%20(2).png){kind=small}
Online advertising has been a mainstay of digital marketing for almost 25 years. Since the first banner ad appeared on the internet on October 27, 1994, the world of online advertising has grown into its own sector, with experts and specialists focusing their entire companies and careers on getting messages in front of a digital audience.
Today's landscape is barely distinguishable from the early days of web advertising. Digital marketing experts can pinpoint and deliver messages to their target audiences with unprecedented precision thanks to ad targeting, keyword ranking, and massive amounts of analytical data.
This can be scary for people who are new to the world of online advertising. With so many terms and statistics to sort through, it's difficult to know where to begin. That is why we have created this quick-start guide to assist you in getting started in the realm of internet advertising. You'll be able to employ Google Ads' best practices to generate more business and support growth in your organization by using the approaches and tactics listed below.
Why Online Advertising (Is Still) Important?
Despite the fact that over 615 million devices use some type of ad blocking today, online advertising remains one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience right away. Whether it's Google Ads or classic display and banner ads, marketing professionals have a plethora of possibilities.
Many experts have correctly pointed out that organic content (websites, blogs, and non-paid social media content) is rapidly developing as a viable alternative to traditional online advertising. Non-paid material, on the other hand, has a number of disadvantages that do not affect internet advertising.
First and foremost, regardless of the platform on which it is published, all organic content is subject to algorithms. Non-paid content is rated and sorted by algorithms beyond the control of marketers, whether on Google, Facebook, or another site. An algorithm change can have a significant impact on the performance of organic content; a seemingly modest Google update can have a significant impact on your blog's search engine ranking (and how many potential customers will see your content).
Paid advertising, on the other hand, is unaffected by algorithms in the same way. Simply said, you've already paid for your content's placement; you can be confident that your content will be presented where you want it, regardless of platform changes.
Second, organic marketing strategies take longer to provide a meaningful ROI. Because organic content must be ranked and sorted by the platform's algorithms, your marketing efforts may take a long time to yield returns. Paid advertising produces near-instant results; as you submit your content, it is immediately displayed in front of your target audience.
What Can Online Ads Do For Your Marketing Strategy?
A well-planned, well-executed online advertising campaign will help you swiftly raise awareness and increase traffic to your website. Paid ads, of all digital marketing methods, can provide some of the quickest returns on investment while providing near-immediate feedback on your messaging and overall marketing strategy.
An online advertising program's momentum and feedback can have a favorable impact on other aspects of your digital marketing mix. These findings can help to shape your company's approach to search marketing, social media marketing, and other long-term initiatives.
4 Steps to Successful Online Advertising
Create an Audience Persona
Online advertising, like other digital marketing tactics, begins with your target audience. Consider the customer you're attempting to reach: who are they? What are their demographics (age, income, profession, etc.)? What problems do they have that your company can solve? What will they type into Google to find the solutions you provide?
You are creating an audience persona by answering these questions. This is a useful tool for guiding all of your digital marketing operations. Make your persona as detailed as possible by including as much information as feasible. The better you understand your target audience, the easier it will be to select the most effective manner of reaching them.
Many organizations have more than one type of customer; don't be scared to create many audience personas. However, avoid attempting to reach out to too many distinct types of customers at once. The last thing you want is to dilute your messaging and reduce the effectiveness of your plan. Establishing your priority clients early on can ensure that your marketing efforts target audiences that will allow your firm to thrive.
Choose Your Ad Network (s)
Building your audience persona(s) may have revealed where your target audience will look for the answers your company provides. When choosing an ad channel or ad network for your internet advertising, seek to meet your audience where they are, using channels and methods that will pique their interest.
Typical online ad formats will determine which networks are suitable for that format. PPC Search Ads, Display Ads, Remarketing Ads, Video Ads, and Social Ads are all common ad forms.
Google's Ads network supports all of these ad formats. For example, Google Search Ads are a highly successful platform for reaching a wide range of client types. You can obtain exposure to highly motivated potential clients who are currently looking for the solutions your firm provides by purchasing advertisements on important Google search phrases in your sector.
Choose Your Keywords and Targeting Parameters
Now that you've chosen the Ad type and Network, it's time to set and target each campaign or ad. Although each ad network has its own targeting and setup methods and options, you should be able to match your Persona to each required targeting statistic. Display advertising relies heavily on your Persona's demographic or psychographic features, as well as their online habits. Ads are frequently targeted to specific geographic regions, interests, intent, topics, or demographics. Keyword research is also required for search ads.
Tools like Moz's Keyword Explorer and Google's Keyword Planner are invaluable in terms of creating keyword ideas, determining what your potential customers are searching for, and determining what you will base your online advertising efforts on.
Configure Tracking
Monitoring your internet advertising is important to the effectiveness of your program. There's absolutely no value in running internet advertisements if you can't track their performance and link it to beneficial business outcomes.
Fortunately, one of the most powerful and free tools (Google Analytics) provides a slew of capabilities for tracking your online advertising campaigns. Google Analytics, in addition to tracking clicks, conversions, and the like, provides performance measures that make it simple to determine your online advertising ROI.