As you probably know, there are many different online advertising options out there.
Some of the more common options include:
But which one(s) could work best for YOUR business?
In this blog, we’ll take a look in more detail at some of the available channels and explain their pros and cons.
First, I am going to look at search ads.
Unsurprisingly, the main type of search ads are Google ads; 73% of the paid search market belongs to Google (link).
However, that is not to say that Google is the only search engine you should be advertising on. You should utilise as many channels as possible to achieve the best results.
Additionally, some search engines’ users have different demographics from other search engines.
For example, on average, Bing's users are more affluent and older than Google's users (link). So, if your target audience is above-average affluence or age, then you may achieve better results using Bing than Google.
Search ads are excellent at converting for local businesses; 46% of searches on Google consist of users seeking local information (link). For example, a dentist surgery would likely find a lot more benefit from advertising on search engines than other online advertising as they are unlikely to have clients that live outside of a 25-mile radius. Customers making searches such as “dentists near me” will see their ad and likely make an enquiry.
In addition to search ads, a great way for local businesses to maximise sales and enquiries is to advertise on search engines’ web mapping platforms such as Google Maps and Bing Maps.
Web mapping platforms are often a customer's first point of call when looking for local brick-and-mortar businesses.
Advertising on web mapping platforms can help ensure that potential customers know your business exists before making their purchasing decisions. Below I have included an example of a Google Maps ad:
LinkedIn ads offer a unique option to online advertisers.
LinkedIn is a social networking site for business professionals. Consequently, LinkedIn users tend to keep their employment information up-to-date. This makes targeting people based on employment information far more effective than other platforms. All LinkedIn users have their employment information in their profile, and more users keep this information accurate.
Some of the targeting options on LinkedIn include job title, employer, company size, company industry and job seniority.
LinkedIn ads are especially effective for B2B businesses and are an excellent choice when you need to target potential customers based on employment information. For example, an events agency looking for clients attending the Cannes Film Festival could run ads targeting users that work for businesses listed on the Cannes Film Festival's website that are also working in relevant job titles. Hypothetically, if BMW were listed on the Cannes Film Festival's website, the events agency could target events managers working for BMW.
A downside to using LinkedIn is that as LinkedIn is so effective at targeting users based on employment information, the CPC (cost-per-click) is much higher on LinkedIn than on other advertising platforms; the average CPC on LinkedIn is about $5.26 whereas, on Facebook, it is $0.97 (link).
Another interesting advertising option is video ads.
Video ads catch people's attention and attract viewers who weren’t initially interested in your product/service. Video ads are excellent at inspiring people and capturing their imagination. Video ads are fairly versatile and can be used in many different situations.
Most advertising channels have some video ad options, but some of the most common ones are YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. A highly effective option that can be used in conjunction with video ads is the option to advertise to people who are viewed similar videos to the product that you are advertising. For example, a company advertising VPNs could choose to only show their video ad to people who had previously watched videos related to internet privacy. In theory, this would lead to more conversions than a broader campaign.
