The marketing world is moving from billboards and television advertisements to social media, search engines and other digital platforms. Online advertising allows you to target your message and get instant feedback, but that is only the start. Below, we’re going to explore the main benefits of online advertising and how it can impact your bottom line.
Online Advertising and Why You Should Care
In the past, marketers would craft an advertisement, send it out, and hope that it works. Since television commercials don’t always air right away, months could pass before marketers would know whether their campaign was going to generate a profit. Also, the location of a billboard or the popularity of a television network would determine the price of promoting your products or services. Since most of the people who see those ads won’t be interested in making a purchase, the old way forces you to pay to get your message in front of people who don’t matter to your bottom line.
The good news is that online advertising changes everything! You can target your message to people who’ve actively searched for that topic, which will optimize your conversion rate and reduce wasted resources. When you launch a new marketing campaign, you can run a small-scale test to see how well it performs. If it does not work well, you can end the campaign and try something new without losing much money. When a test campaign generates a predictable profit, you can scale up to grow your business and gain exposure.
In 2017, Google replaced Apple as the most profitable business on the planet, and a lot of people are shocked when they learn this fact for the first time. Most consumers don’t understand how a search engine could make a lot of money, but the picture becomes clear when you look at the search giant’s advertising platform.
Where do you go when you need an answer to a pressing question? If you are like most people, you turn to Google for guidance, and marketers can use this trend to improve their profitability when they use Google’s pay-per-click platform. You will begin by compiling a list of words and phrases that your prospects are likely to use when they need solutions related to your industry. Once your campaign is active, Google will display your ads to those who search for your targeted keywords. The best part is that you will only pay when someone clicks on one of your links.
You won’t want to miss your chance to use Facebook when your goal is to uncover the top digital marketing platforms. Since it has more users than Twitter and Instagram combined, Facebook has members from all backgrounds and walks of life. This social site tracks the interests of its users based on the groups they like, pages they follow, and other data points.
When you promote your business on Facebook, you can choose to display your content to people who have already demonstrated an interest in what you have to offer, but you can also target your ads based on income and spending habits. One of the major benefits of Facebook is that the right approach will allow your content to go viral, bringing you more traffic than you once thought possible.
YouTube
YouTube is another valuable resource for any marketer who wants to get favorable results. According to one study, 21 percent of internet users visit YouTube daily, and 27 percent do so at least several times each week. Using videos to promote your message allows you to connect with your prospects across several channels, and doing so can provide you with impressive results.
You can craft educational videos that help people solve problems, but you can end each video with a call-to-action, inviting people to join your mailing list or to buy your products or services. Like other digital platforms, YouTube allows you to target your message based on interests and browsing habits.
Retargeting Ads
If you’ve ever visited a website and later seen advertisements related to the content, you have seen retargeted ads that can follow you across the internet. People won’t always buy from you when they first visit your website, but seeing your message again will keep you at the front of their minds.
You can place tracking pixels on your website, blog or sales page that will track the people who view your content. You can then use ad networks that will keep showing your content to the same people. Your prospects will then perceive your company as being popular and trusted, and they will be even more likely to make a purchase.
Why Online Marketing Gets Results
When you consider all the advantages of online marketing, the benefits are hard to miss. Companies that use online platforms to expand their reach are more profitable than the ones that don’t, and you’ll want to be on the winning side if you care about the future of your business. You’ll be able to target your message to the people who are the most likely to move forward, preventing you from wasting time and money. Retargeting your campaigns will empower you to stop people from forgetting about you, but this approach will also inspire trust.
Rather than launching a campaign and hoping for the best, you can conduct small-scale experiments to see what tactics get the job done. Once you know how much money your marketing strategy can generate, making small changes will let you enhance your conversion rate. Depending on the size of your company, increasing your sales rate by 1% can make a major difference in your long-term success.
Not taking this path is the same as leaving money behind, and you can’t afford to fall into that trap. Give digital marketing a try if you want to enjoy breathtaking improvements to your profit margin, and you will be glad that you did. You might not notice significant changes overnight, but monitoring your progress and refining your approach will help you reach your business goals in no time.