What is
Digital Advertising?
There are many sources of traffic. Some of these you own, like your email list. Some are “earned,” such as search engine traffic, media publicity or viral videos. And some of these traffic sources are paid. When you pay for traffic, you’re paying another website to show your advertisements to their visitors. Sites like Google or Facebook have a tremendous amount of traffic. When they display your ads, a certain number of people are directed to your website or landing page—resulting in leads and sales. This is the core of digital advertising.
Why Digital Ads?
There are pros and cons to digital advertising. Because you’re paying Google or Facebook when someone sees or clicks your ad, there’s an inherent expense anytime you run an ad. It certainly isn’t free. For digital ads to be profitable, you have to know that you can convert that traffic into paying customers pretty easily. There are free sources of traffic, like your email list or a search engine, but these can be limited and require a lot of work. Digital advertising is a reliable, high-volume source of quality traffic. Unlike SEO, you don’t have to build it up over time. Unlike your mailing list, you don’t have to work to expand the list. You simply turn on the ads and get leads. It can seem like magic.
Where to Advertise Online
While there are countless places you can advertise on the web, the two big players are Google and Facebook. Why? They have massive traffic volume—as in billions of visits per month—and they are able to very accurately divide up that traffic so you can reach exactly the right audience with a hyper-targeted message.
Google
Advertising
Google is overwhelmingly the largest search engine in the world. It’s also the major source of information for most people. They look up recipes, verify facts, conduct research, find restaurants, get directions, check phone numbers or business hours and price shop for different products. Because of this, Google traffic has a very high “intent”—they are there for a specific purpose. If you can find the people actively looking for what you’re offering, this can be an excellent source of high-quality traffic who are ready to buy. Learn more about Google Ads and how they can help your business.
Facebook
Advertising
After Google and YouTube, Facebook is the most heavily visited site in the world. And its users—people of all ages and social backgrounds—don’t just go there once in a while. They go every day, for long periods of time. Facebook understands a tremendous amount about these people—their professions, their likes, their online behavior, their age, and way more. This makes Facebook an ideal advertising platform. Because of this, advertisers can target an exact demographic with their ads, based on very specific data. This helps them get the right message to the right people, without wasting money on anyone else. Learn more about Facebook ads and how you can use them to achieve your goals.
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How about how we can help your business achieve it goals with digital advertising? Reach out and let’s chat!