Digital media advertising is the most cost-effective and efficient method to capture the right audience for your business.
The low customer acquisition cost and high targeting accuracy make digital media advertising a more preferred and beneficial option than traditional advertising.
This is the reason why small to big businesses, whether B2B or B2C, are investing more in digital advertising and reaching their audience through smart targeting.
However, it isn’t as simple as it sounds. Digital media advertising is a platter with a buffet of choices — hundreds of different permutations and combinations, social media algorithms, and so on.
Different platforms have varying cost metrics and a different impact on the audience. If you are new to the digital advertising landscape, deciding the right platform for your business can be quite tricky.
Digital Advertising Platforms: Key Factors to Consider
Here are some of the critical factors you should consider before taking a plunge in the pool of digital media advertising.
Understanding your business
Every business has unique requirements and expects a different outcome from its campaign. First and foremost, it is crucial to understand your business goals and which platform will be the best to capture the audience you want.
Understanding your target audience
Do thorough research on your audience, their buying patterns, their concerns, and why they would be interested in your product.
Knowing your target audience and their behavior on that channel will help you tweak your communication accordingly. Building brand loyalty is a long journey, involving careful planning at every step.
Understanding your customer behavior on the platform
How your clients behave and act on that specific platform plays a key role in helping you set the right tone for your ads. For example, your ad’s tonality on LinkedIn will be entirely different from that on Instagram or Facebook.
Cross Channel Strategy
If you are running a multi-channel ad campaign, you may need to further tweak your ad’s language, tone, and content as per the chosen channel’s requirements.
Must Read: B2B Marketing Channels for Startups
Creativity within channel limitations
While there is an array of options to choose from, the truth is that every platform has its own limitations. Hence, the challenge is to get creative within those limitations.
In digital advertising, you have less time to capture your viewer’s attention, so better use that time judiciously!
Determining your budgets
Assessing your budgets at the beginning of your campaign and carefully planning your spending on each platform will help you achieve scalable results in the long run.
Diversifying your ad strategy
Whether you choose PPC (Pay per click) ads, search ads, or display ads, keep your advertising landscape wider and more inclusive by including mobile and app advertising.
Understanding the goal of your advertising campaign
The selection of the right ad platform also depends on the goal of your campaign. Are you launching your brand? Are you launching a new range of products/services? Are you rebranding yourself? Are you promoting an offer?
Your goal will further decide what route to take.
For example, if you are a well-known brand, you can run deals, and seasonal discount offers to promote your brand.
Decoding Top Digital Advertising Platforms
Now that we have understood the critical factors, let’s look at some of the most sought-after options and how they fit into your advertising campaign.
- Google Ads
- Facebook Ads
- Instagram Ads
- LinkedIn Ads
Google Ads
Google Ads can be your go-to ad partner if your target audience is actively looking for your brand/product or service.
Google Ads paid listings help you appear on top when a search is performed on your keyword, and thus they give your brand the right visibility required for business.
For a beginner, however, they can be an expensive option. Still, the notable fact here is that the customers searching on Google are active buyers and are searching with high purchase intent.
Facebook Ads
With exceptional targeting capabilities and cheap ad options, Facebook makes for the #1 platform to run your ads on, especially when you are a B2C seller. Facebook allows you to find new targeted leads and also helps in remarketing by running re-purposed ads.
Instagram Ads
Instagram gives you the added advantage of placing your ads in stories, reels, IGTV, and feed posts.
As per statistics, Instagram’s user base has a majority of the young generation who are actively using Instagram to share updates, engage with creators and make/create content.
Instagram works pretty well for e-commerce businesses. However, it should not be a preferred advertising platform for B2B products or specialized services.
LinkedIn Ads
Welcome to the world of smart, direct business. LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional social media platform, has proven to be a game-changer for B2B businesses.
LinkedIn Ads are highly effective for reaching out to key decision-makers of an organization. And it gets better with newer advertising options like sponsored in-mail and powerful video ads.
However, it has to be strategic, well crafted, and well-aimed because LinkedIn Ads have a comparatively higher Cost Per Click rate. If your sales deal has low margins, it is probably not the preferred option for you.
However, it works best for B2B organizations dealing in SaaS solutions and technology services.
Conclusion
There is no one-size-fits-all in the world of digital media advertising. Establishing your brand is a journey that gets better with continued experiments, optimizations, and calculated risks.
Know your audience, assess their needs, earn their trust. Target them where they are, at the time when they are more likely to respond. Make a pitch that sounds genuine & convincing, and you will find yourself on the right track.
If you’re looking to build a content marketing strategy for your startup, we hope that our blog post provides some insight. However, you always have a second option. Talk to us!
