Online advertising is a daunting task to undertake. However, it is a worthwhile addition to your digital marketing efforts that can attract new customers or sales. How do you get started? Keep reading to find out.
Know Your Audience
Advertising to a non-target group may not produce the desired results and can be costly. A better approach is to start your online advertising efforts by identifying your audience. Through primary and secondary research, you can learn who best benefits from your product or service, what they want from you, and where they spend most of their time online.
Why is this more effective? Well, knowing the age of your target audience can help you decide how and where to advertise. If your target audience is 50 and above, posting your advertisement on Facebook rather than Instagram will increase the possibility of reaching your intended audience.
How and Where to Advertise
Social Media Advertising
Advertising on social media is a strong and usually inexpensive option to reach potential customers. The amount of daily traffic on social media platforms plus the ability to target your advertising makes social media effective and worth the cost. Nearly all Americans use social media, and some spend hours on these platforms each day. Facebook and Instagram, for example, publish paid advertisements across the country to the people you choose at times when the platforms experience the most traffic. This inexpensive opportunity to reach your audience and showcase your products or services is too good to pass up.
Some social media platforms also offer social-targeted ads. These ads have the potential to bring a higher return on investment (ROI) and ensure you reach the audience you want in the areas you desire. For example, a clothing shop in the downtown district that appealed to women between the ages of 18-25 could create a social-targeted ad that would reach that demographic. The ad would be seen only by women ages 18-25 when they were in the pre-determined area.
Social-targeted ads are great for events. At ComGroup, we utilize them frequently for the promotion of ourselves and our clients. At a recent event, social-targeted ads aimed at event participants received a total of 100 clicks and reached over 9,000 people, getting 20,000 impressions.
Google Ads
Online Google ads are another simple tool to reach your audience. This tool allows you to publish ads related to search terms you choose. When potential customers search for your organization or products, your ad will appear in the search results for users to click on and direct to your website. What’s great about this tool is it puts you in complete control. You write the ad copy, pick the keywords you would like your ad to appear with, set a daily maximum budget and select your campaign's start and end dates. You also choose the demographics of your target audience and select the area in which your target audience lives.
Google Business Profile
Claim your business on Google with a Google Business Profile. With this profile, you control what information Google users see concerning your business. You can correct information, such as your address or hours of operation, and add links to your social media profiles. Check out our Google Business Profile for reference! You also gain access to analytics that indicate how many people visited your website through a Google search and how many people used Google Maps to find your business. The best part? It’s free.
If you’re still unsure about where to start your advertising strategy or if you want to take your advertising a step further, check out ComGroup’s advertising services. Our experts are ready to help. Contact us today to get started.
