Advertising is unquestionably critical to business success. Mark Twain once said, “Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.” It would be true to modify his quote to say, “Many a good thing has been made great by the right advertising spending in the right media.” Success, at least in part, is in applying advertising cost to the right means of communication and persuasion. Clearly, advertising money for any business is not unlimited, so it makes sense to make the most effective and efficient use of budgeted funds.
Digital Marketing and Advertising versus Traditional Marketing and Advertising
While traditional means of marketing and advertising continue to be in heavy use, the world has turned ever more constantly toward digital media. According to media agency Magna, it is forecasted that 50 percent of all ad money spent globally in 2020 will be in digital media.
Traditional advertising including TV, Radio, Print, and Outdoor have some communication limitations because they:
- Offer little interaction with potential customers.
- Provide minimal control over message timing.
- Have limited customization options and are hard to update.
- Come with higher costs.
- Have poor campaign measurement ability.
Comparing traditional to digital advertising gives a clear advantage to digital because of its:
- Higher customer engagement.
- Greater ease and depth of measuring results.
- Greater flexibility of timing and customization.
- Larger audience range.
- Lower advertising cost features. Thus, a better ROI.
What Are the Best Ways to Spend on Advertising Today?
Compared to traditional advertising cost, digital advertising works and works very efficiently. These are the five best ways to spend on advertising costs:
- Google Adwords. Google is the giant in the online marketplace with the largest share of search engine traffic. Adwords allows users to create text, image, and video advertising targeting people who search for specific keywords. An easy way for small businesses to get started is by using Google Adwords Express. Google offers the options to select search ads, display ads, and to do remarketing.
- Bing Ads. Bing ads, owned by Microsoft, is similar to Google Ads. With a smaller audience than Google, Bing can be less expensive than Adwords.
- Facebook Ads. Facebook advertising (including its sister company Instagram Ads) has grown dramatically in the last few years and has improved its ease of use and effectiveness. Facebook works on the same pay per click approach as Google and Bing and it allows targeting audience members by user interests as well as audience demographics. The Facebook video platform is also growing in appeal and impact.
- Twitter Advertising. Twitter has launched a small business advertising program that makes it affordable to advertise on Twitter.
- LinkedIn Ads. LinkedIn is focused on the world of professional services and thus can effectively target professionals and businesses on LinkedIn. This allows a business to target specific people and businesses.
Avoid These Advertising Mistakes
To achieve success, avoid these advertising cost and methods mistakes:
- Not having a great SEO optimized website.
- Not tracking and measuring results.
- Not knowing and understanding what your competitors are doing.
- Not identifying your ideal audience or targeting the wrong audience.
- Not having a well-defined marketing plan.
- Not managing your marketing carefully.
Get Expert Help to Optimize Your Advertising Cost Effectiveness
Don’t go it alone. Get the experienced assistance you need to optimize your marketing and stand out from your competition. Contact VisionPATH Marketing. We specialize in inbound, content marketing, and social media marketing. Our differentiator is strategy before tactics.