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In the Trenches: A Day in the Life of Digital Advertising

Many business struggle with understanding the ins and outs of digital advertising and how this element of marketing can truly support their business. Today we sit down with Victoria Williams for a Q & A session to help shine some light on some of the questions businesses have.

In this article, we will answer:
What drew you to a career in digital advertising?
What do you like best about digital advertising?
What is your favorite advertising platform and why?
What do you feel is the best practice for getting started in digital advertising campaigns?
What should advertisers be measuring when running digital advertising campaigns?
What was one of your greatest results from a digital ad campaign you ran?
If you could give a business owner something to consider before running ad campaigns what would it be?

 

What drew you to a career in digital advertising?

I love watching business owners become excited when their vision comes to life and their business grows. I have worked in many different areas to help businesses grow, but none of them were as challenging or rewarding as digital marketing.

 

What do you like best about digital advertising?

Digital advertising is one of the most fascinating and ever-changing careers you can have. What you have found to be the best digital advertising practices could be (and most likely will be) irrelevant a month or two from now. I love how fast paced the changes can be because it creates a constant awareness that does not allow complacency in my job or with my clients.

 

What is your favorite advertising platform and why?

I feel like this changes often. Right now, it’s Google. There are three main abilities that I look for in a platform.

  1. A wide range of targeting options to reach your audience.
  2. Measurability to ensure that you are getting a return on ad investment.
  3. The ability to get in front of people when they are actively in need of your products or services.

Right now, Google does these three things better than any other platform.

 

What do you feel is the best practice for getting started in digital advertising campaigns?

Create specific growth goals. Many business owners come to the table and say, “I want to grow my entire business”. This is problematic because you will stretch your budget thin advertising every aspect of your business. You can see better success by putting your budget into one area you want to grow, see ROI and begin to invest some of that return in the next area you want to grow in.

Not only that, but this is especially helpful when business growth directly correlates to hiring new employees. By taking it one step at a time, you will ensure that your team is not understaffed, and you can plan for the growth ahead.

 

What should advertisers be measuring when running digital advertising campaigns?

Everything. No seriously, everything. You should have your tracking down to a science. Impressions, clicks, calls, form submissions, cart abandons all tell a story about your brand and the customer journey. The more you measure, the more you can assess where your businesses strengths and weaknesses lie. You are able to take your marketing to the next level because you have enough data to assess where people are having success or falling off in the customer journey.

 

What was one of your greatest results from a digital ad campaign you ran?

One of the greatest results actually happened during the pandemic in 2020. We made sure to keep this client’s online presence up and created advertising efforts to inform customers of other purchasing options during that time. Because of the proactive approach, we saw an increase of 800% in online sales resulting in 113% in additional revenue over the previous year. I was honored that this client allowed us to advise them through all of the unknowns that the pandemic brought.

 

If you could give a business owner something to consider before running ad campaigns what would it be?

Advertising takes time. Know your sales cycle and consider your cost. Before you run an ad campaign, take time and find the average cost of the service or product you are focusing your advertising efforts on. Once you find the average cost, look at how much you will be investing each month in ad spend. This will help give you an idea of how many conversions you will need to see to make sure that your ads are effective. You will want this information beforehand to ensure that you and your team are setting the right expectations for your campaign.

Digital advertising can support your marketing efforts through branding and promotional campaigns, providing your company both evergreen and agile strategies to grow your business and build your brand equity. Contact a marketing firm that has integrated capabilities to learn more.