One of the greatest benefits of digital advertising is its ability to target an audience with flexibility that traditional methods of advertising don’t have. By segmenting the audience and customizing ads for each of their unique personalities, businesses can reach the public much more efficiently and effectively. Depending on the business’ goal, you can choose specific advertising platforms, and customize the days, times, duration, demographics, messaging, and the list goes on!
To help you understand the different types of online advertising campaign options and learn what each is used for, below are the most frequently used by businesses.
AdWords Display Network
AdWords Display Network are image ads that appear on Google partner networks such as YouTube or Gmail, other popular websites, and mobile apps. It offers targeting options that allow the ads to show up in front of your target audience at the right place at the right time. Using AdWords Display Network, you are able to engage with new and existing customers in the various stages of their buying cycle.
Facebook Boosted Posts
On Facebook, you can take an organic post that you shared on your Facebook page and create a Facebook ad with it by “boosting” it. When your post is boosted, it will appear in different places on Facebook, showing it to your selected target audience. This way, you can reach a bigger audience with your post.
Facebook Branding / LinkedIn Branding (Click Ads)
The objective of the brand awareness advertising on Facebook or LinkedIn is to help you reach your audience and help them recognize and remember your brand. Users can click on the ad or the call-to-action button to visit your website.
Facebook Lead Ads / LinkedIn Lead Ads
Facebook and LinkedIn lead ads are ad campaigns that include a call-to-action of submitting a form such as request a quote or demo, subscribe for newsletter, register for an event, etc. When a user clicks on a lead ad, a pre-populated contact form pops up, and the user can fill out the form while on Facebook or LinkedIn without leaving the page. One benefit of the lead ads is that the users’ profile data automatically populates the form, saving them time and effort.
Facebook Page Likes Ads
The goal of the Facebook page likes campaign is to increase the number of likes on your business page. This campaign invites users to click on the call-to-action button to like your Facebook page by targeting relevant audiences who are most likely to be interested in your brand and the content you share on your page.
Google Ads (Search Ads)
Google Ads are text ads that appear on Google search results that tell people what your business offers. Your ad appears when a user’s search term on Google closely matches the keywords that you have selected for your ad campaign. Some of the possible results of placing Google ads include increased website traffic, online sales, customer calls, store visits, mailing list signups, etc.
Google Shopping Ads
Shopping campaigns on Google help you to promote your products from your online and local inventory, increase traffic to your website and local store, and generate leads. After you provide your product data to Google, Google then creates a shopping campaign in Google Ads. Then, when users search for a product, your relevant shopping ads will show up at the top of the search results page with a store name, product image, title, price, and other information about your product.
YouTube Video Ads
YouTube video ads are video advertising that shows up when users watch or search for videos on YouTube. With YouTube ads, you can target an audience that is likely to be interested in your offer and invite them to take action when they see the ads
It might seem intimidating at first to see all the possible ad campaign options for your business, but that’s how it all begins! As you define the specific goals for your business, your target audience, and your advertising budget, it will become clearer to know what directions to take and how to create your digital advertising strategies.
