What Are My Options for Digital Advertising?

What Are My Options for Digital Advertising?

Digital advertising is a term steeped in mystery, especially for the average business owner. 

Unless you are a digital marketing specialist already, the terminology and complex nature of the industry can cause it to be a little opaque. 

This is particularly true for the average business owner who simply wants to gain visibility via the numerous online avenues but is still determining where to begin. 

Throughout this post, we will explore the various options open to you so that any budget you have earmarked will be spent efficiently and effectively, and we will ensure that you get the most bang for your buck. 

Programmatic Advertising Automates The Buying Processes, Helping You To Target Your Ads Better

To kick off, we'll use a term that reinforces the point made in the introduction regarding the opacity involved with digital advertising as a whole. 

Programmatic advertising essentially boils down to the automated buying and selling digital adverts. 

This can manifest in various ways, with the most common being programmatic display ads that are delivered directly to the websites that have included the code of the advertising agency in their backend. 

While this can appear pretty complex (because it is), the advanced algorithmic magic is done on your behalf by the agencies from which you buy the advertising. In practice, it works as follows:

1. As the advertiser, you will define your target audience, the goals you want to achieve (e.g., leads, website visits, etc.), and the budget you are prepared to allocate to the campaign.
2. Publishers sell their ad inventory via a Supply-Side Platform (SSP).
3. The Ad Exchange supports the bidding between advertisers and publishers.
4. Data Management Platform (DMP) delivers information about user activity and preferences.

This is done as seamlessly as possible, hopefully resulting in your goals being met for the least amount of money. 

That is the ideal situation, but with the proper research and planning, most businesses will see far better results than if they choose to do it randomly and via the channels they set up. 

When done well, the advantages include:

• Efficiency: Automation speeds up the process of purchasing advertisements and often uses extraordinarily advanced algorithms that work in real-time to match buyers and sellers based on the inputs you provide.
• Precision: Targeting specific audiences based on data ensures that your ads will only be seen by those interested in your products or have at least shown interest in your products or services.
• Optimisation: Real-time adjustments for better performance. Because most of the targeting is done on the fly, you will reduce your ad spend on unresponsive audiences and increase it when you are beginning to find traction.
• Cost-effectiveness: All of the previous advantages coalesce into the thing most valued by all businesses…cost-effectiveness. By allowing machine learning to take over the heavy lifting, you can discover considerable upticks in incoming leads while limiting your spending. 

Although there are tremendous advantages involved with programmatic advertising, the outputs of your campaign will only be as good as the inputs you provide. 

Therefore, it is advisable (as with all the advertising options in this post) to spend a decent amount of time with your marketing team to figure out who, why, where, and how you want to target the demographic you believe will result in the highest ROI.

Retargeting Ads Remind Users Who Have Already Engaged With Your Brand About Your Products

You may have heard of retargeting before, but if not, it is one of the best ways to nudge prospective customers towards the thing they have already shown an interest in. 

Let's break that somewhat confusing sentence down to make things more transparent. 

Suppose you operate a company that sells blue widgets and a website dedicated to this and perhaps other products. In that case, you can set up a standard ad campaign, as previously discussed or via social media, which we will discuss later. Once someone has seen or interacted with the ad in some manner but chosen not to act, you can customise retargeting to put the same or similar ads in front of them again. 

The idea is to give yourself as many chances as possible to convince them to visit your website and buy what you sell. 

It works so well because, in theory, they have already shown an interest in your products or business but have yet to take action. 

That last part might sound as though they aren't interested, but they could be distracted or simply browsing and didn't want to commit to anything at that particular moment. 

A quality retargeting campaign has several components, including placing a small piece of code into your website. 

If unsure how or where to put this code, contact your web developer or hire someone to do the job. It is crucial to get this step right; otherwise, everything else that follows will be for nought. 

The next step happens when a user lands on your site, and the code starts collecting specific data from the user. 

Based on this data, you can create a custom audience to deliver even more targeted adverts with the idea of nudging them to your site once more in the hope that they will buy something. 

Nevertheless, there are some pros and cons you should be aware of before committing to this particular option.

Pros

• Increased Conversions: Reminding customers about your products or services can encourage them to return and complete their purchase.
• Improved Brand Awareness: Repeated exposure to your brand can enhance brand recognition.
• Higher Return on Investment (ROI): Retargeting often yields a higher ROI than other advertising methods.

Cons

• Consumer distrust: Overly aggressive retargeting can make consumers feel stalked or spied on, damaging brand reputation.
• Data regulations: Compliance with privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA is crucial but can be complex and costly.
• Overexposure (ad fatigue): Repeatedly showing the same ad can annoy customers and lead to ad blindness.
• Negative brand perception: Constant exposure to irrelevant or poorly targeted ads can damage brand image.

The cookies used for this process will eventually get phased out in place of something more appealing to the average internet user. While Google has recently rolled back its planned elimination of conventional cookies, it plans to do so sometime soon.

Native Advertising Blends Seamlessly Into Content

If you have ever read a website and seen various links to other websites, you have likely discovered a real-world native ad. 

If done well, it will blend into the content perfectly, and if placed on a high-profile website, it should lead to lots of referral traffic that is both organic and engaged. 

For example, a company that sells welders might write a piece of content for an auto website about how to make minor repairs to your car using a welder and include a link back to their site or a page on their site that sells the type of welder the reader of that article will be able to use and thus, more likely to purchase. 

Some of the primary characteristics of this type of advertising include:

• Blends seamlessly with surrounding content: By inserting a link or message in a post the visitor has already sought out, you are making the user experience far more pleasant and less disruptive.
• Offers value through informative content: Whether you or the web admin write the post, the content should be aligned with the existing content and style of the website. This ensures that the reader will still gain considerable value even if they choose not to click on your link. While you want the reader to head over to your business website, by not forcing anything and keeping the content tight, there will be no repercussions for your brand or the website owner.
• Matches the platform's editorial style: The idea of native advertising is based on the word “native.” To achieve the most success, the editorial style of the content must perfectly match that of the recipient site to avoid any jarring discrepancies that might cause friction.
• Promotes brand messages subtly: Subtle is the name of the game for native ads, and the more you can blend your link into the content, the better your outcomes will be. For instance, using that welding example from earlier, if you drop in a link with the text “best welder under $1000” or something equally on the nose, it can be pretty off-putting and possibly even cause damage to your brand and the website.
• Engages users without disruptive ads: Although this post is ostensibly about digital ads, we should understand that not everyone loves advertising so much that entire businesses are dedicated to blocking and keeping their browsing experience pure and clean. However, utilising native ads avoids this pitfall and, if done correctly, can result in less intrusive ads and more leads visiting your site holistically.
• Targets specific audience segments more effectively: You would link your welding company to a cooking website and vice versa! Instead, the idea is to research websites that align with your product/s and create engaging posts for them.
• Measurable results: If you use analytic software (which you should), you can see where your referrals are coming from and how they interact with your website. This data allows you to see what is and isn't working and adjust accordingly.

There is a lot of love about native advertising, but you must be aware of the downsides if performed incorrectly so you can focus your resources on acquiring the results that move the needle. 

Affiliate Marketing Incentivises Others To Promote Products

Affiliate marketing is nothing new and has been around in one form or another for decades, even before the advent of the Internet! 

Nevertheless, as with most things, the web has made it into an industry unto itself, and even the likes of Amazon and other large, ney, enormous corporations utilise this tactic to get more sales. 

While you might not be entirely in the same league as the Bezos gravy train, you can still use this tactic to boost sales and increase brand presence. 

Affiliate advertising generally involves creating a program where people can join up and essentially promote your products on your behalf. 

This option is great if you want to expand your reach with minimal upfront cost. The expense to your business will come on every sale, and the affiliate will demand a certain percentage or fee to promote your stuff.

Moreover, you will need to piggyback on an existing affiliate portal, which will further increase your costs, or build your own, which is better in the long run but will take some time to build up popularity with affiliates. 

While this option is viable, you must be careful about who you allow to promote your brand. 

Choose wisely, and you will see the revenue rolling in. But choose poorly, and you could suffer severe reputational damage from rogue affiliates who are happy to promote your products in any way that yields them the highest return.

Influencer Partnerships Enhance Brand Credibility And Reach (When Done Well)

By now, you know what an influencer is, and if you do, you will likely only know the negative aspects of this option. 

Plenty of so-called “influencers” are only interested in using their relative fame to bag free stuff and views. 

This option is one of the more serious downsides, but it misses the incredible opportunity that brands can utilise if they do their research. 

This method amplifies your marketing efforts and brings a personal touch to brand promotion, which is increasingly valuable. 

When you establish a well-planned influencer strategy, it is essential to provide creative freedom to ensure authenticity in the endorsements, as this authenticity underlines the credibility of the partnership. 

Successful collaborations can increase engagement rates, as influencers can drive conversations and foster connections that brands might need help to achieve on their own. In addition, continuous assessment of campaign performance helps refine your approach, ensuring that you get optimal results from your resources. 

Careful selection and collaboration with credible influencers generate a significant return on investment by broadening your brand's reach and solidifying your market position. 

Properly orchestrated influencer partnerships can become vital in a diversified digital advertising strategy, yielding long-lasting benefits for your brand.

Email Marketing Nurtures Leads Through Personalised Communication

Sometimes, the old ways are the best, and in the case of email marketing, this is undoubtedly the case. 

Email marketing has been live and kicking for years and has consistently proven a standout way to boost sales, brand visibility, and customer loyalty. 

As Google has become less and less confident as a place to acquire organic traffic over the years, email has grown in popularity thanks to its ability to enable business owners to grab an audience and keep them come what may. 

The tricky part is collecting emails, especially in a world where people have become incredibly distrusting of brands and what they might be doing with their data. 

However, if you can attract visitors to your site and convince them to hand over their email in return for something, you will gain a customer who can be promoted consistently (within reasons, of course). 

There are lots of ways to entice visitors to sign up, including but certainly not limited to:

1. Offering discounts on products already in a cart
2. Providing value in the form of a reward (e-book, video course)
3. The chance to be notified of upcoming products before they're released (which offers you multiple benefits)

If you choose to walk the email path, you must be careful not to fall foul of the numerous regulations and laws designed to prevent people from receiving too much spam or having their data harvested. 

If you can avoid these issues, you will have the perfect opportunity to generate a database of customers willing to receive emails from you as long as they offer value to them (this part is vital if you want to keep them on your list). 

If you have an e-commerce site, you can also use email to remind customers of an abandoned cart so they can head over and continue to the checkout process. You still have options if you are looking for ways to advertise rather than collate your list. 

Many website owners with large email lists are willing to sell ad space in their regular emails, mentioning your brand and what you do. 

These opportunities come with stringent stipulations to protect the email list owner and their audience. However, if you can agree on terms, you could discover this form of advertising to be extremely valuable.

Video Ads Engage Viewers With Dynamic Content

Video is how most younger generations consume content, so consider using it as part of your overall advertising mix. 

When crafting video advertisements, it's crucial to focus on storytelling that resonates with your target audience, ensuring the emotional connection and relevance of the content. 

High-quality production values and clear calls to action can significantly improve engagement rates, making viewers more likely to remember your brand and act on your message. 

It will depend heavily on what industry you're in as to whether it is worth pursuing this option or not because it may not make much sense and only costs money with little to show for it. 

Most sectors can benefit from introducing video ads as long as enough effort is put into them to make them appealing to those you aim to target. 

Properly executed video content may leave an enduring mark, building a stronger connection with your target audience and increasing the overall effect of your advertising efforts.

Social Media Ads Target Specific Audiences Effectively

Social media is one of the best ways to put your advertising budget to work, as they are used by pretty much anyone and everyone, from your grandmother to your neighbour's 10-year-old kid! 

While you won't want to spend money on advertising to children, the fact is that between Facebook, Google, and even TikTok, you have numerous chances to get your brand in front of the right people and get them to buy your stuff. 

Each channel will have pros and cons, and you will need to figure out where your audience hangs out the most, but once you have a decent idea, you can test the waters to see what works. 

Facebook (or Meta as it's now known) is an excellent platform for promoting your brand, and it allows you to target unfathomably large users with precision unmatched by most other methods. 

If you also want to promote via search, Google and Microsoft's Bing have incredibly sophisticated options, enabling you to use search intent and, therefore, end up in front of the exact people who are primed and ready to buy. If you are unsure where to begin with these options, you can always hire a digital marketing agency to perform the actions on your behalf. 

This is often a good course of action because it takes a lot of wrangling to get it right and avoid blasting a year's advertising budget in 24 hours (which is entirely possible if you are a complete novice).

Digital advertising encompasses many options and can be a massive boon if managed correctly. The exposure you can receive and the revenue you can generate are generally well worth the initial investment cost. 

When executed correctly over several channels, it can bring lasting results and loyal customers you can market to over and over again.