Evaluating the 3 major forms of online advertising - Which is most suited to your business
As the web becomes more and more sophisticated so does online advertising. The dept and richness of consumer information is tremendous online; just think about all those online-forms you have filled out or anything you have posted on social networks. This richness of information allows marketers, like Async Minds, to target extremely niche consumer segments through various online tactics. Here are some examples.
- LGBTQ individuals aged < 30 living in Los Angeles interested in extreme sports and alternative medicine.
- Women aged 30 and above with one or more children in New Jersey who are interested in cellulite treatment.
- New Yorkers who own downtown Manhattan properties with a salary > $200k and loves cooking and pets.
The granularity of targeting that online marketing allows should be utilized by your business; we have noticed that in almost every situation, businesses functioning in most industries can benefit significantly from a well planned online marketing strategy. But what are your options and when should you use them? Here the top 3 online marketing strategies to wet your appetites.
1. Paid search (Google, Yahoo, Msn and more)
Paid search is the most common online marketing method, in most cases the most effective too. Your advertising dollars will be spent towards obtaining a higher search ranking and a sponsored search result on major search engines.
Targeting for paid search marketing is limited to geographic locations and time of day, however, because your ads correspond to the context of the users search, relevancy is high and bounce rates are kept low. In addition, exposure is extremely high as your ads get millions of impressions each month.
Paid search uses a cost-per-click model, which means you only pay for the ads which are clicked not the ones which are only displayed. A reasonable budget to kickoff a paid search campaign ranges between $1000 - $2000 a month and can be increased as your clientele grows exponentially.
2. Social advertising (Facebook, Linked-In, Myspace)
Social advertising is really 'hot' right now, each social network has detailed information on its users and their habits; that user data allows marketers to target market segments once thought unreachable.
As its name suggests social advertising is based on users social habits, so if your service or product is remotely related to any social activity (all businesses are!), chances are social ads are right for you. In addition, geographic, demographic, interests, and activities can also be segmented in social advertising.
Cost to entry for this variation of online advertising is low to nothing, you can either pay for ads to be driven to your target market or you can create 'social' groups which uses your network to organically push traffic for free!!! A good starting budget for online social ads is measured in time rather than dollars, 10 – 15 hours a week should be utilized towards a successful social campaign.
3. Traditional banner placements
Placing animated banners on specific sites such as the New York Times is a tried and proven method of advertising. Many sites offer sophisticated tools to manage and track conversions; the big players are DoubleClick's Dart and Atlas. Google also provides a system of banner ad placements; the chances of you getting onto the frontpage of premium sites ( like newyorktimes.com) through Google is slim although there's a high possibility for sub category main pages.
Costs for traditional banner ads can be high, most sites recommend a monthly advertising budget of $5k - $10k and some premium and niche sites charge even more. Bnner advertising is significantly cheaper through Google's ad placement services where our recommended budget to start such a campaign is around $2000/month, an excellent method of raising brand awareness and market reach.
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With so many options out there online advertising can be confusing, just set marketing goals and start with a small budget. Once you see results, increase it. Follow this basic methodology and you can't go wrong.
Async minds is a boutique interactive and marketing agency specialized in the synergy of marketing and technological processes. Nicholas Lin is a partner, marketing, at Async Minds and specialized in online growth strategies.