We need traffic to generate leads, in order to generate customers, so that we can generate revenue.
You will need more than just traffic to be successful. You will need a great offer, a desirable product or service, and a well-designed website to succeed. However, if there is no web traffic, then none of those other factors will matter because no one will ever see the website.
This is where digital advertising is useful.
Before we continue, let’s go over the basics to make sure we’re all on the same page.
What is Digital Advertising?
We use the term “digital advertising” to refer to paid media buying. It’s the process of using money to gain people’s attention online with the goal of converting them into new customers.
The concept has existed for a while, even though it might seem like it is a new development. The only things that have changed are the ways we communicate.
Need more traffic? Just turn the hose on, or turn it up.
Need to pause traffic for a while? Just turn the hose off.
Many people complain that digital advertising is too expensive. They would rather get all their traffic from “free” sources such as SEO and social media.
But there are 3 serious problems with that “organic only” approach:
- First of all, getting organic traffic requires a lot of work… so it’s not really free, is it?
- Second, your traffic depends on the Google/Facebook algorithm… which can change at any time and decimate your traffic if you happen to be on the wrong side of an update
- Finally, you have no control over your traffic and less chance to scale than by adding paid traffic
There is no such thing as free traffic. You always have to pay for it in some way. You pay for it with either time or money.
Point #2: The average organic reach for a Facebook post was just 5.5% as of Q3 2019. The average reach for a Facebook page is about 2%. So, for every 1,000 people that like your page, only about 20 will see your posts.
Companies such as Facebook and Google earn a profit from advertisements, meaning they are motivated to direct more users to paid content.
If paid advertising is like a hose, organic traffic is like the rain. Yes, it’s “free,” but it’s unpredictable. You can’t predict or change it and you can’t rely on it to be consistent. You might find yourself in a drought at the worst possible time.
We are not discouraging you from trying to get organic traffic. Heck, we love organic traffic!
If you want to build a successful online business, you need to do more than just attract organic traffic. You need to master paid digital advertising.
What is Paid Advertising?
Paid advertising is a model of online advertising where advertisers compete in real-time auctions to display their ads within slots on a specific platform or network. For example, if you search for patio furniture, you’ll see shopping ads as well as text ads.
PPC advertising is also sometimes called biddable media. Advertising that is paid for only when someone clicks on it.
through SEO, or through content marketing. This model of advertising is usually opposed to advertising that is earned or owned, where you can use a platform to push your content for free, for example through SEO or content marketing. Facebook or LinkedIn posts.
How PPC Advertising Works
Many platforms that offer paid advertising use algorithms to run real-time auctions. The algorithms decide which ad to place within an available slot on a website. The amount you are willing to pay for an ad, as well as the perceived quality of the ad, are often taken into consideration when setting advertising criteria. However, the specific criteria used can vary depending on the platform being used. However, platforms don’t always make the criteria for content transparent, and there are a variety of other variables to consider.
Ads can be presented in many different ways, including as text, images, videos, and more. Many platforms now offer to automatically favor ads that are performing well based on your goals. The algorithms used by the company are able to process more information than humans, making it more efficient to let the algorithms choose which ads to push.
There are many targeting options to choose from but most of them fit into two main categories:
- Search ads – triggered by someone actively searching for specific keywords; the ads usually show on a Search Engine Results Page (SERP) and answer a specific question.
- Display ads – triggered by someone fitting specific targeting criteria such as demographics or interests; the ads usually show when someone is browsing the web or an app and can be regarded as disruptive.
The two categories can be combined depending on the platform you’re using. We recommend that you analyse their performance separately if you can. This is because search ads are less disruptive and therefore tend to perform better than display ads.
The Business Benefits of Paid Advertising
Biddable Media, Fast-track to Increased Traffic
Paid advertising can help you increase traffic and conversions quickly. While Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics may take longer to show results, the investment pays off in the long run. You can expect to see results months after making changes to your site.
This means that PPC advertising can be a complement to SEO, or you can focus on PPC if you want. Advertising that is paid for is a great way to promote something for a short period of time. However, SEO should be looked at as something to invest in for a business that is looking to grow quickly. You should keep a budget for both channels if you can. It’s a lot like investing in the stock market – if you want to get good returns, you need to have a variety of options.
Here are a couple of scenarios where PPC can be useful:
If your business is just starting out online and you’re not ranking very well in relevant search results, paid advertising can be a great help. You can create a campaign that targets the specific terms you want to rank for, and you will see results relatively quickly. You should invest in SEO to improve the organic strength of these terms. You can redistribute your PPC budget to other areas where you may be weaker in organic growth.
Paid media can also improve your chances of success on search engines for terms where the competition is very high, thereby pushing organic results lower down on the page. This usually happens for terms that are key to your business and highly sought after by competitors. If you advertise for certain terms, you will appear twice in the search results and increase your chances of getting clicks.
Increasing your visibility – Biddable media is a great way to increase your visibility to people who don’t know you. There are many options for targeting an audience, which allows you to reach new people who might not have heard of you before and interests them.
Retargeting existing visitors means showing ads to people who have interacted with your ads or website in the past, even if it was days or months ago. You can use online advertising platforms to target people based on different criteria. You can move potential customers down the buying funnel by showing them ads that correspond to their needs. There are a variety of people you can retarget with ads, including people who have previously visited your site, people who are in your CRM, and people who have engaged with an ad without clicking on it.
The Most Important Digital Advertising Platforms
Let’s dive into some of the specific platforms available.
Paid advertising is nothing new. The internet has simply changed the way in which information is communicated.
You can think of many platforms as a new way to advertise. For example:
- Google is like the Yellow Pages
- Facebook is like a billboard
- Pandora is like radio
- YouTube is like TV
The platforms that make sense for your business depend on your industry.
Here’s a brief overview of some of the biggest digital advertising platforms online today:
Facebook & Instagram
Facebook has become one of the internet’s most popular and influential advertising platforms. We’re including Instagram with Facebook since they are both owned by Facebook and use the same ad platform.
Paid ads on Facebook and Instagram can be very effective. The primary reason Facebook is so successful with advertising is because they have access to a large amount of data on their users. This data is then used by the Facebook algorithm to optimize ad delivery for the best results.
Here are some basic facts…
Facebook Stats:
- 2.41 billion monthly active users
- Users by age range:
- 18–24: 76%
- 25–29: 84%
- 30–49: 79%
- 50–64: 68%
- 65+: 46%
- Users spend 38 minutes/day on the platform
- 74% of users log in daily
- 94% of Facebook’s ad revenue comes from mobile
Instagram Stats:
- 1 billion monthly active users
- Users by age range:
- 18–29: 67%
- 30–49: 47%
- 50–64: 23%
- 65+: 8%
- Users spend 28 minutes/day on the platform
- 63% of users log in daily
- 73% of US teens say Instagram is the best way for brands to communicate about new products or promotions
One advantage of Facebook and Instagram ads is that they can be in a lot of different formats, for example…
Image Ads
Video Ads
Carousel Ads
Instant Experience Ad (Mobile Only)
Shop-able Ads (Instagram Only)
Facebook and Instagram are constantly introducing new types of ads, giving you lots of opportunities to reach people on these platforms.
Google Ads are separated into 2 different networks: the Google Search Network, which consists of Google search results pages, and the Google Display Network, which consists of websites that partner with Google to show ads.
If you search for certain keywords on Google, Search Ads will appear on the SERPs (search engine results pages). For example, here are the ads that appeared after a search for “cat tree”:
Google Search Ads are useful because they allow you to advertise to people who are actively searching for you or something related to what you do.
Most of the ads on Google Search are text only, but there is support for newer types such as Shopping Ads. The image above displays Shopping Ads at the top of the page with text ads beneath them.
The Google Display Network (GDN) is different. Ads can be displayed on more than 2+ million websites through this platform. internet users. The Google Display Network (GDN) has a vast reach and the potential to reach up to 94% of U.S. internet users, according to ComScore. Internet users and 90% of global Internet users.
GDN supports a variety of banner ads, rich media ads, and video ads. This is in contrast to the Search Network, which only supports banner ads.
This banner ad is effective because it makes a clear promise and has a strong call-to-action.
YouTube
YouTube and Google Ads are both owned by Google, but we’re treating them as separate platforms since they serve different purposes.
YouTube is the video site. YouTube is the second-largest website in the world, only surpassed by Google, which owns YouTube While YouTube is not the largest website in the world, it is owned by Google and is the second largest website. This makes it one of the biggest search networks in the world. It is a digital advertising platform that is full of potential customers for marketers.
Here are some of the basic deets…
YouTube Stats:
- 2 billion monthly logged-in users
- Users by age range:
- 15–25: 81%
- 26–35: 71%
- 36–45: 67%
- 46–55: 66%
- 56+: 58%
- Users spend 11 minutes/day on the platform
- Over 70% of YouTube views come from mobile
- 70% of what people watch on YouTube is determined by its recommendation algorithm
Polk noted that brands can use YouTube for awareness, reach, and consideration objectives YouTube offers a variety of ad formats and options, just like any other paid online media platform. Polk noted that brands can use YouTube for awareness, reach, and consideration objectives. For instance:
Before a viewer can watch their chosen video, they will first have to watch a TrueView In-Stream Ad. What’s great about TrueView ads is that you only get charged when the viewer watches or interacts with your ad.
Video Discovery Ads are YouTube ads that are displayed on the YouTube homepage and search results pages. These ads are similar to Google Search Ads.
These are short video ads (6 seconds) that cannot be skipped and play before the viewer’s chosen video.
Pre-roll Ads are non-skippable ads that play for a longer period of time before a chosen video.
There is no doubting the power of video when it comes to reaching new customers online. If you want to leverage video in your business, you should be on YouTube.
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