Organic reach and content marketing may not be enough to grow your business as quickly as you’d like. If you’ve been using every free marketing platform available and still not seeing quality results, it may be time to invest in paid advertising. Online paid advertising will generate valuable traffic to your website, create brand awareness, increase leads, and make sales.
What is Online Paid Advertising?
The influx of today’s media makes it difficult for your company’s message to be heard organically. Online paid advertising is the purchase of ad spots to attract internet traffic, and there are a variety of paid techniques available. All you need to do is identify which platforms your target audience is the most active on and meet them there.
Paid advertising is often referred to as pay-per-click (PPC). PPC includes Google Ads, Facebook, and other social and digital platforms.
What are the Benefits of Paid Online Advertising?
1. You can quickly reach more people.
In the U.S. alone, there are almost 300 million people who use the internet regularly. The average person spends over 24 hours per week on the Internet, and younger people spend over 50 hours online each week. Even 66% of people over 65 are using the Internet.
2. It’s cost-effective.
Online advertising is affordable. You can start advertising on Facebook for as little as $5 per day and increase your budget as you grow. You can analyze, test, and streamline to maximize your return on investment.
3. It works fast.
Some marketing techniques take time to see results, but paid advertising generates leads that are ready to make a purchase. If you advertise on search engines, potential customers are there looking for your services or products.
4. You have more control.
You’re able to monitor key metrics such as cost-per-click, site traffic, bounce rate, impressions, conversions, and even cost-per-conversion. This allows you to learn from the data and adjust your ad as needed. You’re also able to update, change, or remove ads instantly. You can run a last-minute sales ad and then take it down when you run out of stock.
5. It’s specific and targeted.
With paid ads, you’re able to target specific customers when you use data collected by a social media platform. You can run 4 different ads that target 4 different types of customers. Each customer only sees the ad that is most relevant to them. This strategy allows you to get your company and brand in front of potential customers. And, since most advertising platforms only charge you per click, you’re only paying for successful ads.
Let’s look at some popular and cost-effective advertising platforms for small businesses.
Google Ads
Google Ads are one of the most popular forms of PPC because you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. These ads appear in Google search results and help you buy your way to the top of the search for a keyword…no SEO strategies needed.
Benefits of Google Ads
1. Reach people with high intent.
Advertising on Google can help you get noticed by your potential customers. People search on Google to research, understand, and potentially purchase the product or service they’re looking for.
2. Target many audiences with the same product.
Google’s PPC Ads help you reach multiple audiences using different keywords.
3. Target specific geographical locations.
Google Ads allow you to identify a few keywords and target within a certain area. If you’re a local business, this will enable you to reach more customers in your community.
Facebook Ads
As a small business owner, Facebook is one of the best platforms to advertise on. It’s the world’s most popular social network with over two billion active users, and those users access the site eight times each day on average.
With Facebook, you can also target your ads to a specific audience.
Benefits of Facebook Ads
1. Reach your target audience at a low cost.
Facebook ads cost a fraction of what other online and traditional marketing costs. You can advertise on any budget and still achieve your goals.
2. Target your exact audience.
One of the biggest benefits of Facebook ads is you can be as broad or as specific as you’d like when you want to expand your audience. You can target people on location, age, interests, education level, and relationship status. You can even target people who have birthdays or anniversaries soon. And with Facebook remarketing, you’re able to show your ads to users who have previously visited your website. Remarketing works because you’re targeting people who are interested and have already interacted with you.
3. Organic reach has declined.
If you’re actively posting on your Facebook business page, you’ve probably already noticed that fewer people are interacting with your organic (non-paid) content. Unlike organic reach, Facebook advertising shows your content to users who haven’t liked your page but have similar demographics and interests as your current followers.
Instagram Ads
Instagram is a leading social media platform with more than 1 billion active users. 90% of their users are under the age of 35, so Instagram is a great platform if your target audience is millennials.
Benefits of Instagram Ads
1. Instagram and Facebook are connected.
This makes it easier to target your audience based on Facebook data. Also, scheduling and budgeting tasks and the creation and setup of ads are done through Facebook. You won’t have to start from scratch with Instagram if you already use Facebook for marketing and advertising.
2. The engagement rate is higher.
Instagram has the highest engagement rate of any other social media platform. The ads are also non-intrusive, so they’re less likely to annoy your target audience.
3. It returns the best results.
Instagram measures the success of your campaign on awareness, reach, and recall instead of follower counts, likes, or comments. In terms of ROI and cost, Instagram returns the best results. It’s effective and less time-consuming than other online marketing platforms.
LinkedIn Ads
While this may not seem like an obvious choice, it’s the only social media platform that enables you to connect with business professionals. With more than 600 million users, LinkedIn has several unique advantages that put it in a class all its own.
Benefits of LinkedIn Ads
1. Reach a more professional audience.
LinkedIn users tend to be working professionals who are more educated and have a higher income than those on other social media platforms. If your core target audience is educated professionals with work experience, then LinkedIn is a great option.
2. Narrow your targeting through industry-specific variables.
Facebook prides itself on its interest and behavior-based factors, but it can’t compete with LinkedIn’s industry-specific variables. In addition to standard demographic information, LinkedIn allows you to target your ads based on job title/function, industry, skill, company name/size, and degree type.
3. Better conversion rates.
LinkedIn’s competitive advantage is that it’s the only professional networking site. When you’re able to connect with your target audience, you can achieve your conversion goals.
Bottom Line
You need both paid advertising and organic marketing working together to create an effective marketing strategy. But if you want to increase revenues and grow your business, no other method can drive targeted traffic faster than paid online ads. With so many possibilities, platforms, and types of campaigns to choose from, you can tailor your brand and message, and consistently test to see what works best.
Our digital marketing team will work with you to create targeted and effective ads that will make sure potential customers find you online. We will monitor your accounts daily and make changes as needed to ensure that your campaign budget, of any size, is utilized efficiently to maximize results. Our services include daily monitoring, monthly reporting, and affordable pricing with no minimum budget.
Contact Impact Group Marketing today if you have questions about paid advertising and if it’s the right marketing solution for your business.