Advertising is a marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea. Sponsors of advertising are typically businesses wishing to promote their products or services. Advertising is differentiated from public relations in that an advertiser pays for and has control over the message. It differs from personal selling in that the message is non-personal, i.e., not directed to a particular individual. Advertising is communicated through various mass media, including traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor advertising or direct mail; and new media such as search results, blogs, social media, websites or text messages.
Types of Advertising
1. Pay Per Click
Pay-per-click (PPC) has been an effective paid advertising strategy for many years now, and this trend doesn’t show any signs of slowing down anytime soon. In fact, paid search marketing now accounts for about 65% of “clicks,” compared to just 35% being generated organically. Combine this with the fact that PPC visitors are 50% more likely to make a purchase than organic visitors, and it’s suddenly quite clear why pay-per-click advertising can be an effective way to spend your marketing budget.
These days, you don’t need an insanely high dollar amount for your marketing and advertising budget to spread the word about your business. In fact, some businesses are able to achieve marketing success with lower budgets. Still, if you’re looking to allocate a little bit of money to online advertising, of course, you want to choose the right strategies. Consider some (or all for the best ROI) of these top paid online advertising strategies to get you started!
2. Social Media Ads
The power of posting ads on social media has grown exponentially in the past few years, especially as social media sites like Facebook have begun offering users more paid marketing options than ever before. For example, Facebook’s relatively new “Audience Insights” feature makes it easy for marketers to hone in on their target demographic, learn more about their preferences, and create great ad content.
Advertising on social media is one of the easiest and most effective ways to ensure your message reaches your target audience—and social media users are in agreement. In fact, 57% of Millennials surveyed agreed that the ads they’ve seen on social media are more relevant to them than ever before.
Facebook.
The best places to advertise online:
For modern ecommerce sites, the ability to immediately and consistently bring in new customers is a HUGE deal. Even if you can’t achieve net positive revenue on the initial sale, referrals, email marketing and customer retention can pay off extensively with every marginal customer. This is why global social ad spending doubled from $16 billion in 2014 to $31 billion in 2016 and is projected to increase another 26% in 2017.
3. Banner Ads
Banner ads—those small, rectangular ads you often run into along the top or side bar of a web page—have been around for decades. Today, it is not uncommon to see banner ads displayed not just on desktop devices, but on mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablets) as well.
And despite many new paid online advertising strategies emerging in recent years, however, banner ads continue to be one of the most effective. In fact, in 2018 alone, it is estimated that businesses will spend nearly $25 million annually on desktop and mobile banner advertising combined.
4. Ad Re-targeting
One relatively new paid advertising opportunity that is picking up a lot of steam is known as ad retargeting or remarketing. This strategy utilizes cookies on a website to anonymously track users’ activities as they move across the Web. This data can then be used to ensure that users see only ads that are most relevant to them. Generally, remarketing or retargeting tends to be the most effective among websites that already have high traffic levels (ideally 5,000 visitors or more each month). If this applies to your site, then it may be time to consider implementing this paid strategy for your business.
5. Print Advertising
Print media advertising is a form of advertising that uses physically printed media, such as magazines and newspapers, signage, and business cards to reach consumers, business customers and prospects. Branded merchandise is a great way to leave prospects with something in their hands to leverage the law of reciprocity.
A. Billboards and Posters
Advertising on billboards and posters gives advertisers the opportunity to reach consumers on the move. Putting posters in retail malls, for example, helps advertisers reach consumers close to the point of purchase. Posters or billboards in train stations, airports or busy town centers have the potential to reach large groups of consumers. Advertisers can change the messages on billboards and posters at a frequency of their choice.
B. Direct Mail: Letters and Postcards
Advertisers use direct mail to reach smaller target audiences or selected prospects. Direct mail often take the form of a letter, brochure or flyer sent via the postal service. Advertisers can compile their own list of prospects and customers for the mailing, or rent a mailing list from a specialist firm.
C. Consumer and Trade Magazines
Magazines offer advertisers extensive choices of readership and frequency. Consumer magazines cover a wide range of interests, including sport, hobbies, fashion, health, current affairs and local topics. Many business and trade magazines provide coverage of specific industries, such as finance or electronics. Others cover cross-industry topics, such as communications or human resources, while still others focus on job-specific areas, such as publications for executives, marketing professionals or engineers. Publishing frequency is typically weekly, monthly or quarterly. As with newspapers, advertisers can take advertising spaces from classified ads to full page ads in black and white or color.
