“The best place to hide a dead body is on the second page of a Google search.” A wise man wrote a few years ago. And there’s at least some grain of truth to that; results on page 2 of a Google search have less than a 1% click-through rate (CTR).
Paid online advertising isn’t only to place your website on the front page of Google or other search engines. Today all businesses compete in every possible arena, social media, streaming platforms, podcasts, videos, you name it. As the competition becomes more demanding, the prize also gets more rewarding.
However, here’s the million-dollar question: what do you need to launch a successful advertising campaign for your business? And getting ahead is not going to be easy in a saturated market where all competitors want the same thing. This is where finding a solid marketing strategy can be a game-changer.
If you’re reading this, you’ve found the strategy: paid online advertising. And the good news is we’ll help you find your way to the top. We’ve curated tried-and-true tactics multiple businesses have deployed to realize their wildest dreams. So let’s get started.
What’s Paid Online Advertising?
There are just so many misconceptions tossed around all over the place when it comes to paid advertising. Many think it’s a super expensive or highly complicated process. Let’s demystify that. Generally speaking, we have two types of advertising: paid or sales-focused vs organic. So far, so good.
Rather than rely on organic content to drive visitors to your landing page or website, paid marketing channels require the real-time purchase of ad spots to attract Internet traffic. You certainly have seen featured ads popping up throughout your display, dashboard, inside apps, etc. Those are paid ads.
Online paid advertising is a highly effective tool. According to Google ads statistics, every $1 spent on paid ads brings $2 ROI. The figures may vary contingent on the type of business, objectives, and the general state of the industry. But aside from the immediate return on investment, you can also expect more brand awareness and a superior reputation.
What Are The Benefits Of Paid Online Advertising?
Let’s make it clear at the outset. Like any other type of advertising, Paid online advertising platforms aren’t going to make you a Fortune 500 company overnight. It requires investment, persistence, time, and maybe some faith and luck. But at the end of the day, you’ll see the results. Here are some of the benefits of paid online advertising:
Fast Results (Relatively Speaking!)
There’s no overnight transformation. But, and that’s a big but, unlike organic advertising, which takes a long time to reveal its impact, paid advertising works at a much faster pace. You don’t have to wait for word-of-mouth referrals to drive your business. You can take charge of presenting your company to the world.
Targeted Advertising
Traditional advertising had a central operation blueprint: show it to everyone, and someone will find it interesting. That has proved to be quite an inefficient method. Instead, targeted advertising identifies clients who require a service or product and endeavors to reach them via all possible means.
Worldwide Reach
Global reach isn’t just about having clients and customers all around the world. However, that’s a big part of it. But more importantly, you can contact businesses with similar and complementary needs and interests and try to develop a cooperative strategy. For example, outsourcing is considered an excellent option for a variety of companies in need of a few more pairs of hands.
Maintain A Cutting-Edge In Business
Shining is easy when there isn’t a rival. But in a saturated market, everyone has skin in the game and wants a larger share of the pie. Paid ads provide your company with a strategic competitive advantage. This is especially a trump card for startups that aren’t accorded the same level of recognition as others.
Competitive Analysis: Know Thyself, Know Thy Rival!
Competitive analysis is a marketing method that involves researching primary competitors and evaluating their strategies in every sector, including products, sales, marketing, etc. Most advertising platforms offer their clients the option to measure the success of campaigns and make a comparative analysis to identify their weaknesses and strengths.
Affordability
One of the common myths about Paid Advertising is the huge bill you should expect at the end of the month. But that’s far from the truth. You can start a paid advertising campaign even with as little as 5 dollars. And, of course, there’s always room to grow.
What Are The Different Types of Paid Advertising?
There is a wealth of options when it comes to online advertising. Some are more effective than others, but the most important thing is to choose the strategy that best serves your interests. In this sense, there’s no one size fits all solution. Here are the most common types of online paid advertising:
Social Media Marketing
According to surveys, more than 6 billion people worldwide use smartphones, of which nearly 4 billion are active on at least one social media platform. That’s a golden opportunity to run ads for a huge number of social media users who could be your potential customers. Today almost every business is present on multiple platforms.
According to Statista, ad spending in the social media advertising segment is projected to reach US$174 billion in 2022. Boosting your social presence on paid social media may translate into hitting the jackpot. PPC advertising on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram can help you achieve higher click-through rates on your website.
Search Engine Advertising
The Search Advertising market is the largest in digital advertising, with worldwide revenue of US$182.9 billion in 2021. The figure is expected to grow to US$272.5 billion by 2026. But what is search engine advertising/marketing, and why is it so effective?
Search engine marketing is a practice aiming to increase a website’s online visibility in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Ranking your website higher than others allows you to generate more traffic to your site and build brand awareness and recognition. For example, Google has created an online advertising platform with an average of $1-2 per click on the search network.
Display Marketing
Display marketing includes all marketing techniques that involve graphic elements within the ads. It’s basically a method of attracting the audience of a website, social media platform, or any digital medium to purchase a particular product or service by utilizing visual elements like text, logos, animations, videos, photographs, charts, etc.
Display advertising has the potential to multiply your ROI by increasing brand awareness and visibility and targeting relevant audiences. Unlike traditional forms of advertising, display advertising is highly targeted and hence more accurate in delivering to customers insights and “intent data” as well as helping in familiarizing their audience/clients.
Influencer Marketing
Via influencer marketing, brands can promote their products through endorsements and product placement from influencers and organizations with established credibility.
Influencer marketing has become among the most popular forms of paid online advertising in the last few years. The global influencer marketing market value has doubled since 2019, to almost US$14 billion in 2021, and is predicted to expand even more.
Retargeting
Retargeting ads are a form of online targeting advertising with one key difference compared to other types like banner ads. They’re sent to people who’ve already visited your website. “So, what’s the point?” you may ask—short answer: persuasion.
Retargeting is crucial for every paid online advertising campaign because it offers adjustments based on the previous behavior of viewers. Retargeting can boost ad response by as much as 400 percent! And don’t forget, acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing one.
Bottom Line
We can go on and on about the unlimited benefits of online paid advertising as well as various methods and strategies. To be honest, it takes way more than a short article to cover all that. But one thing’s for sure: this is the key to taking your business to the next level. And if you’re interested in making the change happen, contact us, and we’ll get you to where you want to go.
