across their networks as they see fit. They can also use a full-service provider who will optimize, scale, and spend accordingly, but this often comes with a monthly minimum. Whichever service you choose, scaling your campaign has never been easier.
- Cost
Digital channels are highly cost-effective for marketers. Rates are typically set through a combination of ad size, ad location, performance, and demand. Considering the reach allotted via digital channels, moving your campaigns online is often much cheaper than more traditional offline channels like radio, television, or print.
- Reach
We’ve heard a lot of this lately — people are watching less live TV and turning to their computers for their favorite shows, music, and to access their news. As marketers, being effective requires staying in front of your customers; as it turns out, your customers are online, so you should be too, and sooner rather than later! Moving online gives you access to a global audience, if you so desire, and it means your ads can be working for you 24 hours a day. The options are practically limitless when it comes to your reach capabilities when you take your campaign online.
- Engagement
Online advertising lets you know a customer’s exact level of engagement. You might have circulation and readership data for a print publication, but you can’t know how much time customers spent interacting with your ad, how much time they spent on your website, if they researched more of your products, and whether that ad led to conversions. An online presence gives you all of this valuable data and places you in a position to learn where your most engaged prospects live.